Student enrollments in online college courses have grown steadily over the past decade, and college administrators expect this trend to continue or accelerate. Despite the growing popularity of online education, one major critique in the sciences is that students are not trained in the hands-on skills they may need for the workforce, graduate…

Prior studies have reported high levels of PhD stress resulting in exhaustion and cynicism related to negative institutional factors. Yet, we know little of the possible influence of personal lives on exhaustion/cynicism. This mixed-methods study examines the interrelation. We drew on exhaustion, cynicism, life-work relation scales and free-write…

This paper introduces the smart classroom learning model based on the concept of ambient intelligence. By analyzing a smart classroom, the ambient intelligence system detects a student and determines their level of fatigue based on the data about their previous daily academic activities. This information is then used to assign the student the…

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a mandatory online supplemental instruction program in an introductory cell and molecular biology course at a community college in Northern Nevada. To accomplish this, the study focused on the dependent variable of course GPA, and the issuance rate of "D" or "F" letter…

Diagnosing is an important aspect of teachers' professional competence. To successfully diagnose classroom situations, one has to apply pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in diagnostic activities (DA). Simulated classroom situations with embedded scaffolding can be an effective way of practising skills needed to foster diagnostic competences. In…

Sexuality constitutes an important aspect of sustainable development as the concept is used by the United Nations. Education is commonly viewed as crucial to achieving sustainability, and promoting action competence is a key element in such educational efforts. This suggests that education should support individuals in actively seeking information…

In this research, pre-service science teachers' writings written in a biology laboratory course were examined and the development of writings skills was monitored from the critical thinking skills perspective. In this context, the preservice teachers were asked to design and build a fully enclosed ecosystem model (bottle ecosystem), collect data…

The damaging outcomes of racist ideologies continue to influence all aspects of society. This in spite of the fact that at their core these ideologies rely on a fundamentally false assumption: that biologically there are different races among humans. The source of this fallacy is pseudoscience and historical prejudice, and yet even scientists and…

Research investigating how the brain develops and learns profoundly impacts education. Understanding the brain mechanisms responsible for learning and memory and the factors that influence them, such as age, environment, emotions, and motivation, can transform educational strategies by contributing to the development of programs that optimize…

This study investigates the alignment between curriculum standards and textbooks, based on a standards-based science education context. The analysis sample includes the High School Biology Curriculum Standards and five editions of biology textbooks in China. Porter's alignment model is used to construct a two-dimensional (content areas and…

The current study aimed to assess the representation skills of biology students with varying degrees of academic ability when they learn using the Learning Cycle Multiple Representation (LCMR) model. The study employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group, at March to August 2020 at Universitas Pendidikan Mandalika and…

Nearly half of all college students and the majority of college students of color begin their studies at 2-year colleges. The educational quality that these students experience will affect future success, but little research to date has focused on the professional development (PD) of their instructors. We offer an exploratory study on PD needs and…

The ability of living organisms to respond and adapt to a changing climate is an urgent concern. However, current educational efforts aimed at increasing US undergraduate student climate literacy primarily focus on the causes of, and abiotic responses to, climate change, mostly neglecting the biotic impacts. Here, we present a new framework, the…

The study investigates the process of creating evaluative homogeneity within a performance-based research funding system. It does so in reference to the experience of creating a national journal ranking in Poland in 2019. It refers to the cases of two disciplines: biology and history. The use of this case is justified by its unique character, that…

For decades, a student's preparation for licensure to teach has been rather standard with increased time in field placements culminating with a semester of student teaching. During the Spring 2020, this changed for preservice students scheduled to "student teach." Due to COVID-19, schools closed for several weeks and re-opened online.…