All Journal of College Science Teaching resources

Journal Article

Can a Diversified Instructional Approach Featuring Active Learning Improve Biology Students’ Attitudes Toward General Education?

The authors reorganized sections of their nonmajors biology course using current issues in biology and society as a premise to promote coherence among course content and emphasize the relevance of biological concepts to everyday life. A key aspect o...

Journal Article

The Windwalker Project: An Open-Ended Approach

Students in a beginning level undergraduate classical mechanics course engaged in collaborative inquiry through the Windwalker Project. The aim of this project was for students to create a free-standing movable structure as a way of testing and apply...

Journal Article

Facilitating Active Engagement of the University Student in a Large-Group Setting Using Group Work Activities

It is envisaged that small-group exercises as part of a large-group session would facilitate not only group work exercises (a valuable employability skill), but also peer learning. In this article, such a strategy to facilitate the active engagement...

Journal Article

Geoscience Videos and Their Role in Supporting Student Learning

A series of short (5 to 7 minutes long) geoscience videos were created to support student learning in a flipped class setting for an introductory geology class at North Carolina State University. This study sought to compare student learning about k...

Journal Article

Development and Impact of a Training Program for Undergraduate Facilitators of Peer-Assisted Learning

The authors created a Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) program focused on improving student performance in high-risk STEM courses. Our PALs are modeled after the Peer-Led Team Learning program, which has been shown to provide long- and short-term benefit...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Undergraduate Students’ Scientifically Informed Decision Making About Socio-Hydrological Issues

To engage effectively with contemporary water-related challenges with scientific and social dimensions, students need to understand the properties of water and the nature of scientific processes and practices. However, students have difficulty in un...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Does the Classroom Matter? How the Physical Space Affects Learning in Introductory Undergraduate Science Courses

The authors compare student learning and perception data from astronomy, physics, and geology courses taught in a traditional classroom with individual desks to the same classes taught in a large auditorium....

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Online Collaborative Misconception Mapping Strategy Enhanced Health Science Students’ Discussion and Knowledge of Basic Statistical Concepts

Collaborative activities in the area of science need to incorporate the co-critiquing of a flawed external source, with appropriate scaffolding to also benefit students with low self-regulation levels by mediating cognitive and metacognitive processe...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: A Comparison of Long-Term Knowledge Retention Between Two Teaching Approaches

The purpose of the research in this article was to test assumptions regarding the effectiveness of reform-based instructional approaches to facilitating knowledge retention in students. We conducted an experimental study of knowledge retention at a m...

Journal Article

Point of View: First-Generation College Students: How to Recognize Them and Be Their Ally and Advocate

This column shares reflections or thoughtful opinions on issues of broad interest to the community. This month’s issue discusses the importance of identifiying first-generation college students and helping them become advocates for themselves....

Journal Article

Two-Year Community: Construction With Scaffolds: Helping Community College Students Build Explanations

Few students enter community college science classrooms having experience with, or being proficient in, using evidence to explain scientific phenomena. Therefore, the authors used a claim-evidence-reasoning framework to scaffold students as they lear...

Journal Article

Case Study: Mini-Case Studies: Small Infusions of Active Learning for Large-Lecture Courses

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month’s issue discusses how the author uses case studies as a method for engaging students in ...