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The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program at Sacramento State was established in 2012 with one section supporting introductory chemistry. The program now serves 17 courses with high rates of students who receive a D or an F or withdraw (DFW) from the course in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and statistics; the program enrolls approximately 1,400 students annually. Adapting the Peer-Led Team Learning model, PAL facilitators do not teach, tutor, or even confirm answers; they ask scaffolding questions, provide encouragement, and ensure that all group members participate in problem-solving. Each PAL section is an optional credit-bearing course that supplements the targeted parent science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) course. In this article, we assess the efficacy of the program in terms of student success in the parent course. As PAL is an opt-in program, we employ propensity score matching techniques to account for confounding factors. Our analysis shows that the mean course grade point average is 1.98 for matched nonparticipants and 2.40 for matched PAL participants, indicating that the program provides an average bump of 0.42 points in the parent course. We consider data from more than 25,000 students, and our propensity score analysis uses more than 10,000 students (4,519 PAL and 5,814 non-PAL) for whom appropriate matches could be found., The positive impact of PeerLed Team Learning (PLTL) on student success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses is well established in the literature; see the extensive bibliography compiled [...]

Quantitative reasoning, although included in most science courses, can be challenging to teach. In this article, we explore whether cooperative learning may help instructors teach quantitative reasoning and enhance students ' understanding and learning experience. Our lesson was taught in a large introductory geoscience course. The lesson required the undergraduate students to process geological data, represent the processed data graphically in a ternary diagram, and interpret the results in terms of geological environments. Students were assigned to groups in which they were asked to either work in pairs (experimental group) or individually (control group) on the tasks. Students' performance on questions related to ternary diagrams on the test and their feedback in the evaluation survey indicate that the cooperative approach enhances the ability of freshmen and sophomores to apply the quantitative reasoning they learned to new problems. Most participants prefer learning in a cooperative setting rather than the individual approach. We suggest that cooperative learning can help develop quantitative reasoning in undergraduate science classes., Quantitative reasoning is an essential competency for students across all disciplines. It involves applying mathematical or statistical skills, analyzing and interpreting quantitative information, and consequently drawing conclusions in the context [...]

Facts about climate change are often ineffective in impacting people's climate change beliefs or environmentally related behaviors. Multiple theories of environmental behavior use norms to foster behavior change. Science fiction writers may also attempt to sway individuals 'perceptions of climate change through imaginings of a future affected by climate change. The impact of these fictional narratives on individuals' climate change perceptions and related behaviors has not been widely studied. We examined the impact of (i) personal versus social norms and (ii) fiction versus nonfiction climate change readings on undergraduate students' climate change perceptions and behaviors. On average, students' climate change beliefs, risk-perceptions, and behavioral intentions increased across all intervention groups. Comparing fiction with nonfiction, personal with social norms, and interaction effects revealed no significant difference between changes in students' behavioral intentions. However, trends in this exploratory research suggest that social norms and fiction writings are worth exploring as particularly effective ways to engage students in climate change discussions. These results reveal the potential for fictional narratives and social norms to encourage impactful discussion around climate change., Climate change is recognized as one of the most pressing issues affecting our world today. Because climate change is a complex, interdisciplinary, politically charged topic, it presents specific challenges in [...]

Since 2010, the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Science, Technology, and Math Preparation Scholarships (STAMPS) project has provided financial and community support for undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in STEM majors. In this article, the authors explore the impact of STAMPS on how cohorts support students ' sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and science identity. A mixed-methods design approach enabled the collection of multiple types of data that could be used to examine participants ' experiences. Key findings suggest that participation in the STAMPS program has increased students' self-efficacy, science identity, and sense of belonging. Students reported feeling a bolstered self-efficacy primarily due to interactions with other students, faculty, and scientists during class, field trips, and presentations. Peer and faculty mentors and STAMPS events were most frequently cited as being responsible for impacting science identity. UNCG-specific and STAMPS events assisted in the formation of students' sense of belonging., The United States relies on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for competitiveness, innovation, and problem-solving. With continued challenges in environmental resources, health care, energy, national defense, food safety, and [...]

