Self-efficacy has a strong influence on the learning and motivation of science students at the postsecondary level, especially in upper division science classes, which are key to student success in science majors. This empirical mixed methods research study (N = 205) examines the associations between students' participation in an online…

This quantitative study examines the impact of a three-week online organic preparatory course for chemistry undergraduates that is designed to improve student performance in the subsequent organic chemistry course series (N = 1,289). Organic chemistry often serves as a gatekeeper for students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering,…

Undergraduate biology education is often viewed as being focused on memorization rather than development of students' critical-thinking abilities. We speculated that open-note testing would be an easily implemented change that would emphasize higher-order thinking. As open-note testing is not commonly used in the biological sciences and the…

As certain groups--low income, ethnic minority, and/or first generation college students--continue to be underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields, interest in improving outcomes for these students has grown. In order to understand what pedagogy students experience when they begin course work in a STEM major, we…

Primary literature is essential for scientific communication and is commonly utilized in undergraduate biology education. Despite this, there is often little time spent "training" our students how to critically analyze a paper. To address this, we introduced a primary literature module in multiple upper-division laboratory courses. In…

There is concern that online education may widen the achievement gap between students from different socioeconomic classes. The recent discussion of integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) into formal higher education has added fuel to this debate. In this study, factors influencing enrollment and completion in a pre-college preparatory…