This article describes and illustrates a physics course for first-year college students whose only knowledge of physics is that they do not like the subject. The physics content is driven entirely by what appears in the daily newspapers and generally covers most physics topics in a semester. This course was structured as a learning community that…

Students' negative perceptions of physical chemistry courses are well-known and are likely impacting their learning and performance in this upper-division course for majors. The syllabus can be the first interaction students have with a course and instructor and can be central to the expectations student set for the learning experience. While…

The ability to effectively communicate science is a skill sought after by graduate and professional schools as well as by employers in science-related fields. Are content-heavy undergraduate science curricula able to incorporate opportunities to develop science communication skills, and is promoting these skills worth the time and effort? The…

Transitioning to university can be a daunting endeavour, with student success dependent on a myriad of effects (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Understanding how to navigate university systems, who to meet, how to get help, how to study, and what goals to set can be hard to grasp (Valle et al., 2003). We provide an overview of the new…

Written scientific communication, such as laboratory reports, are important components of undergraduate education within the sciences. Since most Horticultural Science majors offer lecture- and lab-based courses, students often write laboratory reports for many courses across the curriculum and these reports comprise a large percentage of the…

Interest in student conception of experimentation inspired the development of a fully validated 14-question inventory on experimental design in biology (BEDCI) by following established best practices in concept inventory (CI) design. This CI can be used to diagnose specific examples of non-expert-like thinking in students and to evaluate the…

We present the most recent steps undertaken to reform the introductory algebra-based course at The George Washington University. The reform sought to help students improve their problem-solving performance. Our pedagogy relies on didactic constructs such as the" GW-ACCESS problem-solving protocol," "instructional sequences" and…

As perhaps the most encompassing idea in biology, evolution has impacted not only science, but other academic disciplines as well. The broad, interdisciplinary impact of evolution was the theme of a course taught at Marian College, Indianapolis, Indiana in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Using a strategy that could be readily adopted at other institutions,…

We have undertaken an integrated and collaborative approach to developing foundational skills of students in a first year, Introductory Biology course. The course is a large lecture and laboratory course with enrollments ranging from 800-1000 per year. Teaching and Learning experts were brought into the course as weekly "Foundation Skills for…

The purpose of this study was to understand one case of undergraduate inquiry-based instruction through the words and actions of students and instructors. The data sources included fieldnotes from 16 of 29 classes, two sets of student and instructor interviews (beginning and end of the semester), and a collection of artifacts, such as the…

The war on cancer has been waged for nearly 40 years, yet the cancer burden remains high, especially among minority and underserved populations. One strategy to make strides in the war on cancer and its disparate impacts is to increase the diversity of the cancer research workforce. We describe an approach to recruit a diverse population of future…

Students enrolled in a large-lecture, non-majors biology course employing a diversified instructional approach featuring both instructor-centered and student-centered techniques evaluated the effectiveness of each approach in fostering course goals. Students perceived both approaches to be effective to some extent. Students indicated that the…

Undergraduate research experiences have been shown to enhance the educational experience and retention of college students, especially those from underrepresented populations. However, many challenges still exist relative to building community among students navigating large institutions. We developed a novel course called "Entering…

Instruction is presented involving a combination of straight'' physics but includes discussions of problems involving science and society based on journal, magazine, newspaper articles, and some books. A major goal is to eliminate negative attitudes toward science. According to an evaluation survey of students before and after the course, this is…

Describes the use of the Keller Plan in a course designed for non-science majors. The students perceived the unit tests and their immediate correction by the instructor as the most important component of their learning. (GS)