The central goal of our exploratory study was to investigate differences in college chemistry students' interactions during lab experiments with different levels of inquiry. This analysis was approached from three major analytic dimensions: (i) functional analysis; (ii) cognitive processing; and (iii) social processing. According to our results,…

Using longitudinal data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, this study measured the impact of first-year seminars on college students' life-long learning orientations. The findings suggest that first-year seminars enhance students' life-long learning orientations and that the effect of first-year seminars is mediated through…

In college level chemistry courses, reasoning using molecular and particulate descriptions of matter becomes central to understanding physical and chemical properties. In this study, we used a qualitative approach to analyzing classroom discourse derived from Toulmin's model of argumentation in order to describe the ways in which students develop…

Assessment tasks can focus student efforts in what they choose to study. This paper describes the development and initial application of an assessment matrix to support student learning in postgraduate research studies at the University of Adelaide. Students and supervisors in the multi-disciplinary Master programmes also benefit from the clear…

Most biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, and molecular biology classes have extensive prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, often including introductory chemistry, introductory biology, and organic chemistry coursework. But what is the function of these prerequisites? While it seems logical that a basic understanding of biological and…

Attention to inquiry-based teaching practices has surfaced as one vehicle for supporting the development of critical thinking skills in science classrooms (Achieve Inc., 2013). Despite the endless dialogue, professional development, and standards to support the teaching approach, in practice, inquiry presents teachers with a great challenge. In…

Appreciative advising is an innovative academic advising method based on the organizational development theory of appreciative inquiry. This approach emphasizes student strengths through a collaborative relationship between advisor and student using open-ended questions and focusing on positive potential. This study addressed the local problem of…

This dissertation looks at the effects of an educator-scientist partnership on the creation of an inquiry based science lesson for the middle school classroom. The lesson was initially created by a scientist following their science research, but changed as the scientist began working with teachers. The changes in the lesson show that scientists…

Although universities often teach ethics courses, they do not always teach students how to apply ethical course content to ethical dilemmas they encounter on a day-to-day basis. The Awareness-Investigation-Responding (AIR) model of ethical inquiry bridges this gap by scaffolding the reflective process and empowering students to make more caring,…

The purpose of the study was to examine if and how elementary preservice teachers' perceptions about history were changed upon their completion of a class project that engaged them in a discipline-specific inquiry as a method of teaching history. Surveys were administered to assess any changes in their perception of the history before and after…

In this article, the authors contend that high school English classes are a critical place for teaching democratic ways with words, and they call on and extend the tools of intercultural inquiry for the purposes of teaching democratic deliberation. The authors describe their collaborative engagement with an inventive data-driven genre--the…

This study explores the effectiveness of educator preparation programs from the perspective of three female Hispanic veteran teachers serving high-needs populations of students. The study strives to contribute to research on minimum proposed standards for teacher preparation programs in Texas. Through a process of coding data from the informant…

This article documents the process of collaboratively developing lesson hook e-resources for science teachers to establish a community of inquiry and to strengthen the pedagogy of science teaching. The authors aim to illustrate how the development and application of strategic hooks can bridge situational interest and personal interest so that…

In this project, we explore the use of threshold concept theory as a design basis for development of Interactive Virtual Laboratories in thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is a difficult subject for chemical and biological engineering students to master. One reason for the difficulty is the diverse and challenging set of threshold concepts that they…

The main purpose of this study was to enhance student understanding of the scientific concepts of chemical reaction rate. Forty-four grade 11 students were the target group. The treatment tools were seven learning plans of 5E inquiry incorporated with an analogy learning approach during 15 hours of class time. In each learning plan, the students…