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    Using a Primary Cell Culture Model to Study the Neural Extracellular Matrix
    The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides structural support to cells, but also has key roles in mediating cell adhesion, cell signaling, and differentiation. While this topic is discussed in the lecture setting, it is not heavily studied in...
    Essay
    1335

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    120

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    Going Remote: An Online Adaptation to Using a Primary Cell Culture Model to Study the Neural Extracellular Matrix
    In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors have modified materials to transition to a remote learning platform. The challenge for science instructors has been to design lab exercises that incorporate both active and experiential learning. In...
    Essay
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    2941

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    The Lecture-Free Classroom: Teaching students backward design and Bloom's Taxonomy to create their own learning environment
    We describe Presentation Enhanced Learning (PEL), a flexible, lecture-free, field-tested teaching format to promote problem-based, active learning in upper-division or graduate biological sciences courses.  PEL may be implemented as a single,...
    Lesson
    1604

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    298

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    Exploring Primary Scientific Literature through the Lens of the 5 Core Concepts of Biology
    Biology students at the undergraduate level usually excel in knowing biological facts; however, they often struggle with connecting these facts to specific biological principles. In parallel, undergraduate students often struggle to read primary...
    Lesson
    1918

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    460

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    Necessary and Sufficient? Solving the Mystery of the Mitochondrial Pyruvate Transporter
    While there are several available lessons for teaching introductory biology students about diffusion, facilitated diffusion, and active transport, fewer materials exist to support upper-division students' understanding of the proteins that...

    Courses: Cell BiologyCell Biology

    Science Behind the Lesson
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    108

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    A Short Bone Biomechanics Primer: Background for a Lesson on Bone Viscoelasticity
    The skeletal system is the first of the body systems that we discuss in-depth in our Physiology & Anatomy courses (PNB 2264/2265 and PNB 2274/2275) in the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology (PNB) at the University of Connecticut. As the...
    Lesson
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    632

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    Sequence Similarity: An inquiry based and "under the hood" approach for incorporating molecular sequence alignment in introductory undergraduate biology courses
    Introductory bioinformatics exercises often walk students through the use of computational tools, but often provide little understanding of what a computational tool does "under the hood." A solid understanding of how a bioinformatics...
    Lesson
    1066

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    318

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    The ACTN3 Polymorphism: Applications in Genetics and Physiology Teaching Laboratories
    Inquiry-based undergraduate laboratories provide the opportunity to engage students in a research experience that improves scientific thinking, but such activities can be difficult to develop and implement due to limited time and resources. We...
    Lesson
    3092

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    249

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    Application of a Bacterial Experimental Evolution System to Visualize and Teach Evolution in Action: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience
    Concepts of evolution are typically taught through examples of extremely long timescales, which do not always resonate broadly. Here, we describe a course-based undergraduate research experience tailored for junior and senior undergraduate biology...
    Lesson
    3766

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    1253

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    Evaluating the Quick Fix: Weight Loss Drugs and Cellular Respiration
    One key to student success in introductory and cell biology courses is a foundational knowledge of cellular respiration. This is a content area in which students often harbor misconceptions that make cellular respiration particularly challenging...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    283

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    A How to Guide and Template for Designing a Puzzle Based Escape Room Game
    Educational games are one active and effective way of engaging students with material while also providing additional motivation to tackle challenging concepts. A particularly popular game concept is the escape room, where students need to work in...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    2540

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    238

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    The 4-Minute Summary: Helping students recall, recap and explain the big picture... and much more!
    Actively engaging students during a lecture class can come through many formats.  The 4-Minute Summary is a versatile pedagogy that can be readily applied to any class format (e.g., traditional, flipped), any class size, and any...
    Lesson
    4603

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    596

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    How Do Kidneys Make Urine From Blood? Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Filtration, Secretion, Reabsorption, and Excretion
    The function of the kidneys is to help maintain a constant internal environment (homeostasis) by regulating the volume and chemical composition of the blood. This regulation occurs via three fundamental processes: filtration, secretion, and...
    Lesson
    2757

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    330

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    Discovering Cellular Respiration with Computational Modeling and Simulations
    Cellular respiration, a common topic among introductory and cellular biology curricula, is a complex biological process that exemplifies core biological concepts, including systems, pathways and transformation of energy, and structure and function...
    Lesson
    1495

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    356

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    Taking the Hassle out of Hasselbalch
    Mention pH in a classroom and you can almost see the inner yawn on the faces of your students. The definition may even roll easily from their lips. However, despite multiple exposures to the relationship of pH and pKa throughout a typical...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    297

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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,...
    Lesson
    6011

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    182

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    Exploring the City of Biofilms: An Engaging Analogy-Based Activity for Students to Learn Biofilms
    Multicellular biofilms constructed by microbes are key aspects of microbiology with significant implications in various fields, including medicine, environmental science, and biotechnology. While bacteria spend nearly all their lives in biofilms,...

    Courses: MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    Lesson
    2122

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    194

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    Sequences and Properties of Gluten Proteins From Different Grains: A Virtual-Friendly Protein Laboratory
    The COVID-19 pandemic has forced much university instruction into virtual modes. As a result, many laboratory courses have either dropped content altogether or replaced hands-on activities with simulations and “dry” labs. Our goal was...
    Lesson
    7806

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    1051

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    Lights, Camera, Acting Transport! Using role-play to teach membrane transport
    Lights, Camera, Acting Transport! is an active and unique role-play exercise designed to teach introductory biology students basic concepts of passive and active membrane transport. The activity involves three acts in which students, representing...
    Lesson
    6321

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    1582

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    Single Cell Insights Into Cancer Transcriptomes: A Five-Part Single-Cell RNAseq Case Study Lesson
    There is a growing need for integration of “Big Data” into undergraduate biology curricula. Transcriptomics is one venue to examine biology from an informatics perspective. RNA sequencing has largely replaced the use of microarrays for whole...