Evidence-based learning environments that boost STEM success

Biology educator Lori Kayes is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of large lecture courses, serving over 500 students each by using evidence-based teaching practices. Using the Course Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) framework, Kayes collaborates with faculty across disciplines to implement inquiry- and issues- based curricula in lower-division labs, fostering motivation and deeper learning. She co-leads efforts within the Northwest Biosciences Consortium, supported by an NSF grant, to promote widespread adoption of the AAAS Vision and Change framework throughout the Pacific Northwest. Partnering with colleague Devon Quick, Kayes helped create the Learning Assistant program to train undergraduates as peer facilitators, enhancing active learning in large classes. She also co-runs a seminar preparing graduate teaching assistants across campus with best practices in STEM instruction.

Improving learning outcomes in high-enrollment courses

Devon Quick is a leader in undergraduate science education at OSU, advancing a rigorous, accessible approach rooted in how students learn. Her evidence-based innovations have improved outcomes in high-enrollment gateway courses through her central role in reimagining instruction in large-enrollment STEM classes. Under her leadership, the Learning Assistant Program has fostered more equitable learning environments and significantly improved outcomes. She has also advanced educational access by co-authoring an open-access anatomy textbook that now reaches a global audience and removes financial barriers for students. Her contributions have been recognized with the Loyd F. Carter Award for Outstanding and Inspirational Undergraduate Teaching and designation as a Whiteley Faculty Scholar

Immersing science students in the process of discovery

Nathan Kirk teaches biology and zoology through inquiry-driven learning that mirrors the scientific process. His classrooms foster critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving by emphasizing group work, data analysis and hands-on investigation over traditional lectures. In field-based courses along Oregon’s coast and at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, students collect real data and connect theory to practice. In his Invertebrate Biology course, for instance, they extract DNA, build phylogenetic trees and conduct original research. One student even produced the first publicly available genetic sequence of a marine worm. Students also engage with primary literature and learn through “productive failure,” gaining a deeper understanding by working through complex problems.

Physics courses redesigned for how students really learn

Physics education researcher Elizabeth Gire is reshaping how students learn physics through evidence-based teaching and innovative course design. Drawing on her extensive research into student learning, reflected in over 40 publications, Gire integrates active learning strategies, from small whiteboard questions to kinesthetic activities, to deepen conceptual understanding. As a vital member of OSUPER, Oregon State’s Physics Education Research group, she developed a second year physics course that helps students transform smoothly into professional scientific environments. Her dedication to improving student outcomes and engagement is reflected in consistently high scores on student evaluation and learning experiences. She also earned the Elizabeth P. Ritchie Distinguished Professor Award, OSU’s highest teaching award. Her blend of pedagogical research and practical classroom innovation creates physics education that builds student confidence and success throughout their academic journey.

Translating learning research into student success strategies

By uncovering how students grasp core concepts in physics, KC Walsh is transforming science education to better support deep learning and student success. A key member of Oregon State’s physics education research faculty, he focuses on improving conceptual understanding through active engagement. He studies what resources and class models correlate with the greatest student learning outcomes. He directs Project BoxSand and the Lightboard Studio, which deliver open educational resources and dynamic video lectures, especially valuable for Ecampus students. As a co-founder of CoSCIES, he helps lead a faculty community dedicated to implementing evidence-based teaching practices and advancing inclusive excellence in STEM education. KC is the former president of the Oregon branch of the American Association of Physics Teachers and is leading efforts to improve the leaky STEM pipeline by creating smoother pathways for Oregon high school students as they transition to college. His contributions have earned multiple teaching awards and the ESTEME Action Research Fellowship. Through these efforts, Walsh is reshaping physics pedagogy to improve student success across varied learning environments at Oregon State.

Reimagining hands-on anatomy learning for online students

Human anatomy courses are long-rooted in hands-on lab experiences, which presents unique challenges for online STEM learning. But Ecampus research fellow Staci Bronson has developed and refined OSU’s online Human Anatomy and Physiology course series to deliver a rigorous, engaging experience that prepares students well for health professions and graduate programs. Her approach blends pedagogical research with digital creativity to ensure students achieve meaningful learning outcomes, efforts recognized in 2024 with the OSU Faculty Excellence in Online Teaching Award for outstanding contributions to online biology education. Together with Lindsay Biga and the Ecampus team, Bronson created the “bone box,” a suite of interactive digital tools that simulate the on-campus lab experience and help students build spatial and structural understanding of the human skeleton. With structured assignments and robust support, Ecampus anatomy students build both proficiency and confidence — while learning remotely. Student experiences will feed back into the teaching process as Bronson and Biga study the outcomes of their new tools as part of their joint Ecampus Research Fellowship project.

