All Journal of College Science Teaching resources

Journal Article

Favorite Demonstration: The Effect of Calcium on the Binding of Calmodulin to Calcium/Calmodulin Protein Kinase II: Demonstrating the Calcium-Dependent Binding of Calmodulin to a Target Protein

This exercise visually demonstrates that the binding of calcium to calmodulin changes its conformation to allow binding to a target protein, calcium/calmodulin protein kinase II. It introduces undergraduates to the concept of regulatory pathways cont...

Journal Article

Integrating Introductory Biology and General Chemistry Laboratories: Making the Necessary Connections Between Scientific Disciplines at Boston University

This paper discusses how two different laboratory sections can employ nontraditional investigative laboratory modules that integrate concepts from cell biology, molecular genetics, and chemistry. During each module, students analyze data, draw conclu...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Using Learning-Styles Data to Design a Microbiology Course: Addressing a Spectrum of Learning Styles at the University of Puerto Rico

Studies in learning theory indicate that active learning is more effective than passive learning (Matthews, Cooper, Davidson, and Hawkes 1995; McKeachie 1980). Today’s students must be independent thinkers who can function well as team members. Lis...

Journal Article

Using an Environmental Science Course to Promote Scientific Literacy: Expanding Critical-Thinking Skills Beyond the Environmental Sciences

The scientific and technological issues surrounding environmental problems exemplify why teaching scientific literacy is so vital to environmental science courses. In this paper, the authors analyze some of the strategies that instructors of an envir...

Journal Article

Enhancing Undergraduate Science Instruction: The G-Step Approach: Capitalizing on the Pedagogical Strengths of Science Educators and the Content Expertise of Science TAs

Only rarely do teaching assistants (TAs) attend professional development workshops designed to acquaint them with pedagogical models. Thus, new instructors typically engage in ineffective instructional methods built on their experiences rather than o...

Journal Article

What College Science Faculty Can Learn About Change: The K-16 Continuum—Viewing School Teachers as Partners in Change

K–12 teachers, who sometimes know more about teaching and learning than college professors, can be a great source of information about effective teaching strategies. This paper presents a synopsis of typical K–12 experiences that college educator...

Journal Article

SCST: What Happened to Scott? Helping Our Students Through Online Courses and Distance Education

In this column the leadership of the Society for College Science Teachers (SCST) shares its views with JCST readers. In this month’s issue, the president shares thoughts about online courses and distance education....

Journal Article

Video-Based Labs for Introductory Physics Courses: Analyzing and Graphing Motion on Video

Video-based labs are a powerful tool for improving student understanding of one of the most difficult and important topics in physics: graphs. This article describes common student graphing difficulties, the history of VBL, techniques for improving s...