Download or read book The Quality of Undergraduate Science Education written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subcommittee on Science and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hearing, opened by Rep. Ray Thorton of Arkansas, addressed the perceived imbalance between teaching and research among university professors and the concern that the quality of undergraduate science education within the United States has deteriorated. Witnesses were called to examine factors that contribute to establishing an appropriate balance between research and teaching responsibilities for professors and factors that improve the quality of undergraduate science education. Witnesses included Dr. Charles M. Vest, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Dr. Karl S. Pister, Interim Chancellor, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California; Dr. E. Fred Carlisle, Senior Vice President and Provost, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia; Dr. Pamela A. Ferguson, President Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa; Dr. Homer A. Neal, Chairman, Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Dr. Samuel Ward, Professor and Department Head, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona; Dr. Jack R. Lohmann, Associate Dean, College of Engineering, and Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia; and Dr. Denice Denton, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Topics discussed by the witnesses included faculty evaluation and promotion; the interaction of teaching and research; the Virginia Tech plan for undergraduate education and faculty rewards; the need for continued research funding; and faculty incentive systems. A copy of "America's Academic Future: A Report of the Presidential Young Investigator Colloquium on U.S. Engineering, Mathematics, and Science Education for the year 2010 and Beyond" is included. (MDH)
Download or read book Discipline Based Education Research written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-08-27 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Science Foundation funded a synthesis study on the status, contributions, and future direction of discipline-based education research (DBER) in physics, biological sciences, geosciences, and chemistry. DBER combines knowledge of teaching and learning with deep knowledge of discipline-specific science content. It describes the discipline-specific difficulties learners face and the specialized intellectual and instructional resources that can facilitate student understanding. Discipline-Based Education Research is based on a 30-month study built on two workshops held in 2008 to explore evidence on promising practices in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This book asks questions that are essential to advancing DBER and broadening its impact on undergraduate science teaching and learning. The book provides empirical research on undergraduate teaching and learning in the sciences, explores the extent to which this research currently influences undergraduate instruction, and identifies the intellectual and material resources required to further develop DBER. Discipline-Based Education Research provides guidance for future DBER research. In addition, the findings and recommendations of this report may invite, if not assist, post-secondary institutions to increase interest and research activity in DBER and improve its quality and usefulness across all natural science disciples, as well as guide instruction and assessment across natural science courses to improve student learning. The book brings greater focus to issues of student attrition in the natural sciences that are related to the quality of instruction. Discipline-Based Education Research will be of interest to educators, policy makers, researchers, scholars, decision makers in universities, government agencies, curriculum developers, research sponsors, and education advocacy groups.
Download or read book Quality in the Undergraduate Experience written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Students, parents, and government agencies need as much information as possible about the outcomes of the higher education experience and the extent to which they can expect a fair return on their investment in higher education.In order to better understand the concept of quality - enabling students to acquire knowledge in a variety of disciplines and deep knowledge in at least one discipline, as well as to develop a range of skills and habits of mind that prepare them for career success, engaged citizenship, intercultural competence, social responsibility, and continued intellectual growth - an ad hoc planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Higher Education and Workforce, with funding from the Lumina Foundation, organized a workshop in Washington, D.C., on December 14-15, 2015.This report summarizes the presentations and discussion of that event.
Download or read book Reaching Students written by Nancy Kober and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Reaching Students presents the best thinking to date on teaching and learning undergraduate science and engineering. Focusing on the disciplines of astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, geosciences, and physics, this book is an introduction to strategies to try in your classroom or institution. Concrete examples and case studies illustrate how experienced instructors and leaders have applied evidence-based approaches to address student needs, encouraged the use of effective techniques within a department or an institution, and addressed the challenges that arose along the way."--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-01-19 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economic, academic, and social forces are causing undergraduate schools to start a fresh examination of teaching effectiveness. Administrators face the complex task of developing equitable, predictable ways to evaluate, encourage, and reward good teaching in science, math, engineering, and technology. Evaluating, and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics offers a vision for systematic evaluation of teaching practices and academic programs, with recommendations to the various stakeholders in higher education about how to achieve change. What is good undergraduate teaching? This book discusses how to evaluate undergraduate teaching of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology and what characterizes effective teaching in these fields. Why has it been difficult for colleges and universities to address the question of teaching effectiveness? The committee explores the implications of differences between the research and teaching cultures-and how practices in rewarding researchers could be transferred to the teaching enterprise. How should administrators approach the evaluation of individual faculty members? And how should evaluation results be used? The committee discusses methodologies, offers practical guidelines, and points out pitfalls. Evaluating, and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics provides a blueprint for institutions ready to build effective evaluation programs for teaching in science fields.
