Journal of College Science Teaching articles from September 2005

Journal of College Science Teaching archives from September 2005

Moving on but staying around.(college faculty employment trends)(Editorial)
September 1, 2005... Our profession is aging. Most JCST readers won't see 50 again. A recent report at my university shows that 59% of us are over 50, 26% over 60, and only 15% under 40. That has clear implications for institutional vitality and renewal, even as we...

Not just a theory.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... I couldn't agree more with Les Paldy's editorial "Coming Soon: Isn't Your Science Just a Theory" (JCST July/August 2005). There needs to be more, and better, science education for all Americans, and science courses should be made more relevant...

Developing a world view for science education: a message from the NSTA president.(National Science Teachers Association)
September 1, 2005... Mrs. Bates walks into her science classroom in the morning, hoping to have her materials organized and ready for this busy day. It is the third full week of school and she is just now getting to know her students. Last week, Mrs. Bates welcomed...

Evolution and friendship.(astronomy and biology teaching)
September 1, 2005... In 1925, Williams Jennings Bryan, a former congressman from Nebraska and a former Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, spent two agonizing weeks during a hot Tennessee summer defending his religious faith. The passions of the trial crushed...

Too much, too little, or just right? How much information should we put into a case study?(TheCaseStudy)
September 1, 2005... "Say when." That expression, usually reserved as an inquiry by a solicitous dispenser of party libations, is apt for the serious case writer. In both cases it is meant to find out how much is enough. How much liquid or information should we...

Ocean spray lubricates winds.(HeadlineScience)
September 1, 2005... According to a new study by two University of California, Berkeley, mathematicians and their Russian colleague, the water droplets kicked up by rough seas serve to lubricate the swirling winds of hurricanes and cyclones, letting them build to...

Moving faces.(facial expressions and emotions research)
September 1, 2005... Happy, sad, angry, scared: Some of us are good at hiding these everyday emotions, while others are unable to disguise them. Whether subtle or intense, facial expressions are the key to how we identify human emotion. Most studies of how we...

Multi-species genome comparison sheds new light on evolutionary processes, cancer mutations.(HeadlineScience)
September 1, 2005... An international team that includes researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has discovered that mammalian chromosomes have evolved by breaking at specific sites...

Blink and you really do "miss it".(brain research)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... We blink 10 to 15 times each minute and parts of the brain are temporarily "switched off" when we blink, scientists have found. The team from University College London found that the brain shut down parts of the visual system for each blink....

Parrot "understands" zero.(mathematical ability of African grey parrot)
September 1, 2005... The walnut sized brain of the African grey parrot may actually be capable of comprehending abstract mathematical concepts. The bird seems to understand a numerical concept akin to zero--an abstract notion that humans don't typically understand...

Aging secret.(antioxidants increases longevity in mice, research)
September 1, 2005... Scientists have gotten mice to live twenty percent longer than normal by boosting their levels of a natural antioxidant. However, the study also shows why taking antioxidant supplements doesn't seem to protect against aging. The canny...

Engaging students: an examination of the effects of teaching strategies on self-efficacy and course climate in a nonmajors physics course.(Research and Teaching)
September 1, 2005... Self-efficacy is a key predictor of achievement and retention in most academic areas, including the sciences. In this study, the effects of teaching strategies on self-efficacy and course climate were examined. Question and answer,...

Bridging the two cultures: a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning science in a societal context.(Cover Story)
September 1, 2005... Twentieth-century novelist and physicist C.P. Snow famously stated that solving the world's complex problems requires collaboration between humanists and scientists. We agree with Snow and illustrate one integrated educational approach that...

An interdisciplinary study of the SARS virus: a one-semester first-year seminar.
September 1, 2005... An interdisciplinary study of the SARS virus provides opportunities for students in different disciplines to discuss the origin; spread; and global, economic, chemical, and biological aspects of disease. Students benefit from active discussions...

Using the Science Writing Heuristic: training chemistry teaching assistants.
September 1, 2005... Promoting the use of the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) among novice teaching assistants at a large university is facilitated by a program of instructional training and mentoring. Sessions include hands-on activities with guided inquiry in...

Teaching problem-solving skills without sacrificing course content: marrying traditional lecture and active learning in an organic chemistry class.
September 1, 2005... Promoting problem-solving skills is a challenge faced by all science instructors. Teaching students to integrate information without sacrificing content is critical. When taught with an active problem-centered teaching model, students' mean...

A theme-based approach to teaching nonmajors biology: helping students connect biology to their lives.
September 1, 2005... This article describes the curriculum for a highly student-centered human biology course constructed around a series of themes that enables the integration of the same basic paradigms found in a traditional survey lecture course without...

Easy ways to promote inquiry in a laboratory course: the power of student questions.
September 1, 2005... To teach students to think like scientists, we modified our laboratory course to include regular opportunities for student practice of inquiry and the scientific process. Our techniques are simple; they can be implemented without rewriting lab...

Creating case study presentations: a survey of senior seminar students.
September 1, 2005... Senior seminar students were surveyed on their opinions of a course that required them to create and present original formal case studies; this resulted in an accumulation of quantitative and qualitative data that were supportive of the case...

Was "inquiry" a mistake? It's all in the name.(evaluating inquiry teaching method)
September 1, 2005... Several years ago, I was engaged in one of many conversations with a friend and colleague about the way we teach biology in the course I coordinate. My colleague was not a person to mince words, and he made it quite clear that inquiry was "a...

Expand your professional horizons.(National Science Teachers Association's 2005 fall conventions)
September 1, 2005... It's that time of year again--make your plans now to attend NSTA's 2005 fall conventions! This year we'll be taking our conference/exhibition events to Hartford, Connecticut; Chicago, Illinois; and Nashville, Tennessee. Get involved... sharpen...

Yellow Jack: How Yellow Fever Ravaged America and Walter Reed Discovered Its Deadly Secrets.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Yellow Jack: How Yellow Fever Ravaged America and Walter Reed Discovered Its Deadly Secrets John R. Pierce and Jim Writer. 288 pp. 2005. $24.95. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. ISBN: 0471472611. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From...

FitzRoy: The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather Forecast.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... FitzRoy: The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather Forecast John Gribbin and Mary Gribbin. 2003. 352 pp. $35. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. ISBN: 0300103611. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This...

Glowing Genes: A Revolution in Biotechnology.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Glowing Genes: A Revolution in Biotechnology Marc Zimmer. 2005. 250 pp. $28. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY. ISBN: 1591022533. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Most major biological supply companies offer GFP bacterial transformation...

Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution Richard Dawkins. 2004. 673 pp. $28. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA. ISBN: 0618005838. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the way to Canterbury, Chaucer's pilgrims stopped each...

Ancient Earth, Ancient Skies: The Age of Earth and Its Cosmic Surroundings.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Ancient Earth, Ancient Skies: The Age of Earth and Its Cosmic Surroundings G. Brent Dalrymple. 2004. 247 pp. $17.95. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, CA. ISBN: 0804749337. This interdisciplinary view of the birth and age of...

Bleed, Blister, and Purge: A History of Medicine on the American Frontier.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Bleed, Blister, and Purge: A History of Medicine on the American Frontier Volney Steele. 2005. 392 pp. $15. Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula, MT. ISBN: 0878425055. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Biology teachers who want...

End of the Certain World: The Life and Science of Max Born.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... End of the Certain World: The Life and Science of Max Born Nancy Thorndike Greenspan. 2005. 359 pp. $26.95. Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, MA. ISBN: 0738206938 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In secondary textbooks, the mention of...