This dissertation investigates the complexities associated with developing expertise in physics problem-solving and the methods for measuring and assessing the skills involved. Problem-solving skills are critical in today's rapidly changing world, and thus, it is important to emphasize them in education. However, lacking precise methods for…

This study explored the relationships between English language proficiency and performance in online, asynchronous science courses. Each participant completed a Language Background Questionnaire (LBQ) to indicate if English was not their native language, thus categorizing them as an English Language Learner (ELL). The Combined English Language…

During the pandemic, the use of question pools for online testing was recommended to mitigate cheating, exposing multitudes of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students across the globe to this practice. Yet instructors may be unfamiliar with the ways that seemingly small changes between questions in a pool can expose…

The study examined the impact of coursework-only assessment, as made necessary at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, adopting a quantitative research approach with 1013 students. The data obtained were analysed using SPSS version 27.0 to obtain descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed significant differences between the 2019-…

Knowledge space theory (KST) is a mathematical framework for modeling and assessing student knowledge. While KST has successfully served as the foundation of several learning systems, recent advancements in machine learning provide an opportunity to improve on purely KST-based approaches to assessing student knowledge. As such, in this work we…

This study examined students' voluntary use of digital self-assessment quizzes as a resource for learning in a large anatomy and physiology lecture course. Students (n = 238) could use 16 chapter quizzes and four analogous unit quizzes to rehearse and self-assess knowledge. Most students (75%) engaged in occasional use of self-assessment quiz…

Understanding student ideas in large-enrollment biology courses can be challenging, because easy-to-administer multiple-choice questions frequently do not fully capture the diversity of student ideas. As part of the Automated Analysis of Constructed Responses (AACR) project, we designed a question prompting students to describe the possible…

This study describes the impact of embedding dynamic computer visualization (DCV) in an online instrument that was designed to assess students' understanding of osmosis. The randomized posttest-only control group research was designed to compare the effect and the perceived helpfulness of the integration of DCV before and after the administration…

We developed a hands-on course in molecular biology for undergraduate underrepresented in medicine (URM) students. To incentivize student preparation for team-based learning (TBL) activities, we implemented a novel grading schema that requires a minimum individual readiness assurance test (iRAT) score to share the team group readiness assurance…

The National Union of Students (NUS) National Student Experience Report identified examination feedback as an area where students had particular concerns. This finding was echoed in the authors' institution and triggered an action research project to investigate ways of improving students' perceptions of pre- and post-exam feedback. We report the…