This article gives a brief introduction to the structure of higher education programs in chemical and general sciences in India. The lack of high-quality chemical education in India in the past is traced back to the economic and social developments of the past. Remedial measures undertaken recently to improve the overall quality of chemical…

Classroom response systems (often referred to as "clickers") have slowly gained adoption over the recent decade; however, critics frequently doubt their pedagogical value starting with the validity of the gathered responses: There is concern that students simply "click" random answers. This case study looks at different…

Learning with Web-based geographic information system (Web GIS) can promote geospatial thinking and analysis of georeferenced data. Web GIS can enable learners to analyze rich data sets to understand spatial relationships that are managed in georeferenced data visualizations. We developed a Web GIS plate tectonics simulation as a capstone learning…

In this large-scale study, higher education teachers' descriptions of their own learning were examined with qualitative analysis involving application of principles of phenomenographic research. This study is unique: it is unusual to use large-scale data in qualitative studies. The data were collected through an e-mail survey sent to 5960 teachers…

Research experience is increasingly considered an important component of science education at the secondary school and undergraduate levels. This paper presents a case study of students learning in a unique apprenticeship model in which students are engaged in long-term (18 month) open-ended research projects in physics that are done at the…

The ability to interpret and reason from Tree of Life (ToL) diagrams has become a vital component of science literacy in the 21st century. This article reports on the effectiveness of a research-based curriculum, including an instructional booklet, laboratory, and lectures, to teach the fundamentals of such tree thinking in an introductory biology…

There has been an increasing focus on student-generated multimedia assessment as a way of introducing the benefits of both visual literacy and peer-mediated learning into university courses. One such assessment was offered to first-year health science students but, contrary to expectations, led to poorer performance in their end-of-semester…

Increasingly, instructors of large, introductory STEM courses are having students actively engage during class by answering multiple-choice concept questions individually and in groups. This study investigates the use of a technology-based tool that allows students to answer such questions during class. The tool also allows the instructor to…

This article summarizes the authors' experience of developing and delivering undergraduate modules in Science Communication. The modules address two needs: resourcing science outreach activities for children in Years 5-7, and developing transferable skills (oral and written communication, team working, time management) to enhance student…

States of matter are structures that we may easily encounter in the universe as well as our close environment. The plasma state is the fourth state of matter, and it has much different properties in comparison to the solid, liquid and gas states of matter. In order to understand the universe and the environment we live in better, one needs to have…

To help students who traditionally underperform in general chemistry, we created a supplementary instruction (SI) course and called it the STEM-Dawgs Workshops. These workshops are an extension of the Peer-led Team Learning (PLTL) SI. In addition to peer-facilitated problem-solving, we incorporated two components inspired by learning sciences: (1)…

Reversing the traditional classroom activities, in the flipped classroom model students view lectures at home and perform activities during class period inside the classroom. This study investigated the effect of a flipped classroom implementation on college physics students' motivation and understanding of kinematics graphs. A Solomon four-group…

Written scientific communication, such as laboratory reports, are important components of undergraduate education within the sciences. Since most Horticultural Science majors offer lecture- and lab-based courses, students often write laboratory reports for many courses across the curriculum and these reports comprise a large percentage of the…

Active-learning strategies "can" improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates' abilities to learn fundamental concepts and skills. However, the results instructors achieve vary substantially. One explanation for this is that instructors commonly implement active learning differently than intended. An…

Graduate learning outcomes in undergraduate science degrees increasingly are focussed on the development of transferrable skillsets. Research into, and comparisons of, the perceptions of students and academic staff on such learning outcomes has rarely been explored in science. This study used a quantitative survey to explore the perceptions of 640…