In 1900, three botanists claimed they had found regularities in inheritance, which soon would be known as Mendel's Laws, without knowing the work of Gregor Mendel or of each other. Their claims of independent (re)discovery have been thoroughly studied during the past decades, with various outcomes. The case is still of interest today as it offers…

In our taught chemistry curricula, the majority of individuals who are used to illustrate historical aspects of chemistry topics are white, western chemists. Decolonizing the undergraduate chemistry curricula is increasingly recognized as an important step toward developing a more inclusive higher-education environment for students from…

The biographical stories of scientists and engineers, particularly those from historically excluded groups, have been integrated into the curriculum for a materials science course. The goal is to help students connect and relate to the scientific content, while opening the door to conversations about social justice in the virtual classroom. We…

Student experiences learning chemistry have been well studied in chemistry courses but less so in biology courses. Chemistry concepts are foundational to introductory biology courses, and student experiences learning chemistry concepts may impact their overall course experiences and subsequent student outcomes. In this study, we asked…

Enabling students to learn about science is essential for science education. Students are expected to not only gain scientific knowledge but also need to develop a deep understanding of science. One approach to equipping students with a sense of science is to present science as a living collective human enterprise. As essential educational…

Although Ohm's law contains various possibilities in teaching and learning scientific inquiry, it is rare for students to experience an authentic inquiry. Thus, we designed an open-ended in-depth inquiry about Ohm's law and made students conduct it. To do this, we developed a laboratory activity for students following a standard method of Ohm's…

"American Biology Teacher" has published over seven dozen articles relevant to the history of biology in biology teaching. They are cataloged here and indexed by topic. As reflected in this archive, teachers adopt a historical approach for many pragmatic motivations: (1) to engage students, by contextualizing science culturally; (2) to…

In the museum wing of the Greenslade house is a clock with a two-second pendulum about one meter long. This ticks once per second, and every time it passes through dead center it completes an electrical circuit. When I came to Kenyon in 1964, this system was used to send signals to a series of telegraph relays, which ticked once per second.…

As science educators, we have an important opportunity to influence perceptions of who does science, and we can work to empower students to make our disciplines more accessible to people of all backgrounds. This goal was explicitly built into an introductory college astronomy course through the theme of "Who Speaks for Earth?"…

In undergraduate classrooms, a majority of chemistry discoveries introduced are by white men and a small group of white women. There is greater online representation of chemists of diverse backgrounds, but the emphasis on diversity is mainly based on a monthly theme from Black History Month to Women's History Month. The "Diversity in…

While technology advancement and scientific innovation have created new topics and fields of inquiry in STEM education, external content experts such as university scientists/researchers have been increasingly involved to enhance K-12 teachers' disciplinary understandings and professional development (PD). However, few studies have scrutinized…

Language that uses noun labels and generic descriptions to discuss people who do science (e.g., "Let's be scientists! Scientists discover new things") signals to children that "scientists" is a distinctive category. This identity-focused language promotes essentialist beliefs and leads to disengagement from science among young…

This qualitative study compares the views about nature of science (NOS) between students enrolled in a traditional lecture and laboratory course and students in an inquiry-based class to the view of the scientists who taught the course. We administered the Views of Nature of Science Form C (VNOS-C) to identify students' views after partaking in…

Microorganisms are ubiquitous in nature and are central to human, animal, environmental, and planetary health. They play a particularly important role in the food chain and the production of high-quality, safe, and health-promoting foods, especially fermented foods. This important role is not always apparent to members of the public. Here, we…

Visual displays are important components of scientists' public outreach about climate change, yet little is known about how and why scientists choose visual displays. This descriptive, exploratory study sought insight to understand the factors that drive scientists' decisions about their choice of visual displays for public outreach and education.…