Too often, students enter our classrooms with insufficient knowledge of physical science. As a result, they have a difficult time understanding content in texts, lectures, and laboratory activities. This lack of background knowledge can have an impact on their ability to ask questions and wonder--both key components of inquiry. In this article,…

A novel thermal management of electronics course with an associated laboratory has been developed for mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering students. The lecture topics, term project, computer modeling project, and six associated experiments that were built from scratch are described. Over half of the course lectures as well as all lab…

This study empirically tests the feasibility and effectiveness of video lectures as a form of video instruction that enables a comprehensive teaching strategy used throughout a traditional classroom course. It examines student use patterns and the videos' effects on student learning, using qualitative and nonparametric statistical analyses of…

Supplemental instruction classes have been shown in many studies to enhance performance in the supported courses and even to improve graduation rates. Generally, there has been little evidence of a differential impact on students from different ethnic/racial backgrounds. At San Francisco State University, however, supplemental instruction in the…