This article presents a community of practice (CoP) designed to help California State University and California Community College STEM faculty implement active, equity-centered pedagogical changes. Using the Reading Apprenticeship framework as a foundation, the CoP focuses on text-based metacognitive conversations to facilitate students' authentic…

Stereoselective reduction of ketones to alcohols using baker's yeast is a classic experiment in the undergraduate laboratory. Here we illustrate the reduction of racemic ethyl 2-fluoro-3-oxobutanoate to the corresponding alcohol using a set of four commercially available ketoreductases (KREDs). The reaction sets two stereocenters with four…

Teaching upper division statistical physics can often be clouded by the theory and complex examples used. To better help students appreciate the fundamental statistical concepts and how they are connected to thermodynamic principles this paper suggests using a simple abstract model. Using Atkins' Model students can see these ideas clearly…

In this study, we focus on a specific visual representation that is used across several mathematics and science content areas: the 'partitioned square' (PS). Previous research has examined PSs in single content areas in isolation, such as for mathematics polynomials or biology random mating, where the PS was generally in the service of other…

Student motivation within a STEM course is dependent on their perceived relevance and utility of the topics learned. This paper presents an Informative Utility Value Intervention (IUVI) designed to promote perceptions of utility. The IUVI was designed as a series of assignments for general chemistry students in large lecture courses, but the…

Micropaleontology is a critical tool for determining the ages of geologic records, reconstructing ancient environments, and monitoring modern ecosystem health. However, most students are not exposed to micropaleontology in their college coursework. To enable non-expert instructors to integrate microfossil identification training in their…

Introduction: Undergraduate research in science is recognized for fostering positive professional and personal development. Several studies have revealed these gains to be accomplished when research work is embedded in a structured setting, with additional programming. This research examines the implementation of remote programming in the Amgen…

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented event that, out of necessity, drastically changed the way undergraduate chemistry courses were taught. With the cancellation of in-person classes, laboratory experiences were delayed and/or moved to the virtual space, the latter keeping the general framework of the laboratory experiment but removing the…

Online education has the potential to remove barriers and increase access to higher education, but previous studies have revealed mixed results regarding the effect of online enrollment on college students' academic outcomes. This study leverages novel administrative data and a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to examine the impact of online…

When students use metacognition, they can more effectively problem solve on their own and in groups. Most metacognition studies have focused on individual learners while a few studies have begun to explore the metacognition learners use in social settings. Little is known about the comparison between how an individual student may use metacognition…

Future needs and challenges, especially in complex real-world problem-solving, require education to equip individuals with quality skills. Inquiry-based learning that integrates socio-scientific issues (SSI) can significantly develop students' problem-solving skills. This study aims to test the effects of the Socio-Scientific Real-world Inquiry…

This work tested the hypothesis that the academic performance of students in a distance learning course in Biological Sciences (PBS-CEDERJ) decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic in disciplines with and without practical activities. Performance was quantified via students' grades in PBS-CEDERJ disciplines in pre-pandemic years (2018 and 2019) and…

The rapid growth of online education has created opportunities to integrate multimedia learning tools into complex scientific disciplines like food biotechnology. This study aimed to develop and evaluate supplementary online course modules on gene expression analysis, protein engineering tools, and fermentation genomics for undergraduate food…

The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP; thegep.org) is a collaboration of more than 260 faculty from over 200 colleges and universities across the continental United States and Puerto Rico, all of whom are engaged in bringing Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) centered in genomics and bioinformatics to their students. The…

Conflict-reducing practices during evolution instruction have been recommended to increase students' perceived compatibility between evolution and religion, increase evolution acceptance, and decrease stereotypes about religious students in science. However, the efficacy of these practices has not been demonstrated in a randomized controlled…