Educators and researchers often suggest that participation in "real" science may help students "think like" or "see themselves as" scientists because students participate in and contribute to the broader scientific community. However, bringing citizen science (CS) activities into the classroom does not necessarily…

The "Mary Rose" was King Henry VIII's favourite battleship, which sank in the Battle of the Solent on 19 July 1545. She was raised in 1982 and brought back to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard where she is now housed in a multiaward-winning museum. The purpose-built Stavros Niarchos Foundation Learning Centre includes a teaching laboratory…

The discovery of and research into penicillin resistance by Sir Edward Abraham and Sir Ernst Chain can be used to teach the concept of natural selection and also multiple nature of science (NOS) objectives associated with Next Generation Science Standards, such as "scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence" and "science is…

Have you ever taught "head on the table" physics students and wondered how to increase engagement? If so, I have two stories for you! Davon and Cynthia--both case study students--struggled with traditional physics but showed great promise with developing personalized physics problems.

As science teachers, we often show animations and videos in class but there is the potential for students to create their own animations to represent science concepts and thus make their conceptions visible for critique and refinement. This encourages students to be active in their own learning, creating animations rather than just viewing them.…

Improving students' understanding of how science works requires explicit instruction. Here, we test the efficacy of a module based on two previously published activities (the "Cube Puzzle" and the case study "Asteroids and Dinosaurs") that teach how science works to college science majors. Students also use the How Science…

There are multiple ways to put science into a case. 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 different ways of presenting science in case studies.

New and emerging digital technologies are making an impact on how we practice science, and this has implications on how we teach science. We introduce the concept of the Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) as used in the research environment and describe how we have implemented this as a tool for providing undergraduate science students with an…

To fully appreciate genetics, one must understand the link between genotype (DNA sequence) and phenotype (observable characteristics). Advances in high-throughput genomic sequencing technologies and applications, so-called "-omics," have made genetic sequencing readily available across fields in biology from applications in…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. The author shares the strategies and tools that teachers can use to manage a case study classroom effectively.

While student demographics continue to change nationwide, science achievement gaps persist, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NCES 2012). As traditional racial and ethnic minority students have become the numeric majority (NCES 2013), teaching science for all increasingly means addressing diverse student populations.…

Many students leave the environmental science classroom with misconceptions centered on the availability of natural resources such as water. This article presents a case study where students assume the roles of various stakeholders and articulate their position on whether or not to pipe water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. Additionally,…

Learn to use inquiry-based practice to inspire young minds through science. This book gives educators a solid guide for using research-based principles of inquiry to help children explore their world. With real-life examples and information on facilitating and guiding children, you will be able to engage and maximize STEM learning. Web content and…

During the past two decades, the Geoscience Education Research (GER) community has been increasingly recognized as an evidence-based research subdiscipline in the geoscience and in the larger discipline-based education research (DBER) field. Most recently, the GER community has begun to address the current state of the field and discuss the best…

The role of technology in educational settings has become increasingly prominent in recent years. When utilized effectively, these tools provide a higher quality of learning for students. "Optimizing STEM Education With Advanced ICTs and Simulations" is an innovative reference source for the latest scholarly research on the integration…