Journal of College Science Teaching articles from July 2007

Journal of College Science Teaching archives from July 2007

Intelligent design: Jonathan Wells and the tree of life.(Point of View)(Critical essay)
July 1, 2007... In recent years, the intelligent design (ID) movement has been very successful in attracting the attention of the general public. The ID movement is centered predominantly at the Center for Science and Culture in the very conservative think...

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.--a teaching primer.(Point of View)(Relevance, Enthusiasm, Sincerity, Persistence, Extra Effort, Challenge, and Trust)(Viewpoint essay)
July 1, 2007... Respect is the key to successful teaching because it unlocks barriers to student learning. Treating students with respect opens their minds, thereby facilitating the learning process. As Thomas Dewey said, "You aren't teaching unless someone is...

I'm looking over a white-striped clover: a case of natural selection.(The Case Study)
July 1, 2007... The case presented in Figure 1 is an exploration of the process of natural selection using white clover (Trifolium repens) as an example. In general, two forms of white clover can be found around the world in various habitats. One type has...

WebGURU: the web-based guide to research for undergraduates.(Web-Based Guide to Research for Undergraduates)
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Undergraduate research (UR) is widely promoted by faculty, administrators, institutions of higher learning, government laboratories, private industry, professional associations, and funding agencies as an effective...

Cape wind: a public policy debate for the physical sciences.
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Since the industrial revolution, technological innovation and the application of basic scientific research have transformed society. Increasingly, critical conversations and legislation regarding national and...

How does student performance on formative assessments relate to learning assessed by exams?(Report)
July 1, 2007... A retrospective analysis examines the relationships between formative assessments and exam grades in two undergraduate geoscience courses. Pair and group-work grades correlate weakly with individual exam grades. Exam performance correlates to...

Biosocial problems in contemporary America: a course on the use and misuse of scientific knowledge.
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Is there a genetic basis for violent or criminal behavior? Are harmful human characteristics the result of natural selection? Can the social differences between men and women be explained by biological differences?...

Can inexperienced researchers teach open-ended laboratories?(Report)(Survey)
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Over the past decade, increasing numbers of institutions have reported using undergraduate students as instructors in science and technology courses (Decker, Ventura, and Egert 2006; Harper, May, and Oliver 2002;...

Do open-book exams impede long-term learning in introductory biology courses?(Report)
July 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Students in an introductory biology course who were given open-book exams during the semester earned significantly higher grades on these exams, but significantly lower grades on the closed-book final exam, than...

College science teaching changing to mirror real science in Turkish higher education.
July 1, 2007... College science is often poorly taught and it is rare that any consideration is given to the nine visions for reform of science teaching featured in the National Science Education Standards (NSES) (NRC 1996, p. 52). It is even more rare to see...

A candle lights the way to scientific discourse.(Favorite Demonstration)(Case study)
July 1, 2007... Many of my preservice elementary and middle school education students believe that science is all about facts (Schibeci and Murcia 2000). My goal is to help students experience, understand, and appreciate that science often involves...

How constructivist are we? Representations of transmission and participatory models of instruction in the Journal of College Science Teaching.(Research AND Teaching)
July 1, 2007... Constructivism has become a widely understood and broadly accepted learning theory. Constructivism contends that each of us makes sense of our world by connecting new experiences to our existing understandings. Learners, as they encounter new...

A night at the circus.(Editorial)
July 1, 2007... When I was a little girl, my parents would load up the car on a summer night and take us to the Shrine Circus. I loved the sights and the smells and especially the tastes--hot dogs smothered in sweet ketchup and sticky, magical cotton candy....

Putting inquiry teaching to the test: enhancing learning in college botany.(Society for College Science Teachers)
July 1, 2007... Can you imagine a class where students cover the content with each other rather than simply listening to the professor's lecture? Can you envision students developing their own laboratory investigations and quizzing each other weekly to check...

Seeing red.(Headline Science)
July 1, 2007... Most of us understand seeing red means stop, or warns us of danger. Now University of Rochester psychology professor Andrew Elliot is warning teachers to be careful with those red pens. His research indicates we associate all that red ink with...

Viruses.(Headline Science)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Keeping at arm's length won't protect you from catching an infectious disease, according to new research by Queensland University of Technology (QUT), which reveals airborne viruses can spread far and wide. Professor Lidia Morawska, director of...