A nonmajors general chemistry course entitled "Putting the Science in SciFi" was taught to 19 seniors at the College of the Holy Cross in 2018. The course coupled the delivery of content with experiential learning strategies in the form of writing assignments and hands-on activities. A pretest and posttest indicate that students gained…

"Beer Brewing: Chemical and Biochemical Principles" is a 15 week laboratory and lecture course specifically designed for nonscience majors as an introduction to science literacy via structured laboratory experiments that encourage student engagement. It provides students with a foundation in chemical and biochemical principles using a…

New media are used by language learners and teachers inside and outside the classroom to improve basic language skills. This study investigated the uses of new media for enhancing reading skills, stimulating student motivation, and promoting learner autonomy within the context of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). This…

Data science is a new field of research that has attracted growing interest in recent years as it focuses on turning raw data into understanding, insight, knowledge, and value. New data science education programs, which are being launched at an increasing rate, are designed for multiple education levels and populations. Machine learning (ML) is an…

One of the goals for requiring all college students to take science courses is to develop critical thinking about scientific issues they will encounter as citizens, consumers, and patients. This article integrates skill development activities targeting civic scientific literacy skills in a nonscience majors (liberal arts) biochemistry course, but…

Threshold concepts can lead to higher discipline comprehension but may also lead to the formation of educational barriers. The acceptance of evolutionary theory, a threshold concept, may be impacted by barriers associated with a student's educational, religious, psychological, and social background. The objectives of this study were to examine the…

Many students associate grades with the completion of course work rather than learning the course content. While research has heavily focused on teaching strategies and instructional tools to improve students' learning in general chemistry, less focus has been given to assessments as a learning tool to improve students learning. Standards-based…

The importance of biodiversity to the health of our planet is increasingly being discussed, not only by scientists, but by the public at large. Therefore, an understanding of how human activities are affecting biodiversity is vital for informed participation in society, and thus it is an important topic for liberal arts education. Here, I present…

Interdisciplinary education offers a collaborative approach to multifaceted topics, such as environmental sustainability. In this article, we present the conceptual framework and lessons learned from a team-taught course, entitled Sustainability, Energy, and the Green Economy (SEGE). Faculty from the departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology…

University level second language (L2) creative writing courses are widespread around the world. However, little empirical research has been done to document teachers and students' experiences with courses whose main focus is to develop students' creativity. In response, this case study was conducted to explore how an English native-speaking (NS)…

While learner-centeredness is important to quantify, education researchers disagree on how best to measure it. The overall aim of this research was to measure the learner-centeredness of introductory biology classrooms with a valid and reliable instrument that offers a different perspective than self-reported faculty surveys or expert observation…

With the present situation of economic globalization, simple inter-flows of information within and between countries have become standard to meet the development needs of college and university students, who now require and demand intercultural communication to improve their understanding of the globalized world. In recent years, online platforms…

This study examines the effects of an extended authentic research experience on students' understanding of the nature of science (NOS) and self-efficacy toward science. The curriculum of an introductory physical geology lab was transformed to include a six-week, student-driven research project focused on local groundwater and surface water issues.…

Background: We report the results of an undergraduate course in astrophotography designed to engage non-STEM majors in the natural sciences to train future amateur astronomers and citizen scientists. Over 200,000 students enroll in introductory astronomy elective classes every year in the US alone, which will possibly be their only encounter with…

As a professor teaching general core science courses to non-science majors, I designed a learner-centered, inquiry-based course in order to potentially positively influence science-related attitudes of my students. Through the lens of action research with mixed methodology, I analyzed student attitudes regarding science through the Test of…