Existing processes for academic peer review can yield unnecessarily harsh critiques that focus on any vulnerability rather than constructive feedback to improve the work. Efforts to improve the peer-review process recommend training at the graduate level. This article describes the Modified Critical Response Process (MCRP) as a means to achieve such training and improve in-class peer review. The MCRP is based on Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process (CRP), an art-critique method that helps form constructive dialogues about artworks in progress. I adapted the MCRP for the nature of science products and the time limitations of graduate-level seminar courses. The four-step MCRP process includes (i) focus areas prescribed by presenter and rubric, (ii) clarifying questions asked by responders, (iii) positive comments offered by responders, and (iv) bounded comments given on areas for improvement. Evidence from instructor observations, student evaluations, and teaching peer reviews suggests that the MCRP can be a kinder, more constructive way for students to give and receive peer-review feedback. The MCRP can help students learn, articulate novel scholarly insights, and develop facilitation and teaching skills. The MCRP could readily be applied to seminar courses, lab group meetings, seminar series, or workshops., As a young scientist, I prided myself on giving insightful critiques that revealed methodological weaknesses, overgeneralizations, and unsupported conclusions. I learned this approach to scientific peer review in graduate school [...]

Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences have academic, psychological, and social challenges that require additional support to navigate. This article explains the implementation of a STEM peer coaching program designed to provide such support. Through this program, undergraduate STEM students served as STEM peer coaches. Coaches facilitated one-on-one conversations focused on individualized support and skill development. Using carefully constructed planning and reflecting conversations, STEM peer coaches helped students clarify their goals and create plans for success. STEM peer coaches also served as accountability partners. Anecdotal evidence from students who participated in the program shows that STEM peer coaches provided meaningful academic support. The STEM peer coaching program is a model for how peer-led, individualized conversations can be a catalyst for helping students through challenges related to STEM. The article discusses key strategies for developing and implementing a STEM peer coaching program., Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences have academic, psychological, and social challenges that contribute to high attrition rates (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997; Seymour & Hunter, 2019; Xu, 2018). [...]

A perennial goal of science educators is to develop functional scientific literacy in their students, especially those who will not become professional scientists. This article provides an example of implementing a socioscientific issues approach in an undergraduate environmental science course that enables students to develop the knowledge, reasoning, and skills requisite for resolving complex issues in a sustainable manner for people and the environment now and in the future. This example incorporates an interdisciplinary approach by leveraging traditional laboratory investigations and information from outside of science proper to facilitate a deeper and more nuanced understanding of gray wolves returning to Northern California., Science educators continually seek innovative pedagogical approaches that move beyond scientific canon to help students develop the ability to take positions and make decisions about science-related issues. This search for [...]

Although argumentation is a critical historical component of scientific literacy, the recent coronavirus pandemic and associated issues have highlighted the importance of argumentation in science practice. Argumentation that aligns with functional scientific literacy requires gathering evidence and reasoning to support or refute claims related to socioscientific issues (SSI)--those informed by science but also affected by society. In this article, we present a 5E module that models argumentation instruction while scaffolding preservice elementary teachers ' argumentation practice in the context of SSI. To do so, we introduced the claim-evidence-reasoning argumentation framework. In this approach, students responded to potential solutions to SSI related to the coronavirus (claim), supported their responses with data (evidence), and justified how the evidence they provided supported their responses (reasoning). Specifically, preservice elementary teachers completed diverse argumentation tasks-starting with more traditional scientific argumentation and building toward recognizing and addressing nonscientific, cross-curricular issues--to develop effective argumentation practice concerning contemporary SSI., Argumentation is a science practice deemed essential for communicating and supporting ideas related to science phenomena, many of which underlie complex contemporary societal issues (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Although argumentation [...]

Following the switch to remote online teaching in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the plant taxonomy course at the University of Georgia (UGA) switched to iNaturalist for the specimen collection portion of the course requirements. Building off extant rubrics, the instructors designed project guidelines for a fully online plant collection experience to alleviate plant awareness disparity. Researchers collected stratified samples from the UGA iNaturalist project along with four other institutions 'projects to determine if rubrics and project guidelines could improve the quality of observations to make them useful in plant science research. The specific rubric was shown to improve quality of iNaturalist observations. Researchers found that iNaturalist increased engagement as a student-centered tool but did not enhance students' manual keying skills, as the app uses automatic identification. Instructors recommend continuing to use iNaturalist to supplement physical collection and keying along with a detailed rubric and guidelines for collection., Modern plant taxonomy utilizes both phenotypic and genotypic data to group populations of plants into understandable groupings that we call species. Teaching students to appreciate this classification process is challenging [...]

In science we have the large lift to teach both content concepts and practices and skills. Sometimes it can be helpful for our students to practice their skills, specifically graphing [...]

