Graduate students in STEM fields undertook a 9-month training program focusing on practice-based development of active teaching methods. As instructors of record in their own senior-level courses, these trainees were observed on their independently designed classroom sessions using the COPUS classroom observation tool. Compared to a large sample…

To further teaching and learning, there has been a push to engage faculty to pursue research on teaching. With the recognition that science research often is done by teams, we sought to create a research-cluster approach to support faculty engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). This article describes a faculty-focused process…

Preservice elementary teachers are faced with the daunting task of learning enough about every subject to support their students' development of foundational ideas. Teacher preparation programs and professional development providers therefore have the challenge of supporting those preservice and in-service teachers by providing content and methods…

Many undergraduate students will experience being taught by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs); therefore, focusing on GTA pedagogy is in the best interest of the students and university as a whole. Based on a Masters of Arts in Teaching program, a 5-week intensive summer training session for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

The purposes of this study were to examine preservice elementary teachers' conception of the water cycle; determine if participating in a conceptual change-based role-play alters these conceptions; and ascertain if any conceptual change brought about by the intervention is lasting. We found that most of our students held naive conceptions of the…

Many institutions are preparing graduate students and postdoctorals (future faculty) for effective teaching in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Interestingly, little is known about beneficial features of teaching-development (TD) programs for future faculty after they transition into professoriate roles, and…

This study examines the effect of nature journaling on engagement patterns among non-traditional adult learners enrolled in an elementary science methods course. The research aims to bridge a gap in the existing literature by investigating the effectiveness of nature journaling in enhancing learning experiences for this specific demographic.…

National science education documents emphasize new learning outcomes of elementary students; therefore, the preparation of elementary teachers should be revised to meet these challenges. This article describes how science educators at a large southeastern university developed specialized science training for elementary preservice teachers (EPSTs)…

Equitable sensemaking allows for meaningful understanding of the big ideas of science and deeper engagement in science practices. Many nonscience majors, including elementary preservice teachers (PSTs), do not have opportunities to engage in equitable sensemaking within their secondary or college-level courses. An innovative cycle to support…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This issue provides a recipe for writing great case studies.

The Integrated Concentration in Science (iCons) 4-year program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was designed to promote interdisciplinary STEM collaboration in the solution of real-world problems and encourage student independence and interdependence through a student-centered teaching approach that structures all projects as group…

In late 2011, we created a Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) program focused on improving student performance in high-risk STEM courses. Our PALs are modeled after the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) program, which has been shown to provide long- and short-term benefits to both students (Chan & Bauer, 2015; Gosser, Kampeier, & Pratibha, 2010;…

The study assessed the science teaching confidence of preservice teachers in teaching elementary science by addressing two research questions: (1) Did preservice teachers understand the science concepts well enough to be effective in teaching elementary science content? (2) Did preservice teachers have the necessary science concepts and skills to…

We describe the implementation of a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training program in the Department of Chemistry designed to integrate with the professional development initiatives of the Graduate School at a large, public, research-intensive university. The program is a 1-year course of study that offers graduate students a chance to…

This article reports the findings of the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) model intervention study in an introductory biology course at a Puerto Rican private university. PLTL introduces to the traditional class format an additional workshop session in which students interact in small groups to solve challenging exercises under the guidance of a peer…