Thomas R. Cech, PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989. His book The Catalyst (2024) is available now in paperback. You can request an exam copy for your courses at the end of the article. I’ve taught several thousand college students …
Continue reading Engaging Biology Students with RNA Storytelling
Dr. Elisabeth Adkins Marnik, PhD, is the Science Education & Outreach Director at MDI Biological Laboratory and the Chief Scientific Officer of Those Nerdy Girls.
The world outside the classroom is changing. As students struggle to understand challenging concepts and engage with the material, psychology instructors like Elliot Berkman, PhD are turning to InQuizitive to identify their students’ difficulties, adapt their coursework, and encourage students to take control of their learning journeys.
What gave rise to this seemingly sudden decline in scientific trust? In retrospect, the public’s misapprehension about the value and meaning of science and scientific consensus clearly reflects a failure of science education.
Engaging students in the principals of physics, chemistry, and biology that underlie environmental science can be a challenge, especially in large and introductory classes, which I frequently teach. Over more than three decades as an educator at the college and high school level, I have honed an approach that I find reaches and engages many students in these large, lecture-based classes—teaching about the environment through the lens of people, their lives, and out-of-the-box ideas.
The Norton Psychology team recently sat down with psychology professor Jessica Hartnett to discuss the launch of her book Psychological Statistics for Everyone (available Fall 2025). Read more about why she wrote the book, her advice to instructors teaching the course for the first time, and more, below.
Daniel J. Sherman is the Luce-Funded Professor of Environmental Policy and Decision Making and Director of the Sound Policy Institute at the University of Puget Sound. He studies the roles individuals and groups play in environmental politics, policy, and sustainability. In addition to his undergraduate text, Environmental Science and Sustainability, Sherman published Not Here, Not …
An award-winning science writer based in Boston, Massachusetts, Megan Scudellari works with editors, scientists, and organizations to craft compelling science narratives. With fifteen years of journalism, editing, and content development experience, she specializes in the life sciences and technology, with expertise in genetics and cell biology. She is also the author of the nonmajors biology …
Continue reading Science Education Needs Storytelling. Here’s Why.
Retirement is looming. Each day ticking by comes with a thought that I might not ever give that specific lecture again, and with a nagging feeling that I still—after more than 30 years—didn’t perfectly nail it. And with that thought, each day ahead becomes even more important, bringing butterflies to my stomach, and questions like: What can I do differently this time? What can I do to really make an impact, to help make the next class even more effective?
Roger L. Miesfeld is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Arizona where he has taught biochemistry both in person and online for 36 years to thousands of premed biochemistry students. Roger has integrated active learning modules and everyday biochemistry into his course, which helped earn him the University of Arizona Honors College Faculty Excellence …
Continue reading High-Frequency, Low-Stakes Assessments in Biochemistry