Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have been proposed as a mechanism to democratize access to the benefits of apprentice-style scientific research to a broader diversity of students, promoting inclusivity and increasing student success and retention. As we evaluate CUREs, it is essential to explore their effectiveness within…

An interdisciplinary Pop-Up Learning Community (PLC) allowed students from various disciplines with different levels of content knowledge to discuss their perspectives on and beliefs about climate change. The impact of this event on students' climate change beliefs was gauged by a survey from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. This…

Preparing to become a music teacher educator is a complex process and one component of this process should be learning to model, demonstrate, and teach assessment practices to preservice music educators. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to discover how, and to what extent, music teacher educators (MTEs) are educated about…

Using a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) model of education, an English composition instructor designed an honors section of first-year composition to evaluate current best practices in the field of teaching writing to STEM undergraduates. The students, all first-year engineering majors, conducted guided research on best…

The introductory chemistry sequence is a common pathway for undergraduates pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and prehealth careers. Student's academic decision-making has far-reaching consequences for their trajectory, including persistence in the major and ultimate career choice. This phenomenon was studied using a survey…

Feedback-driven online homework systems provide students with a comprehensive set of practice questions that can accompany and enhance other instructional resources. However, the available e-homework systems do not contain content that aligns well with our course objectives, provide too few questions in key areas, and use assessment format(s) that…

Motivating students in analytical chemistry can be challenging, in part because of the complexity and breadth of topics involved. Some methods that help encourage students and convey real-world relevancy of the material include incorporating environmental issues, research-based lab experiments, and service learning projects. In this paper, we…

For a basic foundation in computer engineering, universities traditionally teach synchronous sequential circuit design, using discrete gates or field programmable gate arrays, and a microcomputers course that includes basic I/O processing. These courses, though critical, expose students to only a small subset of tools. At co-op schools like…

Student discussions are a common teaching approach in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses because of their benefits to student learning, and to future professional development for natural resources professionals. However, traditional student-led discussions often are ineffective at meeting course and learning objectives and suffer from…

In search of better, more cost effective ways to deliver instruction and training, universities and corporations have expanded their use of e-learning. Although several studies suggest that online education and blended instruction (a "blend" of online and traditional approaches) can be as effective as traditional classroom models, few…

In the 1968-69 controversy over the foreign language requirement for the B.A. degree in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts of the University of Michigan, the College faculty chose a compromise solution to the policy in practice since 1954 of a required 4-semester study of a foreign language with placement testing. Policy alternatives…

The author redesigned an undergraduate physiology course using a novel Internet mirror model: parallel lecture and Internet-based sections conducted so that students can move freely from one to the other (or choose both) during the semester. Within the constraints of this paradigm, he used technology to enhance student learning: adding…