North America will experience a solar eclipse 'double-header' this fall. While 500 million people will see two partial eclipses (when the Moon covers part of the Sun), those fortunate enough [...]

Visual data refers to visual sources of information intended to convey meaning (Finson and Pederson 2013). While visual data can be graphs, charts, and diagrams, it can also include many [...]

Eclipses of the Sun, where the Moon gets in front of the Sun and blocks its light, are among the most spectacular of natural events. The total eclipse visible in [...]

This article presents a semester-long, interdisciplinary project-based learning (PBL) suitable for secondary and postsecondary students enrolled in a second-semester (i.e., intermediate) meteorology course. This case-study approach builds on the research question 'What atmospheric conditions lead to tornadoes, hail, and damaging winds locally?' Students work collaboratively in a series of five activities, using an online database analyzing map and weather data from a subset of severe weather events. Students synthesize the data by identifying the severe qualitative weather variables that appeared most frequently among the cases and modify, if necessary, accepted threshold values for the quantitative variables. Students finalize the project via an oral presentation and technical paper to transform their newly discovered knowledge into improved severe weather forecasting guidance for societal benefit. An analysis of pre- and postsurvey responses from a small student sample reveals increases in both the comfort and experience of the PBL's components, with the oral presentation showing the most significant impact. After the project, students could identify in greater depth those antecedent atmospheric conditions that generate tornadoes, hail, and strong winds., Project-based learning (PBL) incorporates tenets that are discussed by Dewey (1916) and expounded by Larmer et al. (2009) and Lee and Blanchard (2019); motivates the instructor to compose an open-ended [...]

Although most students in nonmajor biology courses will not enter careers in science, they will need a working understanding of biology and how it relates to their lives to make informed decisions on important topics that will affect their lives, including food, environment, energy, and health. This research seeks to improve on nonmajors' understanding of biology and how it relates to their personal lives. This study was conducted in a biology course for nonmajors at a large urban university in the mid-South. Students were asked to provide written responses and thoughts on a curated set of popular science articles. Student participants provided a total of three article reviews and two reflection papers over the course of 1 semester. These data were qualitatively coded and assessed for recurring themes both on an individual student level as well as across student cases. Our findings suggest that the students who were able to establish personal connections to biology through reading and reflection were more likely to form an interest and understanding of biology as a whole over the course of the semester., Although most students in a nonmajors biology course will not choose careers in science, they will encounter science in their lives and need a foundation of scientific understanding to make [...]

In this article, we describe and analyze the experience of undergraduate chemistry students who scripted episodes of a science podcast for non-expert audiences. This practice aimed to improve public communication of science and technology, often suppressed throughout science careers but relevant for developing critical thinking. In particular, the script analysis focused on writing strategies used by students to promote suitability to the target audience. In this process, the students were responsible for searching for themes, scripting, and submitting episodes to a local radio station to record and broadcast. We compare feedback from students, experts, and listeners, showing an influence of current issues; a prevalence of interlocution, colloquialism, and apposition as language features; an awareness of using jargon; and a suitability to non-experts., The word 'podcasting,' derived by merging 'pod' (from 'iPod') and 'casting' (from 'broadcasting'), is the act of distributing digital audio files (podcasts) to internet users for automatic download (Oxford Learner's [...]

Preservice elementary teachers are faced with the daunting task of learning enough about every subject to support their students' development of foundational ideas. Teacher preparation programs and professional development providers therefore have the challenge of supporting those preservice and in-service teachers by providing content and methods courses in all core subject areas. These initiatives often put an emphasis on math and reading rather than science, as these subjects are tested most often and serve as the gatekeepers to other content. Infusing a literacy component into a science course for preservice and in-service teachers allows for connections to be made across content areas and supports the initiatives in reading teachers are expected to implement. This article discusses how the Big Book Project provides an opportunity to infuse literacy content, as preservice and in-service teachers in science for educators courses apply their knowledge of literacy to demonstrate their understanding of science concepts in a way that will be palatable to students in their K--5 classrooms., There is a popular saying attributed to Albert Einstein: 'If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.' Although Einstein was presumably not speaking specifically about elementary [...]

