The conventional physiology courses consist of theoretical lectures, clinical application seminars, numerical exercises, simulations, and laboratory practices. However, in subjects that involve relevant physical quantities, even students who successfully pass exams may be unable to realize the actual quantities involved. For example, students may…

The "electric grid" is the system of power generators, power lines, and other equipment that transports electricity from where it is generated to where it is used. Electricity and its distribution are crucial to the functioning of modern society, yet its dynamics often go unseen and unnoticed by the public. Teaching about the sources…

To help engage non-physics majors in a General Physics II (Electricity & Magnetism) course at the University of Indianapolis, students used their smartphones to detect magnetic fields on campus in a semester-long data collection project. This paper discusses details about the design of the project, previous studies that utilize smartphones for…

Polymerization reaction media can have a profound effect on the physical properties of the resultant polymer. This phenomenon is showcased in a new experiment for the organic chemistry and polymer science teaching laboratories wherein the radical copolymerization of biobased [beta]-myrcene and dibutyl itaconate is performed using a nonhazardous…

Careful consideration of the design of an online laboratory course can lead to an improved laboratory experience for students (Cancilla & Albon, 2008). This dissertation study represents one iteration in a process to improve the online offering of a general biology lecture and laboratory course at Hartnell College. The purpose of this research…

The research presented in this dissertation describes a series of studies characterizing and assessing undergraduate chemistry students' knowledge related to the epistemic nature of scientific models and modeling. Engaging in authentic scientific practices, for instance, developing and using scientific models, has been identified as an important…

To investigate the variation in active learning used in college science courses, the authors analyzed 57 comparison studies published in three prominent science education journals. Focusing on three sources of variation--(a) the active learning activities, (b) other pedagogical features, and (c) course structure/design--they found that most…

Immersive technologies have the potential to play unique roles in the collaborative problem-solving process. To advance research in these contexts, new methods of documenting group collaboration with technology are necessary. The goal of this paper is to develop and utilize a coding scheme that enables investigation of the nature of collaborative…

Articulating clear and achievable expectations is fundamental to both education and organizational management. In this article, we provide a simple intervention for clarifying expectations--and establishing that these expectations have been understood--which proved beneficial both to community college interns and to their internship mentors in…

Coursework that is dependent on experiential learning, such as that offered in the laboratory-based sciences, can present barriers for a variety of students. These barriers can be magnified for students who experience disabilities that impact their access to the full depth of the course content and materials. Our unique perspective was formed…

University students stepped into synchronous remote learning as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in spring 2020. Temporal limitations of the live field trip-based paradigm in teaching ecology have been complicated by remote learning. To meet the challenge, we have designed and deployed an immersive virtual ecology platform with associated field…

Integrating authentic research practices into introductory laboratory courses to prepare tomorrow's scientists has become increasingly prevalent over the past decade. However, an incomplete understanding of the nature of science (NOS) and authentic scientific inquiry (SI) precludes higher-level learning in undergraduate research experiences. In…

In comparison with traditional lectures, active learning methods have the potential to foster learner agency and consequently raise academic performance. However, these methods are often applied with little knowledge about their effectiveness. In this study, we introduced two concept maps in an undergraduate cell biology course, to investigate…

The logistics and cost of running large class tutorials to improve learning for students in high enrolment courses raise questions about whether the associated effort and cost are worthwhile. The option to replace these class activities with online homework with its promise of built-in feedback is attractive. Using an activity theory lens and an…

The COVID-19 pandemic has constituted a sudden educational transformation around the world. It has disrupted instructors, including physics educators, forcing them to adjust to remote teaching. The hands-on laboratory, one of the components of physics instruction, has also had to rapidly go online in all branches of this science, including nuclear…