Reconceptualizing a College Science Learning Experience in the New Digital Era: A Review of Literature

Despite all the exciting new digital forms of living, our college science education remains relatively unchanged. Students sit quietly in large classrooms listening to lectures (or not), complete individual labs following cookbook instruction, and take exams only to solve problems of no practical importance. It is the time to reconceptualize a college science learning experience for all students. In this chapter, we review research on technology-enriched instruction and assessments for science education at the college level that target students’ 21st century skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. We propose three interrelated core principles that can help design coherent science instruction, curriculum, and assessments at the college level that meet the needs of the new digital era: (1) Set the development of lifelong learning skills for students as a top priority; (2) incorporate multi-layered instructional supports using technologies; and (3) design new assessments for individual students that demonstrate and facilitate their growth of the lifelong learning capacity.