This study was conducted to determine if embedding effective study strategies in a course would result in an increased use of these strategies and, therefore, increase success and retention in introductory-level science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses. An interdisciplinary team of STEM faculty members created study strategies…

Most introductory courses are held in large lecture halls, with students typically sitting in either the front, middle, or back of the classroom. In a mixed-methods study of student attendance, performance, and seat choice, we found that students who chose to sit behind their peers performed nearly a full grade level worse than their peers who sat…

During the pandemic, the use of question pools for online testing was recommended to mitigate cheating, exposing multitudes of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students across the globe to this practice. Yet instructors may be unfamiliar with the ways that seemingly small changes between questions in a pool can expose…

People's ability to evaluate scientific research is important to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. STEM educators can use the pandemic to frame instruction of scientific literacy and critical-thinking skills. In a small pilot introductory psychology course taught online in spring 2021, we created jigsaw-style modules organized around real-world…

This paper describes an introductory biology course for undergraduates that heavily incorporates quantitative problem solving in activities and homework assignments. The course is broken up into a series of units, each organized around a motivating biological question or theme. Homework assignments address the theme or question, and typically…

Pervasive narratives about who and what counts as competent in science disproportionately impact students historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and are perpetuated in the design of STEM courses. Equity-focused education literature argues for the need to develop robust learning ecologies that support…

While the majority of STEM persistence has focused on outcomes for first-year students, there has been little investigation into the outcomes for peer mentors. Of the studies conducted, results are promising. Benefits for peer mentors include a change in their perceptions on teaching and learning; an improvement in their communication,…

Gateways-ND is a 5-year, National Science Foundation-funded effort directed toward three goals: maximizing the instructional effectiveness of postsecondary STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) faculty by building expertise in learner-focused practice, positively impacting student success in STEM-based "gateway"…

Recent studies have shown that sorting tasks are a useful tool both for measuring and aiding student learning as well as facilitating the transfer of knowledge to novel contexts. These tasks require students to categorize scenarios or information in new ways that facilitate connection making and deeper understanding. As such, sorting tasks…

Science faculty are being asked to create active learning experiences that engage students in core concepts and science practices. This article describes an approach to developing active learning lessons from authentic science research projects using the 5E lesson format. Included is a description of the 5Es and a template for creating a 5E…

Critical thinking skills are sought after in the workforce and are often included in course, departmental, and programmatic learning objectives. However, in the curriculum of many courses we tend to focus on content rather than on fostering the growth of the cognitive skills needed to improve critical thinking ability. Further, skills are…

We describe a major transformation in teaching large introductory courses in the sciences and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, impacting over 17,000 students yearly. The transformation was emergent, not prescribed, and occurred through two programs that included both engineering and science departments. Working…

The most challenging global problems of our age involve coupled human--environmental systems within the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. The undergraduate students currently in our classrooms will be tomorrow's global citizens, each of whom must be prepared to understand and reason about these challenges and ultimately make decisions about them in a…

Success for students majoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) within undergraduate chemistry courses is crucial for retention in science degree programs, especially for students perceived as lacking content knowledge and skills. This study leveraged blended learning structures in a remedial chemistry course combined…

Biology I is a required course for many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and is often their first college-level laboratory experience. The replacement of the traditional face-to-face laboratory experience with virtual laboratories could influence students' content knowledge, motivation to learn biology, and overall…