Archive: Transforming Science Learning: Evaluating Lessons for Sensemaking Using the NSTA Sensemaking Tool, August 10, 2022

Web Seminar | May 2022

The NSTA Sensemaking Tool (adapted from the research-based NGSS Lesson Screener) is designed to help educators be critical consumers of curricular materials as well as create and/or revise science lessons to reflect the…

Computer Use in the Science Classroom: Proceed with Caution! What Educators Still Need to Learn About Computer Exploitation

Journal Article | January 1997

Compared with books, black boards, calculators, and overhead projectors, the computer is a very new entity in the classroom. Despite its newness, this field must mature quickly to keep pace with the rapidly increasing…

Research and Teaching: Impact of a Departmental Instructional Skills Course on Graduate Students’ Beliefs About Science Teaching and Learning

Journal Article | June 2018

Graduate teaching assistants play an important role in undergraduate programs in the authors' Earth Science Department. A course on teaching and learning was developed to train graduate students in student-centered…

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

Journal Article | June 2017

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…

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

Journal Article | June 2017

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.

Research and Teaching: Beyond Correctness: Using Qualitative Methods to Uncover Nuances of Student Learning in Undergraduate STEM Education

Journal Article | October 2016

Through this case study, the authors offer insight into the value of using qualitative methods in course assessment to science instructors in higher education.

Getting the Most Out of Dual-Listed Courses: Involving Undergraduate Students in Discussion Through Active Learning Techniques

Journal Article | August 2015

This article provides readers with details concerning the implementation of four active learning techniques used to help undergraduate students critically discuss primary literature. On the basis of undergraduate and…

Web-Based Learning Enhancements: Video Lectures Through Voice-Over PowerPoint in a Majors-Level Biology Course

Journal Article | October 2009

This study is an experimental introduction of web-based lecture delivery into a majors-level introductory biology course. Web-based delivery, achieved through the use of prerecorded Voice-Over PowerPoint video lectures…

How Does Mechanical Weathering Change Rocks? Using Reading-to-Learn Strategies to Teach Science Content

Journal Article | December 2008

Many teachers fall into the pattern of “assumptive teaching” (Herber 1970), assuming that other instructors will teach students the important strategies they need for learning. In this case, tools and strategies may not…