For students to be successful in STEM, they need "statistical literacy," the ability to interpret, evaluate, and communicate statistical information (Gal 2002). The science and engineering practices dimension of the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") highlights these skills, emphasizing the importance of…

Educational technology has attained significant importance as a mechanism for supporting experiential learning of science concepts. However, the growth of this mechanism is limited by the significant time and technical expertise needed to develop such products, particularly in specialized fields of science. We sought to test whether interactive,…

Replacing lecture-based learning content with online information can augment learner-content interaction and facilitate greater mastery over a subject. The success of online delivery will depend on the readiness of learners to use and accept technology as well as the readiness of the organizational infrastructure to support a learner-centric…

The Wellcome Trust is running a national engagement and education initiative inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. "In the Zone" involves sending practical science kits to every UK school and college. Here, we discuss the development of the school activities and how the feedback from pilot schools helped to shape the…

Population genetics is fundamental to understanding evolutionary theory, and is taught in most introductory biology/evolution courses. Many students are unaware that understanding this topic requires pertinent knowledge of mathematics and consequently struggle with the subject. As a response to this problem, a virtual tool (Pop!World) was…

This design case follows an ongoing collaboration between an instructional technologist and a high school literature teacher promoting reading comprehension through modules that provide visually interesting display of text on a computer screen along with cognitive tools. The modules were found to boost comprehension of specific content in even one…

Facebook use among students is almost ubiquitous; however, its use for formal academic purposes remains contested. Through an online survey monitoring student use of module Facebook pages and focus groups, this study explores students' current academic uses of Facebook and their views on using Facebook within university modules. Students reported…

Following collaboration between two chemistry lecturers and an academic developer an attempt was made to enhance the learning of students within a chemistry module through the adaptation of the delivery of content material. This paper reports a piece of practitioner led research which considered how effective the approach developed was upon the…

Palliative care is a complex area of healthcare best delivered by an interdisciplinary team approach. Breaking bad news is an inherent part of caring for people with life-limiting conditions. This study aims to explore an interdisciplinary breaking bad news role-play in a palliative care module. Participants were undergraduate medical and nursing…

High-quality teaching occurs when teachers come to the classroom with a certain toolkit of knowledge and skills because they are required to perform different roles in changing times, e.g., they have to be continuous learners, promoters of new learning outcomes, users of ICT in formal learning situations, and developers of new learning…

Despite the centrality of evolution to the study of biology, the pedagogical methods employed to teach the subject are often instructor-centered and rarely embedded in every topic throughout the curriculum. In addition, students' prior beliefs about evolution are often dismissed rather than incorporated into the classroom. In this article we…

School subjects can provide a good context for learning a second language. This is especially true for science as it can involve a range of student centred activities, which involve students in collaborative communication related to a range of different competences. This paper reflects on one approach to learning in a second language, using the…

This study examined the effectiveness of a new learning approach in teaching classification of invertebrate animals in biology courses. In this approach, we used an impersonal style: the subject jigsaw, which differs from the other jigsaws in that both course topics and student groups are divided. Students in Jigsaw group were divided into five…

Most undergraduate chemistry courses and a few high school honors courses, which focus on physical chemistry and quantum mechanics, are highly mathematically-oriented. At the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, we developed a new module for high school students, titled "Chemistry--From 'the Hole' to 'the Whole': From the Nanoscale to…

High school students have had some difficulties in understanding chemistry due to traditional ways of teaching this specific science. It is important to improve teaching methods that increase student motivation, not only to enhance their capacity for understanding, but also to generate a greater level of interest in the study of chemistry for…