A network will be created to develop, test, and distribute assessment tools specific to the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology. These tools will be used to evaluate prior knowledge of students entering biochemistry and molecular biology classes from various backgrounds.

Abstract

A major goal of the network is the participation of this community of faculty, along with research collaborators from other disciplines such as mathematics, in Communication Labs led by experts in biology, and in interdisciplinary communication and communication arts.

Abstract

This RCN-UBE network project seeks to advance the professional development of undergraduate biology faculty to improve teaching and learning of biology consistent with changes in undergraduate biology education that are called for in the Vision and Change report.

Website Abstract

UCINET 6 for Windows is a software package for the analysis of social network data. It was developed by Lin Freeman, Martin Everett and Steve Borgatti. It comes with the NetDraw network visualization tool. 

We are pleased to announce the release of The Power of Partnerships, a new publication from the GK-12 program that provides effective practices for anyone who wants to create a project that partners STEM graduate students with K-12 teachers on a sustained basis. The recommendations come from the GK-12 community–faculty, graduate students, K-12 teachers, program managers, and evaluators. The writing team, 34 participants from GK-12 projects around the US and Puerto Rico, came to Washington, DC in fall 2011 to determine the best way to tell the world about the program and to capture the GK-12 legacy. We encourage you to read the guide and share it with colleagues in your community, the US, and internationally.

This was brought up in the Managing Networks discussion as an example to emulate in creating a management manual for RCNs.

This RCN-UBE project seeks to create a network of educational specialists (who study how students learn) and scientists (who are active researchers) to develop assessment tools that directly measure what students learn about experimental design in biology through undergraduate research and classroom experiences.

Abstract

EREN Mission

To create a model for collaborative ecological research that generates high-quality, publishable data involving undergraduate students and faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs).

Website Poster

A reading that introduces students to the basic concepts of phylogenetic trees and provides practice problems.

Data source for the module

A variety of engaging videos, lectures, posters, and classroom activities to teach key concepts related to extinctions past and present.

Natural history museums around the world have been growing beyond display cases and dioramas for years, and many are digitizing their vast collections. These efforts create lasting records of the natural world that might otherwise be inaccessible, unless you know a friendly curator willing to take you behind the scenes. Below are several notable digitization efforts that you can explore, and even contribute to.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DATA

This paper has a great figure showing the range of lifespans in ants and other closely related species

This paper contains primary data on age-specific fecundity in female baboons. Sam Donovan has provided a useful extension of the module for calculating growth rates and his example has students use chimpanzee data. The exercise can be extended with the addition of this data for baboons as well.

• I studied the relationship between predators, nest dispersion, and nest success.
• I built an agent-based model using data from nesting waterfowl, skunks, and foxes.
• Predation risk is diluted when nests are clustered and predation is incidental.
• When predators respond strongly to nest density, widely spaced nests survive better.
• Habitat management that imposes nest clustering could create ecological traps.

This simulation allows you to enter your age and gender and then it will generate a distribution of years you have left based on the current US life expectancy estimates from the CDC.