Download or read book Improving How Universities Teach Science written by Carl Wieman and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-22 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Too many universities remain wedded to outmoded ways of teaching science in spite of extensive research showing that there are much more effective methods. Too few departments ask whether what happens in their lecture halls is effective at helping students to learn and how they can encourage their faculty to teach better. But real change is possible, and Carl Wieman shows us how it can be brought about. Improving How Universities Teach Science draws on Wieman’s unparalleled experience to provide a blueprint for educators seeking sustainable improvements in science teaching. Wieman created the Science Education Initiative (SEI), a program implemented across thirteen science departments at the universities of Colorado and British Columbia, to support the widespread adoption of the best research-based approaches to science teaching. The program’s data show that in the most successful departments 90 percent of faculty adopted better methods. Wieman identifies what factors helped and hindered the adoption of good teaching methods. He also gives detailed, effective, and tested strategies for departments and institutions to measure and improve the quality of their teaching while limiting the demands on faculty time. Among all of the commentary addressing shortcomings in higher education, Wieman’s lessons on improving teaching and learning stand out. His analysis and solutions are not limited to just one lecture hall or course but deal with changing entire departments and universities. For those who want to improve how universities teach science to the next generation, Wieman’s work is a critical first step.
Download or read book Assessing the Value of Research in the Chemical Sciences written by Chemical Sciences Roundtable and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1998-11-13 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book captures the messages from a workshop that brought together research managers from government, industry, and academia to review and discuss the mechanisms that have been proposed or used to assess the value of chemical research. The workshop focused on the assessment procedures that have been or will be established within the various organizations that carry out or fund research activities, with particular attention to the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The book presents approaches and ideas from leaders in each area that were intended to identify new and useful ways of assessing the value and potential impact of research activities.
Download or read book Talking About Leaving written by Elaine Seymour and published by Westview Press. This book was released on 2000-08-01 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This intriguing book explores the reasons that lead undergraduates of above-average ability to switch from science, mathematics, and engineering majors into nonscience majors. Based on a three-year, seven-campus study, the volume takes up the ongoing national debate about the quality of undergraduate education in these fields, offering explanations for net losses of students to non-science majors. Data show that approximately 40 percent of undergraduate students leave engineering programs, 50 percent leave the physical and biological sciences, and 60 percent leave mathematics. Concern about this waste of talent is heightened because these losses occur among the most highly qualified college entrants and are disproportionately greater among women and students of color, despite a serious national effort to improve their recruitment and retention. The authors' findings, culled from over 600 hours of ethnographic interviews and focus group discussions with undergraduates, explain the intended and unintended consequences of some traditional teaching practices and attitudes. Talking about Leaving is richly illustrated with students' accounts of their own experiences in the sciences. This is a landmark study-an essential source book for all those concerned with changing the ways that we teach science, mathematics, and engineering education, and with opening these fields to a more diverse student body.
Download or read book BIO2010 written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-02-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biological sciences have been revolutionized, not only in the way research is conductedâ€"with the introduction of techniques such as recombinant DNA and digital technologyâ€"but also in how research findings are communicated among professionals and to the public. Yet, the undergraduate programs that train biology researchers remain much the same as they were before these fundamental changes came on the scene. This new volume provides a blueprint for bringing undergraduate biology education up to the speed of today's research fast track. It includes recommendations for teaching the next generation of life science investigators, through: Building a strong interdisciplinary curriculum that includes physical science, information technology, and mathematics. Eliminating the administrative and financial barriers to cross-departmental collaboration. Evaluating the impact of medical college admissions testing on undergraduate biology education. Creating early opportunities for independent research. Designing meaningful laboratory experiences into the curriculum. The committee presents a dozen brief case studies of exemplary programs at leading institutions and lists many resources for biology educators. This volume will be important to biology faculty, administrators, practitioners, professional societies, research and education funders, and the biotechnology industry.
Download or read book Undergraduate Research in the Sciences written by Sandra Laursen and published by Jossey-Bass. This book was released on 2010-06-10 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Undergraduate research (UR) is widely believed to enhance the learning experience of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs. This is the first comprehensive, practical, research-based book on undergraduate research. It addresses how the benefits to UR participants arise; compares the benefits of UR with other types of educational activities or experience; the long-term value of UR; and more. Intended to assist both existing and new UR practitioners with program design and evaluation needs, the book will also be useful to the wider community of academics, policy-makers, and funders of UR programs.
Download or read book Handbook on Teaching Undergraduate Science Courses written by Gordon Uno and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This already-popular teaching resource is an informative, insightful guide to science teaching, the handbook places special emphasis on general biology, compiling materials collected and developed by Dr. Uno during his 17 years of teaching experience. Graduate teaching assistants, undergraduate science instructors, as well as experienced faculty members looking for new classroom ideas will find this guide an invaluable source of information.
