Three resources for faculty interested in an introduction to Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

This framework, developed by ISKME in partnership with SERC, provides a practical reference for curators and authors of STEM OER, with 23 accessibility criteria, or elements, to reference as they curate, design and adapt materials to be accessible.

This resources provides a framework for students to write a Microbiology Resource Announcement, collaboratively.

Radical innovations in DNA sequencing technology over the past decade have created an increased need for computational bioinformatics analyses in the 21^st century STEM workforce. Recent evidence however demonstrates that there are significant barriers to teaching these skills at the undergraduate level including lack of faculty training, lack of student interest in bioinformatics, lack of vetted teaching materials, and overly full curricula. To this end, the James Madison University, Center for Genome & Metagenome Studies (JMU CGEMS) and other PUI collaborators are devoted to developing and disseminating engaging bioinformatics teaching materials specifically designed for streamlined integration into general undergraduate biology curriculum. Here, we have developed and integrated a fun introductory level lesson to command line next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis into a large enrollment core biology course. This one-off activity takes a crucial but mundane aspect of NGS quality control (QC) analysis and incorporates the use of Emoji data outputs using the software FASTQE to pique student interest. This amusing command line analysis is subsequently paired with a more rigorous research-grade software package called FASTP in which students complete sequence QC and filtering using a few simple commands. Collectively, this short lesson provides novice-level faculty and students an engaging entry point to learning basic genomics command line programming skills as a gateway to more complex and elaborated applications of computational bioinformatics analyses.

Primary image: Undergraduate students learn the basics of command line NGS quality analysis using the FASTQE and FASTP programs.

Introduction into computational approaches in phylogeny and protein modeling based on coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (caused COVID-19 pandemic). Two self-guided tutorials for standard lab classes of 2.5 hours. Level: undergraduate students majoring in biology.

An assignment constructing phylogenetic trees using shared, derived morphological traits and molecular differences among 18 primate species and two outlier species has been developed. Skull and body images and a table of morphological characteristics were used to fill in a pre-fabricated tree. Molecular differences of the cytochrome b gene obtained from the NCBI website was used to generate a tree using the Phylogeny.fr website for the same 20 species. Several followup questions were provided upon completion of the assignment.

As instructors of introductory biology courses for majors and non-majors, we have struggled with teaching the concept of cell structure and function in an engaging way.  However, this is a foundational concept that most biology instructors would agree is vital for all students to know. The overall objective of this teachable unit is to help non-major introductory biology students learn the names and functions of the basic components of eukaryotic cells and, at the same time, understand the connection between cellular structure and function using active learning approaches. The key component of this teachable unit is a group exercise termed Cell Engineer/Detective. In this exercise, students work in groups to design a cell that is well suited for a function that is provided to them by the instructor (Cell Engineer). The groups then exchange their cells with classmates and try to guess the function of their classmates’ cells (Cell Detective). This exercise helps students visualize how the organelles of a cell work together to perform a specific function, allows instructors to clarify misconceptions regarding cell structure, guides students away from that quintessential but unrealistic model cell found in most biology textbooks, and reinforces the central biological connection between form and function.

Read the Essay Article about how author HN Tinsley adapted this lesson for online in "Online Adaptation of the Cell Engineer/Detective Lesson"

This framework, developed by ISKME in partnership with SERC, provides a practical reference for curators and authors of STEM OER, with 23 accessibility criteria, or elements, to reference as they curate, design and adapt materials to be accessible.

Professional development workshop slides to help curate conversations in teaching statistics with a critical inquiry lens.

Workshop about models for introducing social justice issues into classes developed in a Faculty Mentoring Network. Presented at the 2021 BIOME Institute.

As instructors, we continually look for new ways to create equitable learning environments and support learning for all students in our courses. Recently, we have explored ways that we can increase structure to better support students. We have identified four evidence-based elements that we include in our course design and implementation: 1) structured assessments and feedback; 2) structured out-of-class learning; 3) structured class time using inclusive practices; and 4) structured assignments using transparent design. In this essay, we identify some relevant literature to address each of these levels of structure and describe our experiences with implementation at each level to support equitable classroom environments.

This webinar will explore how faculty can teach with a growth mindset and identify some potential areas of fixed mindset that might prove to be obstacles for many students.

Three resources for faculty interested in an introduction to Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

In this lesson, students plot data and interpret graphs of the metabolic responses of fish to hypoxic conditions. Then, students view and reflect on an interview with fish ecophysiologist Benjamin Negrete, Jr., who collected the data that they graph.

Providing undergraduate life-science students with a course-based research experience that utilizes cutting-edge technology, is tractable for students, and is manageable as an instructor is a challenge. Here, I describe a multi-week lesson plan for a laboratory-based course with the goal of editing the genome of budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Students apply knowledge regarding advanced topics such as: CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, DNA repair, genetics, and cloning. The lesson requires students to master skills such as bioinformatics analysis, restriction enzyme digestion, ligation, basic microbiology skills, polymerase chain reaction, and plasmid purification. Instructors are led through the technical aspects of the protocols, as well as the teaching philosophy involved throughout the laboratory experience. As it stands, the laboratory lesson is appropriate for 6-8 weeks of an upper-level undergraduate laboratory course, but may be adapted for shorter stints and students with less experience. Students complete the lesson with a more realistic idea of life science research and report significant learning gains. I anticipate this lesson to provide instructors and students in undergraduate programs with a hands-on, discovery-based learning experience that allows students to cultivate skills essential for success in the life sciences.

