This paper investigates the interactions between context and professional development of physics instructors in a case study of two physics faculty. A phenomenological-case study approach was used to analyze two physics faculty at different institutions over a year and a half using three semistructured interviews each. The data enabled the…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) hold a unique positionality as instructors and research mentors to undergraduate students, research mentees to faculty members, and employees to an institution. With limited pedagogical training and teaching resources, the enactment of planned teaching activities and learning resources may be influenced by how…

In this study, we explored undergraduate chemistry education at Kotebe University of Education (KUE) in terms of the ontological orientations, patterns and source domains of educators' and undergraduate students' sense of the atom. Due to the ambiguity and controversy regarding atomic ontology as a case of interest and the requirement for a…

Representational competence (RC) is a set of skills to reflectively use a variety of representations to draw inferences, make predictions, and support claims. Despite the important role RC plays in student success in chemistry and the considerable number of investigations into student ability to reason with representations, little is known about…

Recent calls to reform undergraduate biology education, including Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education, have led biology departments to examine their curriculum to determine the extent to which it aligns with Vision and Change content and competency recommendations. The recently released BioSkills Guide translates the broad Vision…

Improving students' understanding of how science works requires explicit instruction. Here, we test the efficacy of a module based on two previously published activities (the "Cube Puzzle" and the case study "Asteroids and Dinosaurs") that teach how science works to college science majors. Students also use the How Science…

Learning model in Kazakhstani Universities is being focused on transforming education from teacher-centered to student-centered approach. This transformation requires academic staff retraining and a significant modernization of educational process. In this article we discuss issues of methodological readiness of academic staff for student-centered…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. The author shares the strategies and tools that teachers can use to manage a case study classroom effectively.

Biology research is becoming increasingly dependent on large-scale, "big data," networked research initiatives. At the same time, there has been a corresponding effort to expand undergraduate participation in research to benefit student learning and persistence in science. This essay examines the confluence of this trend through eight…

The case study teaching method has a long history (starting at least with Socrates) and wide current use in business schools, medical schools, law schools, and a variety of other disciplines. However, relatively little use is made of it in the physical sciences, specifically in physics or astronomy. The case study method should be considered by…

Studies have investigated various aspects of the use of questions in science lessons, but there is still a lack of research that demonstrates how, during peer reflection, teachers learn through identifying and overcoming obstacles to their own questioning in their professional development process. The present study is aimed at analyzing the types…

In this article, the author introduces the usage of case studies to be an excellent method for engaging students through stories. The author notes she developed a series of mini-case studies that can be implemented, with a little advance preparation, within a 10- to 15-minute window during lecture. What makes them "mini" case studies?…

The internationally acknowledged gender gap in science continues to be an unrelenting concern to science educators; aggregate data in the UK show that both recruitment and retention of women in academic science remain relatively low. Most published research focuses on women in the broad field of science, generates correlations or predictions, or…

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…

James Madison University faculty team-teach an interdisciplinary mathematical modeling course for mathematics and biology students. We have used two different project-based approaches to emphasize the mathematical concepts taught in class, while also exposing students to new areas of mathematics not formally covered in class. The first method…