Can Students Learn From Lecture Demonstrations? The Role and Place of Interactive Lecture Experiments in Large Introductory Science Courses

Journal Article | December 2006

There is little doubt that well performed lecture demonstrations play an important role in science teaching (Straits and Wilke 2006): for many students, exciting demonstrations are what keep them interested and…

Research and Teaching: Meaningful Learning in a First-Year Chemistry Laboratory Course: Differences Across Classical, Discovery, and Instrumental Experiments

Journal Article | October 2011

To investigate students' perceptions of learning through three categories of experiments—classical, discovery, and instrumental—six students were interviewed over the course of a semester. Students' descriptions of…

The Total Science Experience Laboratory for Sophomore Biology Majors: Transcending the Laboratory to Learn Much More Than Just Biology

Journal Article | February 1999

In the Total Science Experience (TSE) lab, students become team research scientists. Proposal writing and reviewing, project management, team coordination, manuscript writing, and presentations help students make career…

A Shared Biology Teaching Experience Among Undergraduate Colleges: The "Spartan Speakers Program”—Benefiting Colleges and Universities Across Michigan

Journal Article | August 1999

In over 18 years of operation, the Michigan State University’s “Spartan Speakers Program” has provided over 346 quality seminars, discussions, and workshops at over 40 four-year and community colleges throughout the…

Semester-Length Field Investigations in Undergraduate Animal Behavior and Ecology Courses: Making the Laboratory Experience the Linchpin of Science Education

Journal Article | February 1999

Undergraduate science laboratory courses often use "cookbook" exercises where expected results are known without the need for thought or experiment. In this article the University of Iowa's elective courses Animal…

Learning from experience

Blog Post | July 2017

My first year of teaching biology was challenging, but I made it! Do you have any suggestions for what I should do to improve for next year?  —C, Virginia Congratulations for completing your first year! A good way…

An ECSTEM conference experience

Blog Post | February 2017

An early childhood education conference is an opportunity to meet others who share a passion for improving our science teaching practice, meet our education mentors and gain new insights into why certain educational…

Building on prior experience

Blog Post | July 2013

This month I was able to spend unstructured time with a 2.5 year old and her family. In my position as an observer, not teacher, care-giver or parent, I could enjoy only observing—observing without a purpose outside my…

More authentic experiences

Blog Post | August 2011

It’s a challenge for science teachers to design activities and investigations that fit into the time periods we have. But science research and investigation doesn’t always fit neatly into 45- or 60- or even 90-minute…

Authentic experiences in microscopy

Blog Post | August 2011

OK—you’ve seen the adventures that students have to explore living things, but you don’t have the funds for a field trip and your school is not close to a park or other greenspace.  What to do?? Or, you’d like…