Educational Practices

Our project aims to increase undergraduate persistence in the sciences through introductory laboratory courses in which students perform real research experiments and analyze and report their results. They will take part in scientific process and join our department's scientific community early on in their biology careers at the University of Pittsburgh.

The University of Pittsburgh's SEA-PHAGES program is a national, two-semester, discovery-based undergraduate research course that aims to increase undergraduate interest and retention in the biological sciences through immediate (freshman-year) immersion in authentic, valuable, yet accessible research.

To improve learning, the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh is introducing a flipped, or inverted, classroom model in which direct learning (lecture) takes place outside of class, while class time is used for active learning.

The University of Pittsburgh's Discipline-Based Science Education Research Center (dB-SERC) promotes and supports evidence-based teaching practices which bridge the gap between teaching and learning.

The University of Pennsylvania is supporting faculty in making use of Structured, Active, In-class Learning (SAIL) in their teaching. SAIL classes begin with the related premises that students benefit from learning by doing and that class time should be used to help students learn to work with material.

The Science and Math Achievement and Resourcefulness Track (SMART) supports undergraduate research, scientific communication, peer mentoring and preparation for graduate school in science, technology, engineering or mathematics by providing a mentored research experience in a lab at UNC-Chapel Hill.

A partnership between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Maryland Baltimore County goal is to produce a dramatic increase in the number of high achieving under-represented undergraduate students in science that attain advanced STEM degrees.

University of North Carolina formed a partnership between their Physics & Astronomy and Biology Departments to create a new learning environment incorporating methodology validated by research in science education.

The University of North Carolina have hired eight STEM lecturers trained in evidence-based teaching methods to reduce class sizes.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is creating a support framework to facilitate the implementation of evidence-based teaching practices in large courses that have traditionally been taught by the lecture method.