To transition introductory college science courses from large, passive lectures to more student-centered learning environments, additional instructional support is needed. Peer learning assistants (PLAs) can support that transformation by engaging students in interactive discourse and collaborative learning during class activities. PLAs are trained to use several pedagogical strategies while interacting with students to facilitate learning. In this study, we investigated the impact of PLAs on student learning in an introductory biology course by comparing student performance on exam questions that aligned with two types of class activities: clicker questions and open-response group activities. We also conducted a survey about student perceptions of PLAs that focused on three themes: PLA practices, student trust in PLAs, and student value of PLAs. We found that students performed significantly better on exam questions that aligned with open-response group activities rather than clicker questions. Students found their interactions with PLAs helpful for learning and valued having PLAs in class. Furthermore, students agreed that PLAs used a variety of strategies to assist their learning. We offer several implications for PLA pedagogy training and considerations for classroom activities in which PLAs may provide the most benefit to student learning., Concerns regarding student retention in STEM (science, technology, education, and mathematics) education in the United States have sparked numerous initiatives designed to increase the number of college students entering and [...]

Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) may identify with multiple roles during their introductory biology teaching experiences. This study developed an instrument that measures TA role identity in introductory biology. Initial development and content validation of the Biology Teaching Assistant Role Identity Questionnaire (BTARIQ) occurred in four phases. The first phase included the specification of instrument purpose and descriptions of the conceptual definitions. The second focused on item generation mapped to the constructs and dimensions based in the literature. An expert review panel validated the instrument content for the constructs, and a draft of the instrument was developed based on this review. The third consisted of a pilot to a small group of the target population using the draft instrument, and the instrument was further revised based on the results. In the final phase, an exploratory Rasch analysis was conducted with a field test sample to examine dimensionality, model fit, person and item separation and reliability, and rating scale category functioning. Findings suggest some evidence to support the interpretation and use of scores from the BTARIQ., Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are responsible for educating large numbers of science undergraduate students. Sundberg et al. (2005) report that 91% of science lab sections at research-intensive universities are led [...]

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 this article, we discuss a concise, low-cost, low-maintenance, hands-on activity--What's in the Box (WiB)--which is suitable for large-enrollment science courses at both the secondary and postsecondary levels and can help develop students ' understanding of NOS and authentic SI. Analyses of the postlab reflective writing assignment showed a substantial increase in the students' appreciation for NOS and SI tenets; the top two NOS tenets were that scientific ideas are subject to change and that science demands evidence, identified in 20% and 18% of the reflective writings, respectively. The most appreciated authentic SI tenets were that SI is complex and iterative (reported in up to 32% of the reflective writings) and SI involves observation and exploration (reported in up to 12% of the reflective writings)., Teaching about the nature of science (NOS) and authentic scientific inquiry (SI) is an essential goal of science education. The general view of NOS in current science education documents depicts [...]

This qualitative research study aimed to discover what obstacles and supports community college teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) face when teaching critical-thinking skills in their courses. The research was conducted using a basic qualitative research design that employed interviews to learn about the experiences of community college teachers currently teaching in STEM disciplines. Participants were asked to describe what obstacles they faced when attempting to plan and conduct critical-thinking education in their courses and what support they had for teaching these skills. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a constant comparative method to determine common themes. Findings of the study included the following obstacles: underprepared students, students 'poor dispositions, teachers ' limited time and effort, limited training of teachers, and the need to prepare students for future courses and assessments that are not based on critical thinking. Support for teachers was split into negative and positive aspects, with peer group support and resources from professional organizations reported as positive aspects and administrative requirements and isolation reported as negative aspects. The negative responses were reported by adjunct faculty more often than by full-time faculty., There are multiple definitions of critical thinking in the research literature, but the most encompassing definition is included in 'The Delphi Report '(Facione, 1990, p. 3): We understand critical thinking [...]

Spatial reasoning is one of the most challenging skills to master in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This article reports the results of a teaching intervention that involved using wooden blocks to enhance the development of spatial reasoning in an undergraduate-level introductory geology course. Wooden blocks with growth rings that mimic folded rock layers and plywood that mimicked horizontal layers were used as aids to teach geologic structures in the fall 2018 and spring 2019 semesters. The teaching intervention was evaluated by comparing the exam scores of students who had taken the course before and after the use of the wooden blocks teaching tool. Comparison of students ' test scores in spring 2017 with fall 2018 and spring 2019 showed substantial improvements, a 20%-25% increase in their geologic structure questions. Results from an independent samples t-test also suggest that the new teaching tool was effective in both semesters., Spatial reasoning may be defined as a set of mental skills that enable human beings to make inferences about space and the relationships that exist between objects. Spatial reasoning deals [...]

