Biological, physical and mathematical sciences at Michigan State University
The journal Science has awarded a biology lab developed for BS110 the Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction. The “Campus Trees Phenology Project” was developed by Tammy Long, an assistant professor of plant biology, and Sara Wyse, now an assistant professor of biological sciences at Bethel University, as part of the coursework in the class Biological Sciences [...]
The Geological Society of America has recognized MSU doctoral student Sheldon Turner with an Outstanding Mention Award – one of 20 awards presented by the GSA during their annual conference in Minneapolis. Turner was recognized for his research in understanding how to best communicate complex science issues through images and visualizations. “A common way to communicate [...]
Several changes in leadership positions affiliated with CNS were recently made for Fall 2011. Following are the new department chairs and program directors in CNS: James Galligan, Director, Neuroscience Program William Jackson, Interim Chair, Department of Pharmacology/Toxicology Joseph Krajcik, Director, Institute for Research on Math and Science Education David Kreulen, Interim Chair, Department of Physiology [...]
Joseph Krajcik has been named director of the MSU Institute for Research on Mathematics and Science Education (IRMSE). Krajcik comes to MSU from the University of Michigan, where he has been a professor in the School of Education since 1990. He is a key contributor in the national movement to create new K-12 science standards. [...]
Diane Ebert-May, professor of plant biology, and five co-authors published an evaluation of how well professional development workshops do when teaching university professors to use active, “learner-centered” teaching methods. Their findings, published in the July 2011 issue of BioScience, call into doubt the value of the self-assessments traditionally used in education research. The analysis found [...]
Spending the summer criss-crossing Michigan and traveling remote backroads may not sound like science, but for two MSU graduate students, it is a key role in the establishment of a massive imaging array to better predict natural disasters. Benjamin Johnson and Jamie Ryan are identifying locations across the lower peninsula that will host 25 seismic [...]
What started 19 years ago as a way to provide randomized homework with immediate feedback has evolved into an open-source system used today by 160 institutions around the world. The Learning Online Network with Computer-Assistant Personalized Approach, or LON-CAPA, continues to play a major role in teaching physics and other disciplines at MSU as nearly [...]
In a YouTube video titled “Viking Exploding Jack-o-Lantern,” students in Rich Lund’s chemistry class at St. John’s High School are thrilled as the gases inside the pumpkin ignite. This ignition of acetylene gas is the exciting side of chemistry – one which Kathy Severin and Gavin Reid think more high school students should experience. [...]
Search for “organic chemistry” on the internet and one of the top results belongs to Bill Reusch, professor emeritus, and his online textbook used by faculty and students around the world. The site has been an ongoing work for Reusch who retired more than ten years ago. The Virtual Textbook of Organic Chemistry has [...]
Associate Professor Julie Libarkin bubbles with enthusiasm for education. In her four years at MSU, Libarkin has changed the way students learn geology. For Libarkin, her research is about improving learning. She coined the term “geocognition” to describe the study of how people perceive and understand the Earth. “What do people not know?” asks Libarkin. [...]
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