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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education
Community-Based Inquiry Improves Critical Thinking In General Education Biology, Ian J. Quitadamo, Celia L. Faiola, James E. Johnson, Martha J. Kurtz
Community-Based Inquiry Improves Critical Thinking In General Education Biology, Ian J. Quitadamo, Celia L. Faiola, James E. Johnson, Martha J. Kurtz
All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences
National stakeholders are becoming increasingly concerned about the inability of college graduates to think critically. Research shows that, while both faculty and students deem critical thinking essential, only a small fraction of graduates can demonstrate the thinking skills necessary for academic and professional success. Many faculty are considering nontraditional teaching methods that incorporate undergraduate research because they more closely align with the process of doing investigative science. This study compared a research-focused teaching method called community-based inquiry (CBI) with traditional lecture/laboratory in general education biology to discover which method would elicit greater gains in critical thinking. Results showed significant critical-thinking …
Measuring Knowledge Of Natural Selection: A Comparison Of The C.I.N.S., An Open-Response Instrument, And An Oral Interview, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld
Measuring Knowledge Of Natural Selection: A Comparison Of The C.I.N.S., An Open-Response Instrument, And An Oral Interview, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld
Publications and Research
Growing recognition of the central importance of fostering an in-depth understanding of natural selection has, surprisingly, failed to stimulate work on the development and rigorous evaluation of instruments that measure knowledge of it. We used three different methodological tools, the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS), a modified version of Bishop and Anderson's (Bishop and Anderson [1990] Journal of Research in Science Teaching 27: 415-427) open-response test that we call the Open Response Instrument (ORI), and an oral interview derived from both instruments, to measure biology majors' understanding of and alternative conceptions about natural selection. We explored how these instruments …
Undergraduate Research: Communicating Ecological Field Studies To Local School Children Through Outreach And Curriculum, Lee Kats, Shannon Rollert, Trevor Thurling, Richard Johnson, Daniel Cho, Sean Landis, Randall Van Dragt, Gloria Van Dragt
Undergraduate Research: Communicating Ecological Field Studies To Local School Children Through Outreach And Curriculum, Lee Kats, Shannon Rollert, Trevor Thurling, Richard Johnson, Daniel Cho, Sean Landis, Randall Van Dragt, Gloria Van Dragt
Lee Kats
The writers describe a program to communicate undergraduate research results to local K–12 students in California. They describe the development of a curriculum and an outreach effort to convey findings of ecological field work undertaken by Pepperdine University students. They then describe program implementation and program benefits.