The Coronavirus outbreak allows for a number of possible applications to classroom teaching (biology, computer science, Earth science, physics, statistics), as well as student research. A number of simple models reproduce fairly well the case numbers (total confirmed cases) of the Coronavirus pandemic in specific regions. These models may also be…

In this study, we analyzed the literature on teaching or learning on a topic in Earth science, environmental science, or climate change between 1995 and 2017. We investigated the length of the intervention, intervention setting and instructional level, instructional purpose, pedagogical framing and pedagogical methods (including what materials and…

The Advanced Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory (AIRLab) is a team-based multidisciplinary research course that focuses on the development of advanced skills including critical thinking, limits of knowledge awareness, metacognition, autonomy, professional capacity, and decision making in complex environments. For many students, AIRLab…

National science education documents emphasize new learning outcomes of elementary students; therefore, the preparation of elementary teachers should be revised to meet these challenges. This article describes how science educators at a large southeastern university developed specialized science training for elementary preservice teachers (EPSTs)…

The study assessed the science teaching confidence of preservice teachers in teaching elementary science by addressing two research questions: (1) Did preservice teachers understand the science concepts well enough to be effective in teaching elementary science content? (2) Did preservice teachers have the necessary science concepts and skills to…

Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) play an important role in undergraduate programs in our Earth Science Department. A course on teaching and learning was developed to train graduate students in student-centered pedagogy, in a discipline-specific context. The training course has been running for a decade and has been taken by over 100 graduate…

We describe the impact of a hybrid Earth and space science course, taught online and complemented by a 2-hour face-to-face lab, on the science teaching self-efficacy of elementary preservice teachers over a 3-year span. Guided by the two overarching objectives of engaging students in the content and increasing their comfort level with teaching…

This article describes how preservice elementary teachers learn about the nature of science and develop scientific literacy through a collaborative project that prepares them to design meaningful learning experiences for students. The Life's Replica Project was an effort between a college professor and an elementary school teacher to facilitate…

Many teacher educator preparation programs do not provide opportunities for preservice teachers (PSTs) to experience and examine the use of popular fiction as a connection point to science teaching. This study explores a unit designed to support PSTs in learning and applying core concepts and processes of literacy and science by leveraging a…

Understanding data analysis and interpreting data are key components of teaching interdisciplinary undergraduate students. We detail a semester-long research project that introduces students to long-term data sets, incorporates the use of widely available statistical analysis, and underscores an inquiry-based method of teaching climate change. Our…

Quantitative reasoning, although included in most science courses, can be challenging to teach. In this article, we explore whether cooperative learning may help instructors teach quantitative reasoning and enhance students' understanding and learning experience. Our lesson was taught in a large introductory geoscience course. The lesson required…

Active learning classrooms (ALCs) are designed to support collaborative learning in large class sections that are often taught with a lecture format. Studies on ALCs indicate that they have positive influences on student learning, but the same studies fail to look at learning differences between subgroups of students. In the current study,…

Whether to engage student preconceptions to facilitate conceptual change is an area of debate among conceptual change theorists. Here, we evaluate the efficacy of a preconceptions-based instructional sequence about groundwater previously described by (Arthurs, 2019). To assess the impact this instructional sequence had on facilitating the…

Individuals use information selectively, in ways that support group beliefs or one's psychological needs--this is motivated reasoning. Motivated reasoning is revealed in correlations between (1) opinions/knowledge and (2) individual cognitive preferences, such as need for closure, belief in a just world, and authoritarianism. We ask whether…

Community colleges enroll almost half of U.S. undergraduates and were predicted to produce 12% of the workforce for STEM professions in 2018. Half of these students are the first in their families to attend college and therefore are more likely unfamiliar with the steps required to transfer to four-year universities or internship programs.…