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    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Drawing flowcharts of lab protocols helps students prepare for biology labs
    With the publishing of the Vision and Change report, we know it is best practice to include authentic research experiences in our undergraduate science lab classes. One big challenge in teaching so-called "wet lab" classes is figuring...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology GeneticsGenetics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    laboratorymolecular biologyUndergraduateprotocolflowchart
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Facilitating Scientific Literacy Through Writing: A Write-to-Learn Assignment for Large Introductory Undergraduate Biology Courses
    Write-to-learn (WTL) assignments have been used in a variety of disciplines to encourage conceptual learning and critical thinking in undergraduate education. These assignments focus on facilitating rather than assessing learning. Conversely,...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    geneticsEvolutionecologyCellsPlants form and functionAnimals form and function
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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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...

    Courses: Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    VaccinesReplication of virusesCOVID-19 transmission
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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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...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology BioinformaticsBioinformatics Cell BiologyCell Biology EvolutionEvolution GeneticsGenetics ImmunologyImmunology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology MicrobiologyMicrobiology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    geneticsImmunologyBiochemistrybioinformaticsmolecular evolutionpublic healthvirusCOVID19
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    "I Really Enjoy These Annotations:" Examining Primary Biological Literature Using Collaborative Annotation
    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...

    Courses: Developmental BiologyDevelopmental Biology NeurobiologyNeurobiology

    Stem cellsAdult neurogenesisCRISPR gene editing
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    A Strategy for Teaching Undergraduates to Write Effective Scientific Results Sections
    Most undergraduate instructors would agree that learning to write about data in the style of a scientific research paper is a worthy goal for their students.  However, many hesitate to tackle the challenge of teaching scientific writing in...

    Courses: Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    data analysisprimary literaturescientific writingcommunicating science
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    DNA Detective: Genotype to Phenotype. A Bioinformatics Workshop for Middle School to College.
    Advances in high-throughput techniques have resulted in a rising demand for scientists with basic bioinformatics skills as well as workshops and curricula that teach students bioinformatics concepts. DNA Detective is a workshop we designed to...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology BioinformaticsBioinformatics GeneticsGenetics Plant BiologyPlant Biology

    geneticsbioinformaticsDNAgenotypephenotypegenegene annotation
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Enhancing the Microscopy Skills of Non-Science Majors and Nursing Microbiology Students: Promoting the Practice of Observing Multiple Fields of View Using Blood Smear Slides
    One of the challenges in teaching microscopy is having students scan multiple fields of view at high power magnification. Many times, students will feel this unnecessary, especially when presented with slides that show only one structure or a...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    Microscopy SkillsBlood SmearsBlood Disorders
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    "Reading groups" in an undergraduate biology course: A peer-based model to help students develop skills to evaluate primary literature
    Undergraduates who learn to evaluate primary literature demonstrate an enhanced ability to understand the process of science, weigh scientific evidence, and think critically (e.g. 6,8). Studies show that students who learn how to dissect primary...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    primary literaturecritical thinkingSelf-EfficacyDiscussionPeer-based Learning
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Science “Fails”: A Bank of Historical Examples for Learning From Failure in Science
    Learning from failure is critically important to the processes of scientific inquiry, discovery, and invention. However, students are not routinely taught how to reflect on, learn from, and ultimately embrace failure, and relatively few curricular...

    Courses: Introductory Physics: Calculus-BasedIntroductory Physics: Calculus-Based Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Professional Development and Career PlanningProfessional Development and Career Planning Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    metacognitionScience process skillsLearning from failurepower and privilegestudent wellbeing
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    SCIENCE/Fiction: Modular Template for Class Design
    We present a modular scaffold for designing an introductory seminar using speculative fiction and science papers to welcome university undergraduates to the biology major. A list of twelve possible topics is included, such as Memory, Parasites,...

    Courses: Anatomy-PhysiologyAnatomy-Physiology Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Cell BiologyCell Biology EvolutionEvolution GeneticsGenetics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology NeurobiologyNeurobiology

    geneticscell biologyneurosciencesystems biologyScience Fiction
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Gratitude Interventions in a Biology Course to Foster Student Persistence and Success
    College students are experiencing a mental health crisis, which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is problematic because stress and anxiety impede learning. One way to combat stress and anxiety is to focus on gratitude,...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Professional Development and Career PlanningProfessional Development and Career Planning Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    mental healthgratitudepositive psychologydegree commitment
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Converting a Face-to-Face Lab to Online: An Example of Process and Outcomes for a CRISPR-Based Molecular Biology Lab
    The COVID-19 pandemic created a need to convert in-person laboratory courses into an online format in a short amount of time. For this reason, we converted our face-to-face molecular biology lab course to an online version in Spring 2020. The lab...

    Courses: GeneticsGenetics Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    mutationtranscriptioncrisprtranslation
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Lateral Transfer Maps as a Metacognitive Tool in First Year STEM Courses
    We introduce the Lateral Transfer Map (LTM), a tool for students to actively and visually explore the transfer of ideas, skills, and concepts across concurrent coursework. The LTM is an extension of a concept map, replacing interconnected concepts...

    Courses: Professional Development and Career PlanningProfessional Development and Career Planning Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    concept mapmetacognitionfirst-year studenttransfer
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Walkabout: An Easy to Use, Experiential Learning Activity for Applying Abstract Concepts to the Real-World
    Students can have difficulty recognizing examples of course concepts in the real-world. They particularly struggle with phenomena that are ambiguously defined, have mimics, or are hard to distinguish from other phenomena. Students can better...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    data gatheringgreen technologyobservations
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    The Pipeline CURE: An Iterative Approach to Introduce All Students to Research Throughout a Biology Curriculum
    Participation in research provides personal and professional benefits for undergraduates. However, some students face institutional barriers that prevent their entry into research, particularly those from underrepresented groups who may stand to...

    Courses: Developmental BiologyDevelopmental Biology GeneticsGenetics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    epigeneticsundergraduate researchmendelian inheritanceSelf-EfficacyCUREsnature of scienceResiliencecurriculum strategiesreprogramming
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    An Interactive Protocol for In-Classroom DNA Extraction
    Using commonly available materials, this tool allows students to extract DNA, exploring DNA chemistry and the principles of experimental design and execution. We take a “Choose Your Own Adventure” approach encouraging students to...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology GeneticsGenetics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    geneticsDNAbiochemical structure and function
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Using Constructed Response Questions on High-Stakes Assessments in Large Classes With Limited Support
    Large lecture courses often rely heavily, and sometimes exclusively, on Multiple Choice (MC) exams to assess student learning. Constructed Response (CR) questions, in which students generate their own answers, can provide more insight into student...

    Courses: GeneticsGenetics

    assessmenttestexamLarge classconstructed responseshort answerscoring
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Graphical Organizers as Course Road Maps: Using a geologic timescale in a history of life course
    Both major and non-major biology students lack understanding of important evolutionary events, how they are spaced in time, and how they relate back to the earth system. Graphical organizers like concept maps and timescales are popular tools that...

    Courses: EvolutionEvolution

    Evolutionecologyextinctionadaptive radiationdiversification
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    Transitioning Two-Stage Exams to an Online Class
    Students often find biology courses to be very difficult and isolating, particularly if they identify as part of a group that has been historically excluded from STEM. Some of this anxiety and isolation comes from high-stakes exams. We decided to...

    Courses: Anatomy-PhysiologyAnatomy-Physiology

    lower division STEMupper division STEM