"The Science and Business of Medicinal Chemistry" was developed to provide nonscience majors with an in-depth perspective into the pharmaceutical industry. As a lecture course with a laboratory component, topics discussed include an introduction to the basic concepts of medicinal chemistry, such as drug discovery, development, and…

Emphasizing scientific literacy in the core science curriculum promotes informed students within a liberal arts education. In our Introduction to Biology course, which enrolls predominantly humanities majors in their final science course of their academic careers, we designed a project to advance these analytical processes through the deliberate…

Collaborative group assignments in undergraduate education are important for promoting skill development and preparation for the workplace; however, they are subject to the challenges associated with group dynamics. This research sought to determine the effectiveness of a Group Work Contract to facilitate professional behaviours and positive…

Scientific literacy is a key skill for college students. Flipped classroom techniques provide useful tools for students to learn material outside of the classroom to be applied during class time. In this study, students were assigned homework that entailed watching two video podcasts that explained the process for finding and reading peer-reviewed…

Psychology ranks fourth on the list of most common undergraduate majors and is increasing in popularity (McFarland, 2018). The most recent American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major list scientific inquiry among its most important goals. In order to demonstrate literacy in psychological science, the…

Teaching students to use and interpret different representational tools is critically important if they are to be scientifically literate, to understand how scientific ideas and concepts are represented and to appreciate how scientists think and act. Moreover, students not only need to be competent at using and explaining representations and…

Use of the "Journalist Method" in science education is described, in which pupils are asked to create short news presentations (we call them news spots) for a fictitious television newscast about science-related issues. The writing of such news spots by cooperative teams of pupils is supported by collections of background information…

In recent years, a number of National Research Council reports have emphasized the need to improve science education and enhance science literacy for all students. In addition, the newly released "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" advocates engaging students in scientific practices and disciplinary core ideas. Children are not learning…

One critical element of increasing science literacy is student engagement. In this article, I report on the impacts of changing an introductory environmental science class to move away from standard lecture delivery and increase student engagement in science. The class was designed around small-group activities, inquiry labs, and substantial use…

Reports on a study to elicit junior secondary students' understandings of the nature of science (NOS) through peer collaboration instruction based on science stories specifically developed to present several aspects of NOS. Investigates how students reacted to the stories and whether they were able to extract the aspects of NOS presented in the…

Describes the five-cups activity in which students explore materials in the cups. Discusses the effects of this activity on students' understanding of the nature of evidence and the quality and evaluation of that evidence. Includes test results during class and overnight. (KHR)

Describes the Crime Lab Project, which takes an economical, hands-on, interdisciplinary approach to studying the career of forensics in the middle or high school classroom. Includes step-by-step student requirements for the investigative procedure, a sample evidence request form, and an assessment rubric. (KHR)

An appropriate understanding of the nature of the scientific enterprise (NOSE) is a key element of scientific literacy and can arguably be influenced through an exploration of the history of science. An elective, undergraduate History of Science course was organized in the form of small-group discussion-based inquiries into the history of science…