Many teacher educator preparation programs do not provide opportunities for preservice teachers (PSTs) to experience and examine the use of popular fiction as a connection point to science teaching. This study explores a unit designed to support PSTs in learning and applying core concepts and processes of literacy and science by leveraging a popular fiction text in their literacy and science methods courses in a concerted effort to better prepare teachers to integrate literacy and science in their own future classrooms., Teachers often use literature both as a hook into and throughout inquiry-based instruction (Cervetti et al., 2006; Pearson, 2010). This tendency to embed literature into the science classroom indicates that [...]

The design of a hybrid Hematology I course (prepandemic) was adopted for Hematology II and facilitated our conversion of Hematology II into a fully remote course by fall 2020, after the university went into remote instruction. When the university suspended face-to-face (F2F) classes in March 2020, only the laboratory final exam was pending for Hematology I, and it was therefore administered remotely. Because students had taken another F2F practical exam before lockdown, we were able to compare the two. There was a significant difference between the practical examination grades for the online versus F2F exams: 94% vs. 77% mean scores, respectively. However, there was no difference between the written portion of the exams. In this article, we report the final lab and lecture grades for both courses. In spring 2021, our students completed their clinical practicums with our hospital affiliates and received scores of [greater than or equal to] 90%. We also report the performance of students who sat for the American Society of Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (BOC) examination for medical laboratory scientists. All students who appeared in the BOC examination performed satisfactorily in the hematology subdiscipline. These external assessments are positive objective benchmarks for our courses and students., Hematology I and II are junior- and senior-level courses, respectively, in the medical laboratory science (MLS) curriculum at our historically Black college or university (HBCU). Hematology I (Heme I) focuses [...]

Pressing societal challenges, such as COVID-19 and climate change, disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minority groups. Traditionally, pressing societal challenges have been left out of science instruction (Lee and Grapin [...]

As science teachers, we have a duty to our students to engage them in relevant learning that is connected to their lives outside of school and natural phenomena. This sentiment [...]

Many students enter middle school with a limited view of the fields of engineering; therefore, they may have a narrow understanding of what engineers do (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, [...]

A fairy tale is a short story that falls into the folklore genre and provides a whimsical escape into another reality full of possibilities. Fairy tales have been passed down [...]

Most if not all of us have a condition known as pareidolia. Serious? No, but pareidolia is a rather imaginative thing. The word comes from two Greek words meaning 'wrong [...]

There's been a fire! According to latest reports published by the U.S. Fire Administration, 2019 saw more than 1,291,500 fires, resulting in a financial loss approximating $14.8 billion dollars (U.S. [...]

Middle school students want to understand how the world around them works and are curious about large-scale disasters. Teachers can capitalize on this curiosity by allowing students to develop an [...]

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize understanding and mitigating human impact on the environment as a key competency for middle school science (NGSS Lead States 2013). One notable environmental [...]

Outdoor education has a way of engaging students that is unmatched within the walls of the classroom alone. When outdoor science investigations are tied directly to in-class learning, middle school [...]

At the start of a unit, students walk into my classroom and immediately notice the scene on the board. I've drawn green grass and surrounded it with images of houses, [...]

Feedback best practices support timely, high-quality feedback with application opportunity. Multiple attempts on assessments support learning gains. A learning management system can be used to automatically provide feedback for application on a future assessment attempt. Current research has not thoroughly investigated the student impacts or opinions on this combined strategy. In this study, students took a second attempt 46% of the time, scoring an average of 10.1%> higher on their second attempt. More than 60% of students who failed their first attempt completed a second attempt. Students perceived the feedback as useful in preparing for their second attempt. Future research should include investigations of why some students do not make a second quiz attempt and in what ways feedback is used (or not). This study demonstrates the effectiveness of this feedforward with multiple attempts strategy in multiple introductory science courses taught fully online., With the growth in online course offerings, much attention has been given to best practices in this modality. Learning management systems (LMS) such as Canvas and Blackboard are often used [...]

In the information age, the acquisition of data literacy skills has become increasingly important for undergraduate student success, yet these skills are not emphasized in the lecture setting. Here we present a study to inspire educators to scaffold graph knowledge and interpretation into their classrooms. Specifically, we sought to understand how frequent use of published graphing materials (Angra & Gardner 2016, 2018) and freely available primary literature and data repositories, complemented by active-learning instructional approaches, in an upper-level animal behavior lecture course affect student graph knowledge and interpretation skills. The effectiveness of graphing materials and students 'graphing abilities were evaluated by three exams over the course of the semester. Findings revealed overall improvement with graph choice and interpretation abilities, particularly in interpreting the purpose of the graph, the nature of the data, and the relationships between independent and dependent variables and take-home messages. These findings support and extend the utility of the graphing materials to undergraduate lecture courses and illustrate the progression of student learning with graph choice and interpretation., Data are an inevitable part of modern-day society. Much like being literate (i.e., reading, writing, and arguing with words), there is an ever-present need to be data literate. National documents [...]

