Exams constitute the predominant form of summative assessment in undergraduate biology education, with the assumption that exam performance should reflect student conceptual understanding. Previous work highlights multiple examples in which students can answer exam problems correctly without the corresponding conceptual understanding. This…

In recent years, commissions and reports have called for laboratory courses that engage undergraduates in authentic research experiences. We present an iterative approach for developing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that help students learn scientific inquiry skills and foster expert-like perceptions about biology. This…

A genuine interest in science is an important part of scientific literacy, and thus a critical goal for science education. Recent studies, however, have found that school science has not been effective in meeting this goal, an important reason for which is the lack of knowledge about what makes science interesting (or not) to the students. Using…

Assessment of student learning outcomes (SLOs) has become increasingly important in higher education. Meaningful assessment (i.e., assessment that leads to the improvement of student learning) is impossible without faculty engagement. We argue that one way to elicit genuine faculty engagement is to embrace the disciplinary differences when…

The importance of "size and scale" in nanoscience and engineering has been recognized by both scientists and science educators. A solid understanding of this concept is key to the learning of nanoscience. Students, however, have been reported to have considerable difficulty grasping this concept; yet little is known regarding their state…

Minority student attrition and underachievement is a long-standing and widespread concern in higher education. It is especially acute in introductory science courses which are prerequisites for students planning to pursue science-related careers. Poor performance in these courses often results in attrition of minorities from the science fields.…

The Gateway Science Workshop is a peer-facilitated, problem-focused program designed to improve student retention in the sciences. This article discusses its development, implementation, and efficacy, which is demonstrated by higher retention of workshop students in the course sequences. Evidence suggests that the program has particular benefits…