Concept inventories are widely used in physics education research, yet numerous studies show that concept inventories measure dramatically different learning gains in different demographic groups. Prior studies show that the performance gaps between demographic groups are already present in their preinstruction responses, suggesting that the…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the LearnEd Notebook curriculum when used with two groups of eighth-grade African American male students in teaching science. More specifically, the researcher sought to determine if there was a correlation between the utilization of the LearnEd Notebook Science curriculum…

For the past dozen years, the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill has been developing a unique, survey-level astronomy curriculum, primarily for undergraduate students, with the goal of significantly boosting STEM enrollments on a national scale, as well as boosting students' technical and research skills. Called "Our Place In…

This paper reports on the results of a research-practice partnership that included a U.S. university research team and a state-funded grants program that supports informal science education. The goal of the 2-year partnership was to develop an empirically-tested model for collaboration and capacity-building (CCB) in support of collective…

Current research suggests that students often fail to focus equally on the three aspects of scientific argumentation (cognitive, epistemic, and social) when they are given an opportunity to engage in argumentation. This study examined student argumentation within a two-semester general chemistry laboratory sequence at East Carolina University to…

The ground-breaking image of a black hole's event horizon, which captured the public's attention and imagination in April 2019, was captured using the power of interferometry: many separate telescopes working together to observe the cosmos in incredible detail. Many recent astrophysical discoveries that have revolutionized the scientific…

Social media platforms like Twitter offer benefits for promoting and sharing scientific research. Each user becomes an instant news source for their work, and are able to report lab updates, news, and discoveries in near real time, increasing the visibility and citations of one's research and allowing for direct and public engagement with the…

Fermentation is responsible for the production of myriad products across a variety of industrial sectors. In particular, the biomanufacturing industry requires a labor force proficient in fermentation and its associated technologies to drive the production of recombinant protein therapeutics. This paper describes the development of a course that…

The Biltmore Forest School, despite its unusual existence within the affluent Biltmore Estate, played a crucial role in the early 20th-century American forestry movement. Founded by Carl A. Schenck and supported by George Vanderbilt II, the school aimed to educate foresters and promote sustainable forest management. However, many aspects of the…

Background: There is substantial descriptive and correlational evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated achievement gaps, as historically underserved students have fallen farther behind in reading. Furthermore, contextual factors like concentrated poverty have systematically amplified the negative effects of the pandemic. Recent data…

Virtual reality (VR) lab experiences for organic chemistry were developed at NC State University as an accessibility tool for students who are unable to attend in-person laboratories due to disabilities, attendance challenges such as pregnancy or military deployment, or safety concerns. The resulting first-person VR experiences are immersive and…

Students with blindness or visual impairments (BVI) need to participate in scientific laboratory experiences at the K12 level to be successful in college-level science courses. These K12 level students need instruction to actively conduct science experiments and not only allow sighted students to conduct them. While it may be a challenge, with…

Effective communication about science is a core skill undergraduates should learn, but little research has explored how students communicate about culturally controversial science topics. In this study, we explored how Black undergraduate science students took on the role of science communicators in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) experiment for the upper level analytical chemistry laboratory is described. The students consider the effect of mobile-phase composition and pH on the retention times of ionizable compounds in order to determine the acid dissociation constant, K[subscript a], of a phenolic acid. Results are analyzed…

Computational thinking is an essential skill in the modern global workforce. The current public health crisis has highlighted the need for students and educators to have a deeper understanding of epidemiology. While existing STEM curricula has addressed these topics in the past, current events present an opportunity for new curricula that can be…