How can we merge the science of politics and the practice of politics into a single course? In a 16-week, upper division course on state politics, I address the need to develop students' social scientific skills and practical skills through journal article analysis (JAA) teams and public policy project (PPP) teams. I use a within-subjects, pretest…

UCLA's Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Program (HHURP), a collaboration between the College of Letters and Science and the School of Medicine, trains a group of highly motivated undergraduates through mentored research enhanced by a rigorous seminar course. The course is centered on the presentation and critical analysis of scientific journal…

In this article, the author describes two lessons in which students applied the scientific knowledge learned from studying offshore oil drilling to construct a fact-based argument on the topic and then communicate it to their policy makers, since public commentary was solicited. The students practiced using their scientific knowledge to…

As public participation in scientific research (PPSR) initiatives have expanded rapidly among private, public, and non-profit science research communities over the past decade, program managers and scholars regularly promote, evaluate, and manage such programs with a focus on the value and impact of PPSR efforts on the practice and relevancy of…

This article pays attention to the regional embeddedness of early research on giftedness, looking principally at the works of Lewis Terman and his peers, between the 1910s and 1930s. The rhetoric, ideology, and aesthetics of giftedness in those early works were, I argue, stamped by the context and imaginary of Progressive-Era California and shaped…

Primary literature is essential for scientific communication and is commonly utilized in undergraduate biology education. Despite this, there is often little time spent "training" our students how to critically analyze a paper. To address this, we introduced a primary literature module in multiple upper-division laboratory courses. In…

Primary literature offers rich opportunities to teach students how to "think like a scientist," but the challenges students face when they attempt to read research articles are not well understood. Here, we present an analysis of what master's students perceive as the most challenging aspects of engaging with primary literature. We…

The conservation and well-being of exotic animals is core to the mission of zoos, aquariums and many small nonprofit wildlife groups. Increasingly, these organizations are committed to scientific research, both basic and applied. To ascertain the current state of the libraries that support their efforts, librarians at the San Diego Zoo conducted…

Chemists continue to work at the forefront of materials science research. Recent advances include application of bioengineering to produce plastics from renewable biomass instead of petroleum, generation of paper-based batteries, and development of phototriggerable microcapsules for chemical delivery. In this article, the author provides summaries…

Chemicals entering the atmosphere come from a number of sources but, in broad terms, are either from human activity or from the biosphere (natural systems). What happens to these chemicals once in the atmosphere is very important, of course. If they are toxic they can impact on the health of humans, animals and natural ecosystems. Therefore, it is…

The merits of involving undergraduates in research activities have been publicized in numerous reports and have been promoted through various programs. Moreover, the value of offering research experiences specifically to first and second year students has been lauded. Undergraduate research is generally accepted to be a vehicle through which…

This article introduces the subject of bioprospecting to students. It is a very old biotechnology that involves some very new techniques. Genetic engineering and other processes allow biologists, chemists, and biotechnologists to collect microorganisms and change them in ways that previously were not possible. Organisms that thrive under adverse…