Teaching and learning centers in higher education are often charged with providing faculty development programming in support of overarching institutional goals related to effective teaching and assessment of student learning. Using the theoretical frameworks of Maki and Weiner as a launch pad, this exploratory case study examines how two teaching…

This study sought to examine the instructional practices of faculty noted for exemplary teaching to identify support systems that help students succeed. Based on attrition reports across postsecondary institutions that show approximately one-fourth of students who leave college before degree attainment, finding solutions that can help students…

Literature on international students discusses the creation of programs to assist with adjustment to U.S. education, explores negative experiences on campus and in the surrounding community, and discusses in-classroom experiences for ethnic groups within the international student population. Within the literature, developmental education articles…

Language-focused ethnobiological research can be a challenging endeavour, even when research teams are able to access their field sites and talk to consultants in person. The challenges are compounded when research must be carried out remotely. In this paper, we present our experiences in carrying out remote linguistic-ethnobiological research on…

Students across Pennsylvania are demonstrating an inability to meet proficiency expectations in reading. Emphasis has been on schools of education as one originating source of difficulty with reading instruction. Five universities and colleges in Pennsylvania were analyzed utilizing document analysis of undergraduate course syllabi, schedules, and…

A student experiment that uses QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) methodology for extraction and HPLC for quantitative determination of tocopherols from seeds and nuts is described here. Chromatographic separation is achieved by using a pentafluorophenyl stationary phase which gives enhanced separation of the tocopherols…

The laboratory experiment presented here describes the use of a calcium ion-selective electrode (Ca-ISE) to determine the concentration of zinc in a supplement tablet. This approach was developed to show students how to expand the range of applications of Ca-ISE to enable the determination of metal ions other than Ca[superscript 2+]. To determine…

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy and catalysis represent two of the most practically relevant topics in chemistry, but they are normally taught in separate contexts at the undergraduate level. Although IR spectroscopy is introduced to students as a tool for organic compound characterization, it also finds wide applicability in the investigation of…

Although biochemistry is fascinating to undergraduates regardless of their major, the complexity involved requires a great deal of effort and leads many to perceive it to be an intense, facts-based course limiting personal creativity. This activity takes the fundamental knowledge associated with inducible promoters and combines it with the…

A laboratory experiment has been devised to train new graduate trainees in the safe and controlled handling of air-sensitive organometallic reagents using Schlenk lines, high vacuum pumps, liquid nitrogen traps, and cannula transfers. The reaction involves the formation of air-, moisture-, and thermally sensitive 2-pyridyllithium, generated in…

Educational reforms have a tendency to fade or divert in unproductive ways. To disrupt this cycle and understand why unwanted practices persist and new ones distort, the supports that sustain practices need to be considered. In this study, I use action research to examine the supports of institutionalized patterns of practice within the classroom…

Emeryville, California's Fair Workweek Ordinance (FWO) aimed to reduce service workers' schedule unpredictability by requiring large retail and food service employers to provide advanced notice of schedules and to compensate workers for last-minute schedule changes. From ninety-six workers with young children (N = 78 in longitudinal analyses; 58…

Using a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) approach, the current study evaluated use of the Adolescent Media Project (AMP) as a pedagogical approach within an undergraduate adolescent development course. The AMP divided students into smaller groups (n = 8) in relation to an adolescent themed TV show. Students viewed the first season (or…

Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g., Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to describe subgroups in society. For youth, they are tools for bullying and a way of describing bullies. They are also mundane styles that describe qualities about all of us in some limited capacity. This case study reflects upon online research methods…

Although English is the de facto language of communication across nations in today's world, a limited number of foreign language learners are able to communicate well in English and perceive themselves as competent speakers. Investigating traits of proficient speakers of English and understanding the reasons behind their speaking skills can guide…