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.

This case focuses on understanding the molecular basis of Anna's sleeping disorder and its treatment. The adaptations addressed question clarity and reformatting to use Mol*.

One of the major learning objectives established by the American Society of Plant Biologists and the Botanical Society of America has students answer the question: How do plant structures enable life functions? This lesson helps students answer this question with a focus on leaf structure and function and how the anatomy and morphology of the leaf optimizes photosynthesis and promotes survival in various environments. Students are first introduced to the primary structures and cell layers of a typical angiosperm leaf, including differences between monocots and dicots, through an interactive mini-lecture. Then, students in groups are asked to design a leaf based on a provided description. These descriptions include a monocot or dicot designation and specific environmental conditions to which the leaf is adapted. After the leaves have been designed, they are collected and redistributed to new groups. These groups are then asked to analyze the leaf they've been given, determine if it is a monocot or dicot, and determine the environment where this leaf would thrive. Finally, students present and defend their findings to the class. This lesson engages students in leaf structure and function as a means to optimize photosynthesis and promote survival and prepares them for future lessons on photosynthesis and evolution.

An appreciation of organismal diversity is a requirement for understanding evolution and ecology, and can serve as a source of amazement and wonder that inspires students to enjoy biology. However, biodiversity can be a challenging subject to teach: it often turns into a procession of facts to memorize and a disorienting list of Latin names. To help engage students in this topic, we developed an activity in which each student contributes to a class "biodiversity tour" of strange and intriguing species. Students in our large-enrollment introductory biology course use the Internet to find a species that interests them and that they think will interest their peers. They research their species and complete a worksheet to report their findings. Then they meet in discussion sections of ~32 students (in person or online) where each student gives a brief presentation about their species using a slide they have prepared, producing a lively, crowd-sourced, rapid-fire nature documentary. The performance for their peers motivates students to find the strangest species possible. Students overwhelmingly reported that this activity taught them something new about life on Earth and increased their interest in our planet's species. Many students also reported that this activity caused them to talk to someone about biology outside of the class and increased their personal connection to the natural world, suggesting that it helped them see the relevance of biology to their everyday lives. This simple activity can enrich an introductory biology course of almost any size.

Primary image: Photos of some of the species chosen by students in Fall 2019.

Algae are a fascinating and diverse organismal group, with global ecological importance, a storied evolutionary history and deep connections to both contemporary and historical human societies. Yet non-experts who teach algal diversity face a lack of examples in many general biology textbooks and the difficulty of generalizing a group that includes many distantly-related lineages that don't share a single common ancestor. This lesson embraces the complexity of algae using a sorting game and tree-building activity. Students work in groups to decide which organisms from a provided set are eukaryotic algae. The class creates consensus statements about what exactly defines organisms as "algae" and self-discover that exceptions exist for every seemingly definitive algal trait. Students then build simple phylogenetic trees and map their organisms across the phylogenetic Tree of Eukaryotes in order to explore the complex evolutionary relationships between the major eukaryotic algal lineages. Student written responses recorded before and after the sorting game indicate students become more nuanced and expert-like in their descriptions of algae. This lesson is an engaging way to introduce students to algae and can be modified for a variety of courses including high school, non-majors biology courses and introductory biology courses.

Primary image: A photo of the phylogenetic trees made by students during the tree-building activity. Photo taken by the author, B. Clarkston.

Critically reading and evaluating claims made in the primary literature are vital skills for the future professional and personal lives of undergraduate students. However, the formal presentation of intricate content in primary research articles presents a challenge to inexperienced readers. During the fall 2020 semester, I introduced a Collaborative Annotation Project (CAP) into my online 400-level developmental neurobiology course to help students critically read eight research papers. During CAP, students used collaborative annotation software asynchronously to add clarifying comments, descriptions of and links to appropriate websites, and pose and answer questions on assigned papers. Student work was guided and assessed using a CAP grading rubric. Responses to anonymous surveys revealed students found CAP helpful for reading the primary literature and the rubric clarified expectations for the project. Here, I describe how I introduced, used, and assessed CAP in my online class, and I share the detailed CAP instructions and rubric.

Primary image: A moment of levity while annotating primary literature. Sample student annotations from the Collaborative Annotation Project. Student #1 compares immunofluorescence data to Christmas lights, an observation appreciated by student #2. Student names have been removed.

Students typically find linear regression analysis of data sets in a biology classroom challenging. These activities could be used in a Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, or Statistics course. The collection provides student activity files with Excel instructions and Instructor Activity files with Excel instructions and solutions to problems. Students will be able to perform linear regression analysis, find correlation coefficient, create a scatter plot and find the r-square using MS Excel 365. Students will be able to interpret data sets, describe the relationship between biological variables, and predict the value of an output variable based on the input of an predictor variable.

This is something Haley and Drew published.

Learning how to code and analyze data in R is an important skill. Olivia Tabares and the Ecological Forecasting Education Working Group created this resource to encourage individuals who are learning R. This infographic provides six suggestions for a mindset that will help you when learning R might get a bit frustrating.

This activity supports instructors in revising materials to incorporate Universal Design for Learning checkpoints.

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

teaching material

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.