According to the Next Generation Science Standards, three-dimensional teaching challenges educators to adopt an inquiry approach through science and engineering practices aligned with disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts. Few teachers today feel confident in their ability to orchestrate such lessons. Teaching inquiry science takes…

Collaborative teamwork is fundamental to successful research and is a desirable skill set for employers. Yet students receive little training in how to effectively work in teams. This article presents the preliminary design and implementation of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in biology, geology, and environmental…

This technical note provides descriptions on a collaborative research project between Université Paris 8/École Pratique des Hautes Études-Laboratoire des Usages des Techniques d'Information Numériques (Paris8/EPHE-LUTIN) and National Taiwan Normal University-Science Education Center (NTNU-SEC). This project, entitled "Franco-Taiwanese…

The rapid development of molecular biotechnology presents a curricular challenge for educators trying to provide students with relevant coursework. A comprehensive biology education should also include opportunities for students to develop intellectual and technical skills through authentic research experiences. Integrating relevant and…

This study presents a conceptual framework for embedding interdisciplinary learning approaches in a postsecondary science program in order to foster interdisciplinary science habits in students. The framework was developed through the lens of a multi-year interdisciplinary postsecondary science program that encompasses a series of courses in which…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] The NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) partners small groups of educators with a research astronomer for a year-long authentic research project. This program aligns well with the characteristics of high-quality professional development (PD) programs…

A physiology laboratory course plays an important role in improving the scientific abilities of medical students. This study involved a teaching reform based on problem-based self-designed experiments in a physiology laboratory course. The study subjects were divided into two groups, i.e., students enrolled in 2019 were assigned to the traditional…

Biology research is becoming increasingly dependent on large-scale, "big data," networked research initiatives. At the same time, there has been a corresponding effort to expand undergraduate participation in research to benefit student learning and persistence in science. This essay examines the confluence of this trend through eight…

We report here a second semester general chemistry laboratory project themed around chitosan-alginate bioplastics. With increasing awareness of plastic pollution in the environment and the awareness of the importance for materials which are either made from renewable resources or are biodegradable, this topic provides a relevant opportunity to…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide an opportunity for students to engage in experiments with outcomes that are unknown to both the instructor and students. These experiences allow students and instructors to collaboratively bridge the research laboratory and classroom, and provide research experiences for a large…

The rapid change that higher education is undergoing is impacting all of the core mission elements: teaching and learning, research, service, and engagement with the external world (e.g., community engagement and health care delivery). Navigating this environment requires understanding of the underlying dynamics, with particular attention to how…

Benefits of incorporating research experiences into laboratory courses have been well documented, yet examples of research projects designed for the first semester introductory organic chemistry lab course are extremely rare. To address this deficiency, a Carbohydrate-Based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Inhibitor project consisting of a…

In 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its fifth report, attributing 95% of "all" climate warming--from the 1950s through today--to humans. Not only did the report--like previous IPCC reports dating back to 1990--accredit global warming to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, but over time the vast…

Modern research often requires collaboration of experts in fields, such as math, chemistry, biology, physics, and computer science to develop unique solutions to common problems. Traditional introductory undergraduate laboratory curricula in the sciences often do not emphasize connections possible between the various disciplines. We designed an…

The scientific process is nonlinear, unpredictable, and ongoing. Assessing the nature of science is difficult with methods that rely on Likert-scale or multiple-choice questions. This study evaluated conceptions about the scientific process using student-created visual representations that we term "flowcharts." The methodology,…