Download or read book Improving Student Learning written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-08-11 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The state of America's schools is a major concern of policymakers, educators, and parents, and new programs and ideas are constantly proposed to improve it. Yet few of these programs and ideas are based on strong research about students and teachersâ€"about learning and teaching. Even when there is solid knowledge, the task of importing it into more than one million classrooms is daunting. Improving Student Learning responds by proposing an ambitious and extraordinary plan: a strategic education research program that would focus on four key questions: How can advances in research on learning be incorporated into educational practice? How can student motivation to achieve in school be increased? How can schools become organizations capable of continuous improvement? How can the use of research knowledge be increased in schools? This book is the springboard for a year-long discussion among educators, researchers, policy makers, and the potential funders-federal, state, and private-of the proposed strategic education research program. The committee offers suggestions for designing, organizing, and managing an effective strategic education research program by building a structure of interrelated networks. The book highlights such issues as how teachers can help students overcome their conceptions about how the world works, the effect of expectations on school performance, and the particular challenges of teaching children from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds. In the midst of a cacophony of voices about America's schools, this book offers a serious, long-range proposal for meeting the challenges of educating the nation's children.
Download or read book The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-01-24 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mentorship is a catalyst capable of unleashing one's potential for discovery, curiosity, and participation in STEMM and subsequently improving the training environment in which that STEMM potential is fostered. Mentoring relationships provide developmental spaces in which students' STEMM skills are honed and pathways into STEMM fields can be discovered. Because mentorship can be so influential in shaping the future STEMM workforce, its occurrence should not be left to chance or idiosyncratic implementation. There is a gap between what we know about effective mentoring and how it is practiced in higher education. The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM studies mentoring programs and practices at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It explores the importance of mentorship, the science of mentoring relationships, mentorship of underrepresented students in STEMM, mentorship structures and behaviors, and institutional cultures that support mentorship. This report and its complementary interactive guide present insights on effective programs and practices that can be adopted and adapted by institutions, departments, and individual faculty members.
Download or read book Data Science for Undergraduates written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-11-11 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Data science is emerging as a field that is revolutionizing science and industries alike. Work across nearly all domains is becoming more data driven, affecting both the jobs that are available and the skills that are required. As more data and ways of analyzing them become available, more aspects of the economy, society, and daily life will become dependent on data. It is imperative that educators, administrators, and students begin today to consider how to best prepare for and keep pace with this data-driven era of tomorrow. Undergraduate teaching, in particular, offers a critical link in offering more data science exposure to students and expanding the supply of data science talent. Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options offers a vision for the emerging discipline of data science at the undergraduate level. This report outlines some considerations and approaches for academic institutions and others in the broader data science communities to help guide the ongoing transformation of this field.
Download or read book Undergraduate Science Math and Engineering Education written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science. Subcommittee on Research and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Socio scientific Issues in the Classroom written by Troy D. Sadler and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-05-11 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Socio-scientific issues (SSI) are open-ended, multifaceted social issues with conceptual links to science. They are challenging to negotiate and resolve, and they create ideal contexts for bridging school science and the lived experience of students. This book presents the latest findings from the innovative practice and systematic investigation of science education in the context of socio-scientific issues. Socio-scientific Issues in the Classroom: Teaching, Learning and Research focuses on how SSI can be productively incorporated into science classrooms and what SSI-based education can accomplish regarding student learning, practices and interest. It covers numerous topics that address key themes for contemporary science education including scientific literacy, goals for science teaching and learning, situated learning as a theoretical perspective for science education, and science for citizenship. It presents a wide range of classroom-based research projects that offer new insights for SSI-based education. Authored by leading researchers from eight countries across four continents, this book is an important compendium of syntheses and insights for veteran researchers, teachers and curriculum designers eager to advance the SSI agenda.
Download or read book Improving Undergraduate Instruction in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-05-28 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Participants in this workshop were asked to explore three related questions: (1) how to create measures of undergraduate learning in STEM courses; (2) how such measures might be organized into a framework of criteria and benchmarks to assess instruction; and (3) how such a framework might be used at the institutional level to assess STEM courses and curricula to promote ongoing improvements. The following issues were highlighted: Effective science instruction identifies explicit, measurable learning objectives. Effective teaching assists students in reconciling their incomplete or erroneous preconceptions with new knowledge. Instruction that is limited to passive delivery of information requiring memorization of lecture and text contents is likely to be unsuccessful in eliciting desired learning outcomes. Models of effective instruction that promote conceptual understanding in students and the ability of the learner to apply knowledge in new situations are available. Institutions need better assessment tools for evaluating course design and effective instruction. Deans and department chairs often fail to recognize measures they have at their disposal to enhance incentives for improving education. Much is still to be learned from research into how to improve instruction in ways that enhance student learning.
