Introductory geoscience courses and STEM education research

Active Learning in Introductory Geoscience courses

Introduction Most students in STEM disciplines have expressed concern about poor teaching specifically mentioning, dull courses, disengaged instructors, and unsupportive teaching strategies (Seymour and Hewitt, 1997; see also Tobias, 1990; Strenta and others, 1994). Seymour and Hewitt (1997) suggested that a thorough revision of teaching and learning in first year STEM courses would likely impr...

Using Conceptests to Assess and Improve Student Conceptual Understanding in Introductory Geoscience Courses

Conceptests are higher-order multiple-choice questions that focus on one key concept of an instructor's major learning goals for a lesson. When coupled with student interaction through peer instruction, conceptests represent a rapid method of formative assessment of student understanding, require minimal changes to the instructional environment and introduce many of the recognized principles of...

Introducing Interior-Point Methods for Introductory Operations Research Courses and/or Linear Programming Courses

In recent years the introduction and development of Interior-Point Methods has had a profound impact on optimization theory as well as practice, influencing the field of Operations Research and related areas. Development of these methods has quickly led to the design of new and efficient optimization codes particularly for Linear Programming. Consequently, there has been an increasing need to i...

Geoscience education: an overview

Scaffolding in Introductory Engineering Courses

In the past ten years, engineering classrooms have seen an exponential growth in the use of technology, more than during any other previous decade. Unprecedented advancements, such as the advent of innovative gadgets and fundamental instructional alterations in engineering classrooms, have introduced changes in both teaching and learning. Student learning in introductory, fundamental engineerin...