Studying how generative AI enhances student scientific creativity

Physicist Patti Hamerski and her lab investigate how students use generative AI (gen-AI) in computational physics courses at Oregon State, focusing on the relationship between gen-AI and student creativity and learning. By assessing essay-based interviews from upper-division computational physics courses with an educational creativity model, Hamerski's lab revealed student attitudes towards and perceptions of gen-AI and its role in fostering academic creativity. Her ongoing goal is to develop curricular guidelines that support the use of gen-AI in STEM courses, so that educational practices can continue to evolve alongside AI’s development.

Improving math education through insights into student reasoning

In fields like data science, computer science and engineering, combinatorics — the mathematics of counting and arranging — is a foundational skill, yet often one of the most difficult to master. In order to broaden access to these STEM fields and create stronger foundations for student success across science and engineering, educators are faced with a difficult task of making such complex concepts more accessible. Mathematician Elise Lockwood is advancing understanding of how students reason through these abstract challenges by analyzing classroom interactions and student thinking. By identifying where learners get stuck and which strategies make a difference, her work is shaping more effective, evidence-based teaching that improves outcomes and builds students’ confidence in mathematical reasoning. Her research has earned national recognition, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Inclusive, inquiry-based approaches in biochemistry education

Kari van Zee spearheaded the creation of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major and the modernization of the Biochemistry and Biophysics majors. A champion of active learning, she enriches undergraduate lab instruction by embedding authentic research into the curriculum. Rather than relying on lectures or predetermined experiments, she sees herself as a “science facilitator,” creating space for students to engage in small-group discussions, analyze data and collaborate in lab sessions. She prompts students to reflect, ask questions and think critically, empowering them to take ownership of their learning and engage in real scientific practice. In recognition of her student-centered approach to teaching and advising, she received the College of Science's Fred Horne Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and OSU’s Dar Reese Excellence in Advising Award.

Integrating research experience into the classroom

College of Science faculty are dedicated to providing research opportunities for every student, even when students don’t have the flexibility in their schedules to pursue research outside of class. To support this, several College of Science courses have implemented classroom-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), where students engage in authentic research projects within the curriculum. Unlike many schools that embed research into coursework, our students work on research pulled directly from active labs on campus, giving them a chance to work meaningfully alongside research faculty. These experiences foster critical thinking, develop problem-solving skills and help students build confidence. Some students even become co-authors on scientific papers, sharing data produced during their coursework.

Scaling up student-centered physics education, guided by data

Project BoxSand is a powerful, open-access learning platform designed to improve student outcomes in challenging introductory physics courses. Developed by physics instructor KC Walsh, BoxSand integrates evidence-based pedagogy with accessible digital delivery platforms to help students engage more deeply with fundamental physics concepts. It offers lightboard video lectures, scaffolded problem sets, interactive simulations, open-source textbooks and a framework for flipped instruction — enabling students to prepare ahead and use classroom time for active, applied learning. Equally important, BoxSand generates engagement data that allows instructors to identify learning gaps and adjust teaching strategies in real time. This research-informed feedback loop has led to measurable gains in student comprehension, particularly in large-enrollment courses where instruction is difficult to individualize. Initially launched to support courses across OSU campuses, BoxSand is now open access and increasingly used by educators beyond OSU.

Open resources for an equitable learning future

To ease a common barrier to learning, our faculty are tackling the high cost of textbooks by creating freely available course materials. These tools help make science education more accessible and equitable for students at OSU and elsewhere. Below are some of the open-access textbooks they’ve developed:

• Anatomy and Physiology by Lindsay Biga (Integrative Biology), Staci Bronson (Chemistry) and Devon Quick (Integrative Biology) and collaborators.
• Fundamentals of Cell Biology by Lauren Dalton (Biochemistry and Biophysics) and collaborator Robin Young (University of British Columbia).
• Biochemistry Free For All 1.3 by Kevin Ahern and Indira Rajagopal (Biochemistry and Biophysics) with alumna Taralyn Tan, ’08 (Harvard University)
• Biochemistry Free & Easy by Kevin Ahern and Indira Rajagopal (Biochemistry and Biophysics)
• Applied Bioinformatics by David Hendrix (Biochemistry and Biophysics)
• Exploring Physical Phenomena by Liz Gire and Emily van Zee (Physics)
• Chemical Biology & Biochemistry Laboratory Using Genetic Code Expansion Manual by Kari van Zee and Ryan Mehl (Biochemistry and Biophysics) with alumna Kelsey Kean, ’18 Ph.D.
• Allied Health Microbiology and General Microbiology by Linda Bruslind (Microbiology)