Most introductory courses are held in large lecture halls, with students typically sitting in either the front, middle, or hack of the classroom. In a mixed-methods study of student attendance, performance, and seat choice, we found that students who chose to sit behind their peers performed nearly a full grade level worse than their peers who sat in the middle and front of the classroom. They also attended class significantly less often than students in the front and middle of the room. Although students sitting in the hack had worse performance in all five categories measured (attendance, unit exams, in-class work, final exam, and final course grade), these differences were eliminated hy the mediating effect of attendance in all cases hut those involving in-class work and unit exams. Students chose to sit where they did for diverse reasons. The results of this study demonstrate the relative importance of attendance and seat position on student performance in a large general biology course., Several research groups have investigated the impact of location on student performance (Armstrong & Chang, 2007; Benedict & Hoag, 2004; Meeks et al., 2013; Perkins & Wieman, 2005; Pichierri & [...]

The collaborative nature of introductory college science labs means that labs can play a major role in boosting students ' interest in experimental science when they work together in small groups. However, collaboration in lab courses is not always positive for all students. We report on a study that documented how women in mixed-gender groups in a remote physics lab course described being ignored, talked over, or not being taken seriously in online physics labs. We also investigate the impact of providing detailed grading rubrics on the engagement of different types of mixed-gender groups and the influence of group roles on productive interactions between students in the class. Based on our findings, we suggest that providing clear and explicit grading criteria with frequent and timely grades, as well as integrating group roles into learning activities, may provide effective and complementary ways to make the introductory lab a more equitable and inclusive learning environment., Introductory college labs provide students with a valuable hands-on introduction to experimental science (Gormally et al., 2011; Kloser et al., 2013). In labs, students typically work together in small groups [...]

This article describes the implementation of a student-generated open educational resource project into a majors ' organic chemistry laboratory. This scaffolded semester-long project was organized into six phases and designed to promote the goals of teaching students about both green chemistry and real-life applications of the reactions covered in the course while simultaneously creating open educational resources for future students. A project-based learning approach was utilized to promote student engagement, especially during remote instruction. To further promote engagement, multiple opportunities for peer feedback were provided using web-based software that supports anonymous feedback. The effect of the project on cognitive learning gains and student perceptions was assessed and is reported. Overall, positive learning gains on green chemistry knowledge and skills were observed, and most students viewed the project favorably., Integrating green and sustainable chemistry in education is essential because it promotes systems thinking and supports meaningful learning (Mahaffy et al., 2019; Zuin et al., 2021). Green chemistry has been [...]

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) represent an economical and practical way for institutions to equitably offer research experiences to large numbers of students. Although the benefits of CUREs are well documented, most CURE models are not guided by theory and are discipline specific, which limits their application. We used a community of practice framework to develop an interdisciplinary, authentic CURE course (Science Bootcamp) for first-year STEM majors. We describe the details of Science Bootcamp, then present assessment data verifying that the course includes key CURE design features (opportunities for collaboration, discovery/ relevance, iteration) and successfully establishes a community of practice. Students who participated in Science Bootcamp reported psychosocial gains (e.g., increased belonging and science self-efficacy) from pre-CURE to post-CURE, a pattern distinct from a comparison group. Psychosocial gains, in turn, were positively associated with students ' intention to remain in STEM. We also found that each CURE course design feature was related to at least one psychosocial outcome. Our authentic, interdisciplinary CURE model is flexible, scalable, and economical, making it feasible for institutions to integrate this approach into their own undergraduate-based research initiatives., There has been a push to create more research opportunities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2011), with the intention of [...]

Sand is one of those things that seems to get into everything (see Figure 1), but what exactly is sand? Where does sand come from? Is sand necessary? And why [...]

Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees And the flowers and the trees And the moon up above And a thing called 'Love' 'The Birds and The [...]

Yo creo que el impacto del desgastamiento de tierra a un ecosistema es diferente que el impacto de un tornado porque el tornado tiene viento y el desgastamiento es solo [...]

One of the most important things that a science teacher can do is expose students to various scientific fields of study, careers in science, and the work that scientists do. [...]