CourseSource: Resources

Teaching Tools and Strategies

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Biology from Molecules to Embryos, Interactive Animated Lessons

Visualizing kinetic processes can be an impediment to student mastery of basic science coursework. To remedy this obstacle, I created an educational program called Biology from Molecules to Embryos© (BioME), which provides 28 animated lessons...

Courses: Developmental Biology Genetics Introductory Biology

geneticsBIOMEEmbryologycomputer assisted instructioneducational programeducational videosonline lessonsanimated lessonseducational website

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Using QIIME to Interpret Environmental Microbial Communities in an Upper Level Metagenomics Course

Metagenomics is rapidly evolving due to advances in sequencing technologies and bioinformatics, but without proper training to interpret these datasets, student understanding remains limited. Aimed at undergraduate juniors and seniors and graduate...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bioinformatics Ecology Ecology Microbiology Science Process Skills

microbiome

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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...

Courses: Ecology Ecology Introductory Biology Science Process Skills

biostatisticshypothesis testingexperimental design

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 Planning Science Process Skills

concept mapmetacognitionfirst-year studenttransfer

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A Hands-on Introduction to Hidden Markov Models

In this Lesson, we describe a classroom activity that demonstrates how a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is applied to predict a eukaryotic gene, focusing on predicting one exon-intron boundary. This HMM lesson is part of the BIOL/CS 370...

Courses: Bioinformatics Genetics Science Process Skills

transcriptionexonintronsplicing

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Distances in the Universe: An Inquiry Lab Sequence Taught in West Africa and North America

Astronomy evokes deep curiosity for many people, making it a beautiful topic for supporting students to learn scientific practices and develop as scientists. We present an inquiry-based lab sequence about distances in the Universe, which we have...

Courses: Astronomy

InquiryAstronomy labParallaxInverse-square law for lightCosmic distance ladderAsking investigable questions

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My Fish Tank: An Active Learning Activity for Bacterial Nitrogen Metabolism

This active learning activity introduces students to the second part of the nitrogen cycle, nitrification. In terrestrial and aquatic environments, bacteria from the Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter genera oxidize ammonia first to nitrite (via a...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ecology Ecology Microbiology

nitrogen cyclenitrificationnitrifying bacteria

LessonPlus

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The Power of Place: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience Studying Urban Ecology, Local Apple Trees and Disease Susceptibility

Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) offered early in an undergraduate student’s career have the potential to include a greater number and diversity of students than one-on-one mentored research. CUREs that use a...

Courses: Ecology Ecology

Disease ecologyurban ecologyUrban food forestsUrban heat islandsGenetic resistance

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Teaching Advanced Concepts in Regulation of the Lac Operon With Modeling and Simulation

Success in biochemistry and other life science courses requires that students understand important biological concepts. One of these concepts is how gene regulation ensures that homeostasis is maintained in an organism. The lac operon is a...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

gene regulationinducible operonProkaryotic cellPhosphoenolpyruvate transferase system (PTS)

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An Interrupted Case Study on Urban Prairie Restoration

Engaging students in meaningful discussions can be a challenging task for science instructors, especially in introductory courses. The story-telling approach used in case studies can increase student participation by demonstrating the relevance of...

Courses: Ecology Ecology Introductory Biology Science Process Skills

urban ecologyPrescribed fireEcosystem Servicesecological restorationwoody encroachmentrangeland ecology

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Investigating Cell Signaling with Gene Expression Datasets

Modern molecular biology is a data- and computationally-intensive field with few instructional resources for introducing undergraduate students to the requisite skills and techniques for analyzing large data sets. This Lesson helps students: (i)...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Cell Biology

genomicstranscriptionsignaling

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A CURE for Salmonella: A Laboratory Course in Pathogen Microbiology and Genomics

Rapid advances in genomics and bioinformatics, the vast amount of data generated by next-generation sequencing, and the penetration of the ‘-omics’ into many areas of biology have created a need for students with hands-on experience with...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bioinformatics Ecology Ecology Microbiology

epidemiologyresearchbioinformaticsgenomicspublic healthAntibiotic Resistant BacteriaSalmonellaDNA sequencingpathogenic bacteria

Teaching Tools and Strategies

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Wikipedia in the Science Classroom

Despite research suggesting that writing-to-learn exercises (WTL) in the classroom are associated with increased student learning, WTL is still not widely implemented in science courses. To provide our students with a meaningful WTL exercise that...

Courses: Introductory Biology Science Process Skills

scientific writingcritical evaluationWikipediawriting for general public

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Does Organelle Shape Matter?: Exploring Patterns in Cell Shape and Structure with High-Throughput (HT) Imaging

Organelle structure has been studied and visualized for decades; however, publicly available databases that use improved high-throughput microscopy of gene-edited cell lines have recently revolutionized the amount and quality of information now...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bioinformatics Cell Biology Genetics Science Process Skills

modelingcase studymicroscopystructureOrganellesHigh-throughput (HT)Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)Fluorescent microscopyHuman Cell Biology

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Dynamic Daphnia: An inquiry-based research experience in ecology that teaches the scientific process to first-year biologists

This authentic research experience lesson teaches the core concept of systems and the competencies of quantitative reasoning, communication, and the ability to apply science. The research is student driven, the results are unknown, and the...

Courses: Ecology Ecology Introductory Biology Science Process Skills

statisticsecologyscientific methodexperimental designAbiotic and Biotic FactorsDependent and Independent Variables

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Investigating Gene Expression and Cell Specialization in Axolotl Embryos

The process of cell specialization is critical to the formation and function of tissues in animals and plants. Although gene expression, including the regulation of transcription, is taught in most introductory cell biology courses, the...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Cell Biology Developmental Biology Science Process Skills

developmenttranscriptiongene expressionmodel organismembryo

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Building student literacy and metacognition through reading science in the news

Ensuring students' science literacy is essential for preparation for study in science disciplines and is of critical importance given contemporary challenges in determining the legitimacy and accuracy of science in popular media. This lesson...

Courses: Introductory Biology

metacognitionStem cellsscience literacycloninggenetically modified organismshuman genetic diseasescience news

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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,...

Courses: Cell Biology Science Process Skills

image analysismicroscopymitosisCellular Processes

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Diversifying and Humanizing Scientist Role Models Through Interviews and Constructing Slide Decks on Researchers’ Research and Life Experiences

To maintain recruitment and retention, biology teachers face the challenge of finding relatable role models for their students. Our ever-increasing scientific knowledge has been facilitated by people from many different backgrounds, identities,...

Courses: Professional Development and Career Planning Science Process Skills

researchdiversityinclusionScientific ProcessRepresentationScientistRole Models

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Breaking Bricks: A Hands-On Model of Enzyme Kinetics and Inhibition

Enzyme kinetics and the impacts of inhibitors on the enzyme's maximal velocity and ability to bind substrates are important topics in cell biology and biochemistry. However, these topics can be difficult for students to grasp when instructed...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Cell Biology

kineticsEnzymecompetitive inhibition