The integration of virtual technology is becoming a common trend in anatomy education at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The incorporation of virtual 3D anatomical models into the classroom is beneficial to students, especially if they do not have access to cadavers. This lesson is a hybrid kinesiology laboratory module that includes virtual anatomical and traditional physiological laboratory components. The module contains procedures that are easy for undergraduate students to follow while also containing advanced content to promote higher order thinking. This lesson provides a brief description of the learning context, time and pace, lesson plan, and teacher and student evaluations. During the learning activities, students will use a virtual dissection Anatomage Table and conduct modified Wingate tests and accumulated oxygen deficit experiments. This module will be useful for anatomy and physiology instructors who want to blend virtual and traditional learning modalities, embrace active learning, and make advanced concepts more accessible to students.

Primary image: A photograph of the Anatomage Table in its vertical orientation, revealing three different layers of the virtual male donor model in virtual dissection. 

Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2011) stresses the importance of fostering an understanding of the relationship between science and society. We describe a library-based activity that enables students in an undergraduate microbiology class to explore this relationship over the course of centuries, with the library functioning as a laboratory. Students are guided by a worksheet as they explore historical materials such as books, newspapers, letters, government publications, articles, scientific treatises, and artifacts. Working in pairs, students answer questions about the content and reflect on how the ideas in the documents relate to the scientific understanding at the time. Exploring authentic materials in a library setting provides a powerful learning experience. This activity was also successful using digitized documents during the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote teaching was required. Student responses to a post-activity questionnaire indicated that the activity sparked a keen interest in the history of science as well as introspection about the relationship between science and society. This approach can be generalized for different biology courses and education levels.

Primary image:  Students examining historical books and microscopes. Students working in pairs to complete worksheet questions during one of two visits to the University of Colorado Boulder’s Special Collections.

The biology classroom is not separate from the greater context of society; social issues can and should be presented in connection with the content. Here we present an example of antiracist teaching using the molecular/cellular biology of cancer in an introductory biology course as a topic through which to address historic racial disparities. Through this lesson, students analyzed biological science through the lens of social justice, specifically looking at disparities of cancer incidence with ties to health outcomes and environmental racism. The synchronous activity begins with personal tie-ins to the broader subject of cancer and then dives into the molecular regulation involved in creating cancerous phenotypes. Cancer biology is explored using an active-learning style based in process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) tactics. Multiple levels of assessments pushed students to grapple with data about racial health disparities and make explicit connections between these data and molecular mechanisms of cancer formation. This paper provides activity worksheets, an activity timeline, an example of assessment items, and teacher preparation for other instructors who want to emulate this lesson either directly or as an example of adjusting other science topics towards this lens. For those teaching in different topics, we offer advice and examples to help instructors to include social justice lenses into their science teaching.

Primary image: Malignant History. Artwork by Heidi-Marie Wiggins and Jeannette Takashima.

There is a growing call to decolonize curricula in academia, including in scientific disciplines. In the biology classroom, this includes highlighting a diverse array of scientists and illuminating injustice and exploitation carried out by Eurocentric biologists and medical professionals. Despite this general roadmap, literature presenting and assessing classroom modules on decolonizing science is lacking. Here, I present an activity designed to shed light on the deep, historical relationship between natural history collections and the exploitation of slaves and Indigenous peoples and encourage students to critically evaluate how society influences science. Due to COVID-19, this activity was conducted remotely and included two synchronous discussion sessions and three asynchronous homework activities for Mammalogy students. Assignments were evaluated for student outcomes including reflections on their previous educational experiences related to the unjust history of science and engagement with decolonial theory. In the four homework questions in which students could interpret and answer from either a biological or decolonial perspective, 84% of students offered at least one response consistent with decolonial theory. Based on student responses, this three-week module successfully engaged upper-level biology students in decolonial thinking.

Primary image: A blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) skull collected from South Africa for the zoology museum collection in 1984. Image courtesy of Phil Myers, animaldiversity.org, Creative Commons.

This module introduces the Dixon equation in the context of understanding nutrient transport through sieve tubes. It is intended for an introductory biology audience.

This module introduces the Poiseuille equation in the context of understanding nutrient flow in plant cells. It is intended for an introductory biology audience.

This is an introduction to bioinformatics using hemoglobin as an example. The worksheets introduce students to resources to explore the DNA, RNA and polypeptide linear structure with a brief introduction to the quaternary structure of hemoglobin.

This is an adaptation using Mol* on the original case written. This case focuses on understanding how a mutation in a cell signalling protein (a kinase) can prevent insulin function and lead to diabetes.