Students of science tend to learn about scientific breakthroughs through textbooks and scientific journals, with a focus on the end result – the main discovery. But most of the research work underlying a discovery begins with a hypothesis – a key element of the scientific process that is often neglected in a classroom. So what is a hypothesis and how to frame one? This article shares some key points.

This article was first published by Editage Insights, Cactus Communications.

In education, research and innovation, we often hear the terms “interdisciplinary” and “multidisciplinary”. Many of us may use these terms without understanding what exactly they mean. In this article Madhumita Krishnan, a consultant Ayurveda paediatrician at The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology (TDU), Bengaluru unravels the meaning of these terms and explores the significance and need for a newer term called “trans-disciplinary”.

A lot of emphasis is given on introducing research in undergraduate curricula. On the other hand, there is little to no discussion about how to introduce the students to reading primary literature critically, or how to assess their understanding of it. Can there be a structured way of getting a regular undergraduate, who may or may not be interested in a research career, enthused about reading a research paper? How to test whether they have understood what they have read? These were the questions dealt by the educators of the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai, while developing a three-day module for reading research papers. In this article, one of the facilitators of the module walks us through their process.

The pandemic and the consequent lockdown have disrupted classes and access to labs at educational institutions across the country. However, for the undergraduate students of the CUBE program, the lockdown has been a boon. Instead of losing hope, these students have set a precedent by finding creative ways to continue working and learning along with their peers by developing the CUBE home labs and the CUBE chatShaala.

Undergraduate research experience has the potential to suit the needs of learners. A recent study analyses the attitudinal outcomes of college students taking up bench and digital research. Termed Course-based Research Experience or CURE, this pedagogical approach takes the student through a journey of discovery-via-inquiry.