Small-group discussion is a central component of 21st-century biology classrooms. Many factors shape these discussions and thus influence potential learning gains. This study examined how accuracy and idea consideration shaped small-group discussions in undergraduate biology labs (12 groups, M = 42.8 talk turns). To do this, we asked: (1) Is there…

Cognitive scientists have previously shown that students' perceptions of their learning and performance on assessments often do not match reality. This process of self-assessing performance is a component of metacognition, which also includes the practice of thinking about one's knowledge and identifying and implementing strategies to improve…

The assessment of instructional quality has been and continues to be a desirable, yet difficult endeavor in higher education. The development of new teaching evaluation frameworks along with instruments to measure various aspects of teaching practices holds promise. The challenge rests in the implementation of these frameworks and measures in…

Although doctoral students in the biomedical sciences have been recognized as a population at particular risk for mental health problems such as burnout and depression, little research has been conducted to identify candidate targets for intervention. To this end, we used the stress process model to evaluate potential mediators of stress-burnout…

Although burnout and mental health problems may adversely impact quality of scientific research, academic productivity, and attrition in biomedical doctoral training programs, very little research has been done on this topic. Recent studies have used brief survey methods to begin to explore burnout and mental health problems in biomedical doctoral…

The high attrition rate among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors has long been an area of concern for institutions and educational researchers. The transition from introductory to advanced courses has been identified as a particularly "leaky" point along the STEM pipeline, and students who struggle early in…

Scientists are shaped by their unique life experiences and bring these perspectives to their research. Diversity in life and cultural experiences among scientists, therefore, broadens research directions and, ultimately, scientific discoveries. Deaf individuals, for example, have successfully contributed their unique perspectives to scientific…

Recent calls for improvement in undergraduate education within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines are hampered by the methods used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Faculty members at research universities are commonly assessed and promoted mainly on the basis of research success. To improve the quality of…