A two-semester-long interdisciplinary support effort to improve student posters in organic chemistry lab is described. In the first semester, students' literature search report is supported by a workshop conducted by an Instruction Librarian. During the subsequent semester, a second workshop is presented by the Instruction Librarian, an English…

In physiological education, blended course formats (integration of face-to-face and online instruction) can facilitate increased student learning, performance, and satisfaction in classroom settings. There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of using blending course formats in laboratory settings. We evaluated the impact of blended learning…

A visual regression analysis using the least absolutes method (LAB) was developed, utilizing an interactive approach of visually minimizing the sum of the absolute deviations (SAB) using a bar graph in Excel; the results agree very well with those obtained from nonvisual LAB using a numerical Solver in Excel. These LAB results were compared with…

This article examines formative interventions as we understand them in cultural-historical activity theory and reflects on key differences between this intervention research tradition and design-based research as it is conceived in the learning sciences tradition. Three projects, including 2 Change Laboratories, are analyzed with the help of…

With the economic competitiveness of the United States dependent on an adequate supply of high-quality workers in the STEM fields, President Obama outlined a broad agenda to reinvigorate our country's interest in STEM. Responding to this call, organizations such as the National Lab Network and the STEM Education Coalition began efforts to raise…

Becoming a teacher involves a continual process of identity development and negotiation. Expectations and norms for particular pedagogies impact and inform this development. In inquiry based classes, instructors are expected to act as learning facilitators rather than information providers. For novice inquiry instructors, developing a teacher…

It is not uncommon for students to view laboratory instruments as black boxes. Unfortunately, this can often result in poor experimental results and interpretation. To tackle this issue, a laboratory course was designed to enable students not only to critically think about operating principles of the instrument but also to improve interpretation…

Traditionally, nursing students learn medical subjects and nursing separately, which makes it difficult to develop an integrated understanding. This study aimed to explore nursing students' experiences of participating in a case seminar integrating medical and nursing sciences and if, and how, it contributed to their learning. A case seminar…

This study is a descriptive study that adopts relational screening model with the aim of determining pre-service classroom teachers' opinions about laboratory use in science teaching their preferences among laboratory approaches and identifying the reasons of the answers given by the pre-service teachers. The sample of the study is 236 pre-service…

"Dewey in Our Time" brings together leading writers from around the world who are actively engaged in applying Dewey's thought to the challenges facing educational systems and teachers in school. Issues concerning equity, social justice, curriculum and pedagogy, teachers' roles and their professional identity are considered, with…

The Department of Physics at EKU [Eastern Kentucky University] with support from the National Science Foundations Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program has successfully converted our entire introductory physics sequence, both algebra-based and calculus-based courses, to an activity-based format where laboratory activities,…

Sound tubes, pipes, and singing rods are used as musical instruments and as toys to perform amusing experiments. In particular, corrugated tubes present unique characteristics with respect to the sounds they can produce; that is why they have been studied so intensively, both at theoretical and experimental levels. Experimental studies usually…

Personalized medicine refers to medical care that involves genetically screening patients for their likelihood to develop various disorders. Commercial genome screening only involves identifying a consumer's genotype for a few single nucleotide polymorphisms. A phenotype (such as an illness) is greatly influenced by three factors: genes, gene…

People with disabilities are chronically underrepresented in many geoscience departments across the country. There are a number of proposed reasons why this under-representation persists, one of which is lack of instructor training in designing accessible curriculum and making high-quality accommodations. This not only puts students with…

North American universities depend on international teaching assistants (ITAs) as a substantial part of the teaching labor force, which has led to the idea of an 'ITA problem', a deficiency model which is framed as a divergence between ITAs' linguistic competence and undergraduates' and their parents' expectations. This outdated positioning of…