STEM Education Teaching Materials

Lesson Plan Template 

Use this lesson plan template to help you put together a lesson that includes active learning activities and lecture all of which are aligned to your learning objectives and pre-class and after-class activities.

Textbook and Courseware Adoption Rubrics

In need of adopting a new textbook or online courseware system for your courses? Take a look at these one-page rubrics which help you compare some of the most critical components of textbooks and courseware systems so as to help you make a decision.

• Textbook adoption rubric
• Courseware adoption rubric 

Reading Guides

Reading guides are custom word documents that help students actively read their textbook and take notes on specific sections of the text. Reading guides can also be adapted into “watching guides” by assigning content-based videos instead of a textbook. A prior study of mine has shown that introductory biology students who completed reading guides fully prior to class earned significantly higher exam scores. 

Here is a blank template reading guide that you can use to get started. Or you can use the links below to download reading guides for several different textbooks that I use in my own courses. Note that these were designed for my own courses and learning objectives, so you may want to customize them for what you cover.

Check out the Speaking page to learn how you can use reading guides as part of a high structure and active learning course.

• OpenStax Biology 2e
• OpenStax A&P 2e
• Campbell Biology in Focus 3e
• Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, 4e

Case Studies

Case studies are a way of using a narrative or a story to teach a lesson which can deepen interest and learning. There are a multitude of studies published on the benefits of using case studies in the college classroom. Below are links to some of my own case studies that I have published in the National Center for Case Study Teaching in the Sciences.

• Scorpion vs. Mouse (action potential physiology)
• The Sad but True Case of Earl Washington (DNA technology and the justice system)
• From Cow Juice to a Billion Dollar Drug, With Some Breakthroughs in Between (recombinant DNA technology)
• Anencephaly in Yakima: Many Questions, Few Answers (human developmental biology)

PodCases

Podcasts + Case Studies = PodCases! PodCases are my way of introducing students to a diverse array of folks and voices via podcasts while maintaining the narrative power of storytelling that is used to enhance the classroom experience via case studies. Check out the PodCases below and feel free to use them in your courses!

Read more about PodCases on my LinkedIn article here!

Biomaterials – for use in an introductory biomedical engineering course, but could also be used in introductory biology or medical courses – download PPT slides here!

 

Kinetic energy (PodCase mini) – for use in introductory physics, introductory thermodynamics, or anywhere where you need a quick review of calculating kinetic energy – download PPT slides here!

 

Biomedical engineering ethics – for use in an introductory biomedical engineering course, but could also be used in introductory biology or medical courses – download PPT slides here!

 

Kidney Function – for use in an anatomy and physiology or introductory biology course – download PPT slides here!

 

Heart Anatomy – for use in an anatomy and physiology or introductory biology course – download PPT slides here!

 

Synapses – for use in an anatomy and physiology or introductory biology course – download PPT slides here!

 

Muscle Force PodCase – for use in an anatomy and physiology or introductory biology course – download PPT slides here!

Homeostasis PodCase – for use in an anatomy and physiology or introductory biology course – download PPT slides here!