Recognizing the need to attract more students, especially those from underrepresented groups, a team of college faculty and experienced New York City Department of Education (DOE) Earth Science Teachers redesigned the two foundational Earth and Environmental Science courses required for all teacher and science major students in the Department of…

This investigation evaluated the effects of exposure to the "Evo in the News" section of the "Understanding Evolution" website on students' attitudes toward biological evolution in undergraduates in a mixed-majors introductory biology course at Syracuse University. Students' attitudes toward evolution and changes therein were…

Research has shown that students bring naive scientific conceptions to learning situations which are often incongruous with accepted scientific explanations. These preconceptions are frequently determined to be misconceptions; consequentially instructors spend time to remedy these beliefs and bring students' understanding of scientific concepts to…

Through the reading, study, and performance of "Copenhagen", a play by Michael Frayn, chemistry students see the application of nuclear chemistry content, acquire a better understanding of the continuum from scientific research to technology design, and also become aware of the many and varied interrelationships of science with history…

Journal clubs have been used to advance students' scientific skills beyond basic knowledge and comprehension, but students often view the traditional format of analyzing reported data and experimental design as laborious and intimidating. As such, the traditional approach can diminish student engagement and enthusiasm for the value of scientific…

Students' beliefs that success in science depends on exceptional talent negatively impact their motivation to learn. For example, such beliefs have been shown to be a major factor steering students away from taking science and math courses in high school and college. In the present study, we tested a novel story-based instruction that models how…

For undergraduate students to achieve science literacy, they must first develop information literacy skils. These skills align with Information Literacy Standards and include determining appropriate databases, distinguishing among resource types, and citing resources ethically. To effectively improve information literacy and science literacy, we…

This research paper explores the effectiveness of using mobile technologies to support a blended learning course titled Scientific Research Methods in Information Science. Specifically, it discusses the effects of WhatsApp mobile learning activities guided by activity theory on students' knowledge Management (KM). During the 2014 academic year,…

The Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program represents a substantial investment by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve the quality of graduate education, and ultimately, to increase the number of graduates better prepared to address the nation's 21st century scientific and technological needs. The…

The Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program represents a substantial investment by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve the quality of graduate education, and ultimately, to increase the number of graduates better prepared to address our nation's 21st century scientific and technological needs. The…

A concept pair is a pair of concepts that are fundamentally different but closely related. To develop a solid conceptual understanding in dynamics (a foundational engineering science course) and physics, students must understand the fundamental difference and relationship between two concepts that are included in each concept pair. However, all…

In this paper, we propose computational scientific inquiry (CSI) as an innovative model for learning important scientific knowledge and new practices for "doing" science. This approach involves the use of a "game-like" virtual world for students to experience virtual biological fieldwork in conjunction with using an agent-based…

The current study investigated student's perception and experience on the distance practice-oriented university courses and virtual laboratory in particular. The virtual laboratories (virtual labs) concept is one of the challenges in higher education especially in the engineering education. Being more interactive they allow the students to acquire…

This work examines the experience of secondary school students involved in authentic science inquiry (ASI) at the Canadian Light Source. We suggest this experience is a transformational learning experience for participants. Using evidence from surveys and interviews from a total of 119 high school students, 23 teachers, and 18 scientists…

This dissertation introduces the construct of "worthwhileness" as an important aspect of students' "practical" epistemologies of science (Sandoval, 2005). Specifically, it examines how students conceptualize what makes a scientific research question worthwhile, through a close analysis of the criteria they use for…