Frontiers of Science Online

In this video-recorded workshop, Deborah Mowshowitz, associate professor and director of undergraduate programs in Columbia University's biological sciences department, offers guidance on running an effective discussion in an undergraduate science class. Mowshowitz models and describes the skills of a successful discussion leader, addressing topics such as student engagement and how to pose questions that provoke conversation, and provides tips for classroom troubleshooting.

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In this video-recorded workshop, Deborah Mowshowitz, associate professor and director of undergraduate programs in Columbia University's biological sciences department, offers guidance on running an effective discussion in an undergraduate science class. Mowshowitz models and describes the skills of a successful discussion leader, addressing topics such as student engagement and how to pose questions that provoke conversation, and provides tips for classroom troubleshooting.

This brief article from Journal of College Science Teaching presents an argument in favor of using "interrupted case studies" in teaching science to undergraduates. Such case studies, the author writes, help students develop critical thinking skills and present science as the messy, incomplete, and creative process that it is for those who do research. The author, Clyde Freeman Herreid, directs the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and is a distinguished professor of biological sciences.

At the end of the term, when all lectures, readings, and assignments are a thing of the past, the instructors in Frontiers of Science use an anonymous survey to find out what further information their students wish to understand. The instructors set aside time to answer some of these questions and consider them when revising the curriculum for the next term. We post them here to give you a sense of the interests, understanding, and misunderstandings among students in a general college science course. The questions in this document are those pertaining to science in general, rather than to a particular discipline.

This document is a compilation of points to cover in the first meeting of a class. This is especially handy as a guide for new instructors or as a checklist for those with teaching experience.