Ordinarily, higher education should transform the student. Transformation refers to the development of high order subject and generic competences as a consequence of the university experience. The current discourse on generic competences, especially in the African context, focuses largely on the end (generic competences to be developed) rather…

The growth in university-industry collaboration has resulted in an increasing demand for methods to evaluate it. This paper presents one way to evaluate an organization's collaborative activities based on the European Foundation of Quality Management excellence model. Success factors of collaboration are derived from literature and compared…

This paper explores students and researchers drawings of white blood cell recruitment. The data combines interviews with exhibit of review-type academic images and analyses of student model-drawings. The analysis focuses on the material aspects of bioscientific data-making and we use the literature of concrete bioscience modelling to differentiate…

The setting, marking and providing feedback on assessments form an important part of a tutor's role. Studies into the use of feedback and how it is interpreted by students indicate a mismatch between what students are looking for and what tutors think they are giving. Tutors comment that students are more interested in the mark than the feedback,…

Senior secondary school students (N = 360), 14- to 18-year-olds, from the Igbo culture of eastern Nigeria responded to a questionnaire requiring them to give causal explanations of biologically adaptive changes in humans, other animals and plants. A student subsample (n = 36) was, subsequently, selected for in-depth interviews. Significant…

Participating in undergraduate research can be a pivotal experience for students in life science disciplines. Development of critical thinking skills, in addition to conveying scientific ideas in oral and written formats, is essential to ensuring that students develop a greater understanding of basic scientific knowledge and the research process.…

Problem based learning is a training strategy, students work together in groups, and take responsibility for solving problems in a professional manner. Instructional materials such as textbooks become the main reference of students in study of mushrooms, especially the material is considered less effective in responding to the information needs of…

Life exhibitions in Japanese science museums (SMs) face difficulties in coping with rapid progress in the life sciences owing to certain constraints around the frequency of exhibit renovations, and the Japanese indigenous understanding of the natural world (Shizen) that Japanese visitors unconsciously bring with them. To what extent do current…

In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) called for more interdisciplinary and community-engaged approaches to teaching and learning in the agricultural and life sciences to better respond to the food system challenges of the 21st century. As a result, institutions from across the nation have responded with a number of experiential learning…

Effective science teaching critically requires content focused professional development (PD), particularly in life sciences where content evolves rapidly. How subject matter knowledge related to teaching (SCK) is most effectively incorporated into PD has not been investigated. We studied how a professional learning community of high school…

In an effort to address K-8 teacher confidence in STEM and increase basic genetics knowledge to a level consistent with its importance in society, we have developed, implemented, and evaluated a 7-day teacher professional development workshop. The overarching goal of our workshop is to facilitate the implementation of innovative DNA-based…

Residential field courses are important and should be designed and delivered to maximize their value to students, staff and institutions. In this context, we use a novel approach involving analysis of the daily affective and conative reflections of students immersed in the field course experience to better understand student engagement with…

Reform initiatives around the world are reconceptualising science education by stressing student engagement in science practices. Yet, science practices are language-intensive, requiring students to have strong receptive and productive language proficiencies. It is critical to address these rigorous language demands to ensure equitable learning…

Playful and kinaesthetic learning approaches are used in numerous early years (birth to 5 years old) learning environments, however studies in HE STEM disciplines are uncommon. This study aimed to explore the use of Play-Doh in an undergraduate anatomy module as a method of enhancing engagement. 63 students attended the "kinaesthetic…

The present research compares the operation of situational judgement and biodata measures between Chinese and U.S. respondents. We describe the development and past research on both measures, followed by hypothesized differences across the two groups of respondents. We base hypotheses on the nature of the Chinese and U.S. educational systems and…