Text Search:
Applied Filters
    Lesson
    2522

    views

    373

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Honoring the Complexity of Genetics: Exploring the Role of Genes and the Environment Using Real World Examples
    Historically, undergraduate genetics courses have disproportionately focused on the impact of genes on phenotypes, rather than multifactorial concepts which consider how a combination of genes, the environment, and gene-by-environment interactions...
    Lesson
    2587

    views

    487

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Developing Data Literacy Skills and Connecting the Student Experience in the Classroom to the Community Through Biodiversity Projects
    Undergraduate education and long-term science literacy are enhanced by integrating data projects with public datasets and creating analysis summaries. Underutilized public datasets are often generated by community-based or citizen science projects...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    1107

    views

    123

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Undergraduates Learn Evolution Through Teaching Kindergartners About Blind Mexican Cavefish
    The development and implementation of a scientific outreach activity comes with a number of challenges. A successful outreach event must match the sophistication of content to the audience, be engaging, expand the knowledge base for participants,...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    5305

    views

    133

    downloads

    0

    comments

    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...
    Lesson
    2273

    views

    680

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Green Design: How do Leaf Structures Optimize Photosynthesis and Promote Survival?
    One of the major learning objectives established by the American Society of Plant Biologists and the Botanical Society of America has students answer the question: How do plant structures enable life functions? This lesson helps students answer...
    Lesson
    2508

    views

    215

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Role of Crop Genetic Diversity on Pathogen Impact: The Tale of Two Pathogens
    Introductory genetics courses are part of the core curriculum in many different fields, including plant breeding, animal science, biology, microbiology, and natural resource management. Concepts involving genes, inheritance, evolution, and genome...
    Lesson
    2893

    views

    428

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Moths and Frogs and E. coli, Oh My!: Agent-based Modeling of Evolutionary Systems
    In evolution classrooms, introducing and reinforcing the idea of genetic drift and random selection can be challenging, as can be reinforcing appropriate mental models of evolution. Agent-based models offer students the opportunity to conduct a...
    Lesson
    1547

    views

    316

    downloads

    0

    comments

    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...
    Essay
    3205

    views

    80

    downloads

    0

    comments

    A Multi-Institutional Alternative Assessment Faculty Learning Community: Supporting Teaching in Higher Education
    Faculty learning communities (FLCs) provide opportunities for professional development for faculty, teaching staff, and educational developers in a collaborative and open environment. In this essay, we describe our experience organizing,...
    Lesson
    3285

    views

    878

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Life Is Just a Game: An Active Learning Activity to Teach Life History Evolution
    A novel activity was designed to introduce students to the concepts of natural selection and life history using an active-learning, constructivist format. It consisted of two parts: 1) a brief introduction to the basic mechanism of natural...

    Courses: EcologyEcology EvolutionEvolution

    Lesson
    2137

    views

    449

    downloads

    0

    comments

    From Dirt to Streptomyces DNA
    The purpose of this semester-long Lesson is to give students an authentic, course-based undergraduate research experience during which they learn basic and advanced microbiological and molecular biology techniques. This project begins with the...

    Courses: MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    Lesson
    1939

    views

    249

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Learning R for Biologists: A Mini Course Grab-Bag for Instructors
    As biology becomes more data driven, teaching students data literacy skills has become central to biology curriculum. Despite a wealth of online resources that teach researchers how to use R, there are few that offer practical laboratory-based...
    Lesson
    2604

    views

    301

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Bacteria to Brains in Backyard Coyotes: An Interdisciplinary Pedagogical Case Study
    Our interdisciplinary pedagogical case study explores the differences between rural and urban coyotes at the levels of organismal and community ecology. The focus is on how coyotes’ gut microbiomes could affect their behavior via...
    Lesson
    2442

    views

    203

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Pick Your Poison: A Semester-Long Case Study for Undergraduate Toxicology
    The ability to collate information from diverse scientific resources and effectively employ scientific writing is an essential skill for scientists. This lesson describes a semester-long project entitled “Pick Your Poison,” which is...

    Courses: ToxicologyToxicology

    Lesson
    1848

    views

    274

    downloads

    0

    comments

    The Inside and Outside the Body
    The Inside and Outside the Body activity helps students develop a conceptual understanding of anatomical barriers such as skin and mucus membranes that separate internal cells and fluids from the external environment. This short exercise prepares...
    Lesson
    2604

    views

    59

    downloads

    0

    comments

    An Inquiry-Based Project Added to Traditional Labs: Hands-On Fish Awareness Research in Freshwater Systems Conducted by First-Year Biology Students
    This project involves students in an inquiry-based project added to the introductory biology laboratory course for majors in fall 2019. Research has shown that student engagement in authentic research has significant positive impacts on...
    Lesson
    7278

    views

    1404

    downloads

    0

    comments

    An undergraduate bioinformatics curriculum that teaches eukaryotic gene structure
    Gene structure, transcription, translation, and alternative splicing are challenging concepts for many undergraduates studying biology. These topics are typically covered in a traditional lecture environment, but students often fail to master and...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    1134

    views

    129

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Adaptation and Facilitation of Small Group Activities in an Online Introductory Biology Class
    In spring 2020, the sudden mid-semester closure of my campus in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid transition to emergency online learning. Consequently, I adapted the small group activities and facilitation methods of...
    Lesson
    6009

    views

    181

    downloads

    0

    comments

    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
    2665

    views

    202

    downloads

    0

    comments

    A Case Study for Teaching Toxicology: Using Whales as an Indicator for Environmental Health
    One of the challenges of teaching scientific courses is helping students understand research methods, biological models, and data analysis, which can be especially difficult in classes without a laboratory component. Within the field of...