The use of assessment methods is a widely discussed topic in education. Exams that are commonly used, however, may not necessarily assess student understanding at a high cognitive level. By implementing alternative assessment methods, instructors can influence student learning. Portfolio-based assessment (PBA) is a purposeful collection of student…

Drawing on data collected through 45 interviews with faculty, doctoral students, and administrators affiliated with an interdisciplinary neuroscience program, I examine the structure of the interdisciplinary graduate curriculum. The data presented here highlight the challenge of such programs. I review the purpose, organization, and content of the…

In "How to Solve It", accomplished mathematician and skilled communicator George Polya describes a four-step universal solving technique designed to help students develop mathematical problem-solving skills. By providing a glimpse at the grace with which experts solve problems, Polya provides definable methods that are not exclusive to…

Women of color, specifically African American women, within science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) areas are significantly underrepresented. The majority of the research addressing STEM issues is centered on increasing the pipeline, which includes recruitment, and retention of underrepresented groups in the K-12 and collegiate domain.…

The new reorganization of university education has involved relevant changes in teaching and learning methodologies in order to help students to learn more effectively and to develop important skills and competences demanded by the professional world. In this sense the new configuration of the degree in Chemical Engineering required the…

All medical and veterinary students at the University of Nottingham carry out a third-year dissertation module. This module allows students to spend time experiencing contemporary research methods by engaging in research activities. In 2010, academic staff from the Medical and Veterinary Schools initiated educational research projects that enabled…

Enrollment increases at many institutions have forced science faculty to reevaluate assessment decisions in light of increasing demands on time. Some have advocated the replacement of free-response examinations with forced-choice examinations as a time-saving strategy. The existing research literature contains many studies comparing student…

The association between the observable physical world and the mathematical models used in theoretical physics to describe this world is examined. Such models will frequently exhibit solutions that are "unexpected," in the sense that they describe physical situations which are different from that which the physicist may initially have had in mind…

The research on the cooling law began with an article by Newton published in 1701. Later, many studies were performed by other scientists confirming or confuting Newton's law. This paper presents a description and an interpretation of Newton's article, provides a short overview of the research conducted on the topic during the 18th century, and…

Although the use of clickers and peer discussion is becoming common in large-lecture undergraduate biology courses, their use is limited in small-enrollment seminar-style courses. To investigate whether facilitating peer discussion with clickers would add value to a small-enrollment seminar-style course, we evaluated their usefulness in an…

This article reports on a one-semester Advanced Cell Biology course that endeavors to bridge the gap between gaining basic textbook knowledge about cell biology and learning to think and work as a researcher. The key elements of this course are 1) learning to work with primary articles in order to get acquainted with the field of choice, to learn…

Students at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, can now take an innovative biology course in which an integrated, interdisciplinary, problem-based approach is used--one that the scientific community itself is promoting. The first course in a four-semester sequence, Biology 123--The Living World: Concepts and Connections--explores real-world…

This work presents the evaluation and refinement of a chemistry attitude measure, Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory (ASCI), for college students. The original 20-item and revised 8-item versions of ASCI (V1 and V2) were administered to different samples. The evaluation for ASCI had two main foci: reliability and validity. This…

Thermodynamic quantities such as the average energy, heat capacity, and entropy are calculated using a Monte Carlo method based on the Metropolis algorithm. This method is illustrated with reference to the harmonic oscillator but is particularly useful when the partition function cannot be evaluated; an example using a one-dimensional spin system…

"Element Cycles" is an activity designed to reinforce correlation of essential elements and their different forms in the ecosystem. Students are assigned essential elements to research as homework, then share results, and construct game boards with four ecosphere sections: geosphere (earth), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air), and biosphere…