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    Film as a Powerful Tool for Increasing Awareness of the Importance of Belonging in STEM
    People of color in STEM fields can face a variety of challenges with belonging due to structural, cultural, psychological, and institutional barriers. The professional development sessions described in this lesson involved using film as well as...
    Lesson
    1113

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    Using Current Events to Teach Written, Visual, and Oral Science Communication
    Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals need the skills to communicate with both technical and public audiences, but formal training in these skills is often lacking. In the nine-hour unit presented here, students...
    Lesson
    1699

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    497

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    Sex-specific differences in Meiosis: Real-world applications
    In traditional classrooms, students are typically presented with facts that they are asked to memorize and recall during an exam.  The rapid explosion of available scientific facts in recent years has made this model of teaching...
    Lesson
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    A virtual laboratory on cell division using a publicly-available image database
    Cell division is a key concept in cell biology. While there are many popular activities to teach students the stages of mitosis, most make use of simple schematics, cartoons, or textbook diagrams. Others engage students in acting out the stages,...
    Essay
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    209

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    Navigating Proposal Writing and Implementation of an NSF S-STEM Grant Program: Reflections as a First-Time PI
    Recruitment and retention issues are an increasing concern to many institutions nationwide, most especially in regard to underrepresented minority (URM) students enrolled in STEM. It is, therefore, incumbent upon colleges and universities to...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    192

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    A Pandemic Pivot: Podcast as an Active Engagement Tool in the Classroom and Beyond
    Higher education in STEM undoubtedly integrates the use of technology as a primary mode for content delivery to undergraduate students. This became especially salient throughout the shift to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite...
    Lesson
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    352

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    Chilling in the Cold: Using Thermal Acclimation to Demonstrate Phenotypic Plasticity in Animals
    The lesson plan described here provides students hands-on, scientific experiences that relate to the globally important issue of climate change and its impacts on animals. Students use the scientific method and basic components of experimental...
    Lesson
    3785

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    416

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    Using Open-Source Bioinformatics and Visualization Tools to Explore the Structure and Function of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein
    The relationship between protein structure and function is a foundational concept in undergraduate biochemistry. We find this theme is best presented with assignments that encourage exploration and analysis. Here, we share a series of four...
    Lesson
    1073

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    169

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    Outside the Norm: Using Public Ecology Database Information to Teach Biostatistics
    Biology students’ understanding of statistics is incomplete due to poor integration of these two disciplines. In some cases, students fail to learn statistics at the undergraduate level due to poor student interest and cursory teaching of...
    Lesson
    2825

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    685

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    The Case of the Missing Strawberries: RFLP analysis
    While solving the fictional mystery of the missing strawberries, students are engaged in a guided-inquiry lesson featuring small-group and class discussions, hands-on activities, and laboratory exercises related to molecular genotyping by...
    Lesson
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    What is Speciation, How Does It Occur, and Why Is It Important for Conservation?
    Speciation provides a framework for classifying biodiversity on Earth and is a central concept in evolutionary biology. To help undergraduate students learn about speciation, we designed a student-centered lesson that uses active-learning...
    Lesson
    1486

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    160

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    Infectious Chocolate Joy with a Side of Poissonian Statistics: An activity connecting life science students with subtle physics concepts
    Introductory physics courses are required for many programs in the life sciences, yet traditional curricula fail to help students meaningfully connect physical concepts with biological systems.  In this lesson, we describe an activity taught...
    Lesson
    1425

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    261

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    Expanding the Reach of Crop Plants for Food Security: A Lesson Integrating Non-Majors Students Into the Discussion of Food Diversity and Human Nutrition
    University general education (GE) courses host students with various academic backgrounds, interests, and perspectives. Engaging students in GE classes with agricultural issues can be challenging because of the diverse interests of students and...
    Lesson
    1292

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    352

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    A first lesson in mathematical modeling for biologists: Rocs
    Using a fictitious population of Rocs, a mythical species of giant raptor, students accomplish two broad objectives: 1) they undertake the process of building a first mathematical model of a population, and 2) they begin to develop their...
    Lesson
    2584

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    751

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    Using Zebrafish in a Developmental Biology Lab Course to Explore Interactions Between Development and the Environment
    Important learning outcomes for biology students include the ability to develop experiments as well as pull together concepts across their coursework. The field of developmental biology, especially environmental influences on development...
    Lesson
    1544

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    312

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    Promoting Climate Change Literacy for Non-majors: Implementation of an atmospheric carbon dioxide modeling activity as an inquiry-based classroom activity
    Students who are directly involved in scientific activities develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of both scientific knowledge and the scientific process. This understanding is critically important in scientific areas like climate change...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    1721

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    A 360˚ View of COVID-19
    In March 2020, institutions underwent a massive transition to distance learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With so little time to devise new materials to maximize learning in the new virtual environment, instructors devised a variety of...
    Lesson
    1024

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    260

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    Helping Students to Metacognitively Read Scientific Literature With Talking to the Text
    Reading primary scientific literature enhances students’ understanding of material, increases their self-efficacy, and critical thinking skills. However, scientific articles often present multiple challenges to the students, the first among...
    Lesson
    2701

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    497

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    Harnessing the Power of the Immune System: Influenza Vaccines
    Because most people have been infected by and/or immunized against influenza, students should know how the immune system responds to the infection and how vaccines protect against disease. Vaccines have played an instrumental role in disease...
    Lesson
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    Teaching students to read, interpret, and write about scientific research: A press release assignment in a large, lower-division class
    A central skill in any science discipline is the ability to read, understand, and discuss the primary literature of the discipline. However, teaching this skill presents unique challenges within large, lower-division courses. To assess our...