Peer educators can be a powerful addition to classroom learning environments. Traditionally, the university science teaching model relies on graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to provide instruction in laboratory class sessions, but there is increasing evidence that undergraduate TAs (UTAs) can fill an equivalent role. A comparison of student…

An evidence centered design approach was used to develop, implement, and assess a novel and innovative digital pipetting badge using Purdue's Passport system. Each student in a large lecture course created a video demonstrating how to use a 10 mL pipet to dispense liquid. The video was uploaded into the Passport system, which allowed instructors…

The Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE) is a course-embedded undergraduate research curriculum that aims to introduce authentic research experiences for students in their early college years. A cohort of students who were randomly assigned to the CASPiE laboratory sections was tracked during and two and three years after…

The study of protein-protein interactions is important to scientists in a wide range of disciplines. We present here the assessment of a lab-intensive course that teaches students techniques used to identify and further study protein-protein interactions. One of the unique elements of the course is that students perform a yeast two-hybrid screen…

This study reports on science student perceptions of their skills (scientific knowledge, oral communication, scientific writing, quantitative skills, teamwork and ethical thinking) as they approach graduation. The focus is on which teaching activities and assessment tasks over the whole programme of study students thought utilised each of the six…

Despite being criticised for placing little emphasis on thinking, the majority of laboratory work at school level is taught "via" expository "recipe-style" labs. This has been seen to result in students struggling to be able to apply the practical techniques they have learnt in the classroom outside the narrow environment in which they were…

Augmented reality (AR) provides huge opportunities for online teaching in science and engineering, as these disciplines place emphasis on practical training and unsuited to completely nonclassroom training. This paper proposes a new concept in virtual and remote laboratories: the augmented remote laboratory (ARL). ARL is being tested in the first…

Do you have an idea for a new activity or laboratory exercise that you would like to incorporate into your course but feel unsure as to how it will be received by your students? This was our concern when developing first-year biology labs for a biology majors' course at University of Windsor. Through a Centred on Learning Innovation Fund (CLIF)…

Although undergraduates have long held a role as teaching assistants for introductory science courses at liberal arts colleges and universities, educational institutions often do not provide these students with opportunities to explore science teaching and pedagogy. At Brandeis University, we designed an internship course to help increase the…

At Chiba University, gross anatomy laboratory sessions ("laboratories") are required for physical therapy students. Though most physical therapy schools require their students to participate in laboratories so that they will better understand the structure of the human body, few data exist on the value of these laboratories specifically…

Students' views about science were correlated with their approaches to lab practice. Three distinct cases are discussed in detail: empiricist-oriented, rationalist-oriented, and constructivist-oriented students. A coherent epistemological theory was constructed for each case, by considering the different degrees of certainty and confidence each…

A laboratory teaching experience (L.T.E.) was designed to focus on three teaching behaviors. It was recognized that a behavioral approach to teaching simplified its complexity by isolating specific teaching behaviors. Discusses the development and evaluation of the laboratory teaching experience. (Author/RK)

The following research is the result of frustrations involving teaching carpentry students who display little interest in learning within a classroom environment; however, often the same students excel in a laboratory (kinesthetic/hands-on) situation. Learning style surveys were given and nearly ninety percent of the students within this program…

Describes a drug unit which uses videotape interviews to: (1) motivate adolescents to develop positive attitudes toward drug abuse; (2) increase student participation in classroom activities; (3) use appropriate science exercises to further understandings; and (4) permit students to work on things of personal interest. (Author/CJ)

Describes the results of a survey intended to determine the factors influencing students' attitudes towards practical work during the early part of their university career. (Author/SA)