One way to help students develop critical thinking skills is to focus on problems or cases where they are challenged to deal with real data and experiences (Bransford et al. 2004). Both problem-based learning and case studies allow students to develop the intellectual capacity to deal with complex issues, build confidence and willingness to approach topics from multiple perspectives, and...
The call for evidence-based research in education has accelerated in recent years, accompanied by the need to examine the nature of inquiry into student learning. Donovan and Pellegrino (2003) make a strong appeal to improve the quality of classroom research, stating that “education needs high-quality research if the results are to be reliable for the purposes of improving practice”. The challen...
Reading and discussing primary literature is central to communicating science. Students need practice in reading the literature for purposes beyond gaining information. Literature can be used to both increase knowledge and comprehension and to engage students in higher-level thinking (Bloom 1956; Levine 2001; Gillen et al. 2004; Finelli et al. 2005). Because science is also about making...
Using a problem developed from Guinotte et al. [attached], we illustrate a research approach to determine the effectiveness of inquiry-based instruction on students’ understanding. Two research studies, one in biology (Udovic et al. 2002) and one in chemistry (Wright et al.1998), influenced our thinking about how to proceed. Both are exemplary studies that examined the impact of active learnin...
It is not surprising that humans have profoundly altered the global nitrogen (N) cycle in an effort to feed 7 billion people, because nitrogen is an essential plant and animal nutrient. Food and energy production from agriculture, combined with industrial and energy sources, have more than doubled the amount of reactive nitrogen circulating annually on land. Humanity has disrupted the nitrogen...
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