My primary research focus is Scientific Teaching. Scientists are calling for science education reforms and are promoting to scientists the idea of teaching scientifically--attending to the research on what promotes learning when designing and implementing teaching strategies. That large body of published research shows that across many disciplines, interactive engagement teaching strategies, including active, problem-based, cooperative, and collaborative learning and peer instruction, are far superior to the traditional lecture format. See “Scientific Teaching” by Handelsman et al., SCIENCE, 2004, Supplementary Online Materials for extensive resources.

I am a Science Faculty member with an Education Specialty: that means I have a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and extensive postdoctoral and faculty experience in RNA Biochemistry. Through further training and research, I gained experience in Life Science Education Research. In my position here at BGSU, I am especially interested in developing a Biology Education Research and Development program around questions about how best to bring scientific thinking skills and scientific literacy to all students, science majors and non-majors alike.
*link to my CV

We make decisions every day using a variety of reference points and tools such as relying on an authority, ethics, morals, and evidence. Science values evidence and in a science course students will begin to learn how to discern good evidence from inadequate or faulty data and experimental design. So even if the student does not decide to become a science major, knowing something about the values in the discipline will give them one more tool in their decision-making toolbox.

See the following websites that pertain to discerning science from pseudoscience:

Quackwatch: Your guide to Quackery, Healthy Fraud, and Intelligent Decisions
What is pseudoscience? How do I recognize it?
James Randi Educational Foundation