This article discusses our investigation regarding nature of science (NOS) implementations and epistemological beliefs within an undergraduate introductory astronomy course. The five year study consists of two years of baseline data in which no explicit use of NOS material was implemented, then three years of subsequent data in which specific NOS…

Gamification is an increasingly acceptable alternative to traditional classroom structures and practices that is based on the notion that games can be engaging to students. Gamification consists of applying game concepts such as challenges, rewards, and leaderboards to educational materials and courses. While gamification in the classroom is not…

The Student Operational Aggie Doppler Radar Project (SOAP) involved 95 undergraduates in a research and education program to better understand the climatology of storms in southeast Texas from 2006-2010. This paper describes the structure, components, and implementation of the 1-credit-hour research course, comparing first-year participants'…

In this paper we describe a "Train the Tutor" programme (TtT) for developing the metacognitive skills, facilitator skills, and tutor skills of students in a problem based learning (PBL) context. The purpose of the programme was to train 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students in psychology to become effective PBL tutors for…