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    Space Mission Ecology: Making Connections Among Science Disciplines Through the Lens of a Unique Plant
    With this case study, we aim to increase awareness of essential services plants provide to society, as well as the importance of fundamental aspects of ecology for other disciplines and the...

    Keywords: ecologycollaborationplant biologyScience CommunicationBioregenerative Life SupportInterdisciplinary Connections

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    A Structured Inquiry-Based Module for the Undergraduate Cell Biology Laboratory That Teaches Fundamental Concepts of Cell Differentiation
    Pedagogical research in science education has shown that students effectively learn science by doing science. As a result, there is increased interest in bringing research-like experiences into the...

    Keywords: fluorescence microscopygene expressionpolymerase chain reactionCell Structurecell culturewestern blottingdifferentiationreverse transcription

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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...

    Keywords: assessmenttestexamLarge classconstructed responseshort answerscoring

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    Student-Generated Analogies for Learning about Information Flow
    Using analogies is a standard practice for both teaching and communicating ideas in science. Here we upend the traditional lesson, where the instructor provides a fully constructed analogy and...

    Keywords: critical thinkingcentral dogmaanalogical reasoning

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    Designing a High Quality and Accessible Scientific Poster
    The aim of this project is to help undergraduates understand the importance of making their research accessible to a wide audience and to practice this idea by deliberately designing a scientific...

    Keywords: Accessibilityscientific poster

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    Marsh Madness: Using Video Games and a Case Study to Explore Food Webs and Ecosystem Services in Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve
    As the complexity and interconnectedness of our world increases, we are continually expected to be capable of complex, non-linear thinking in order to successfully tackle and solve the challenges...

    Keywords: food webssystems thinkingGame Based LearningEcosystem Servicessocio-ecological networks

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    Introduction to Plant Phenology with Museum Specimens of Desert Prickly Pear (Opuntia phaeacantha)
    Students engage in hands-on exploration of phenology by working with digitized herbarium specimens, particularly focusing on prickly pear specimens from the UTEP herbarium. They learn to identify...

    Keywords: botanyclimate changephenologyherbariumcactus

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    The Flight Physics Concept Inventory: Reliably Evaluating Aerodynamic Lift, Drag and Associated (Naïve) Concepts of Flight in Class and In-Game
    Students often struggle to transfer conceptual understanding from isolated instruction to a coherent mental model. This is especially true for the context of flight physics, fluid dynamics, or the...

    Keywords: active learninggamificationmisconceptionsaerodynamicsfluid dynamicsResearch-based assessment instrumentConceptual SurveyPRE-/POST-test

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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...

    Keywords: InquiryAstronomy labParallaxInverse-square law for lightCosmic distance ladderAsking investigable questions

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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...

    Keywords: mental healthgratitudepositive psychologydegree commitment

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    A Rapid Genetic Screen Using Wisconsin Fast Plants®: A Hands-On Approach to Inheritance of de novo Mutations
    Some concepts in genetics, such as genetic screens, are complex for students to visualize in a classroom and can be cumbersome to undertake in the laboratory. Typically, very large populations are...

    Keywords: mutationInheritancegermlinesomaplant lifecycle

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    Integrating Community Ecology Into the Study of Parasites: Exploring the Effect of Host Behavior on Parasite Transmission Rates
    Organismal life cycles are often presented as a set of facts to memorize in undergraduate biology courses. This approach is cognitively demanding for students and fails to convey how central life...

    Keywords: statisticsspecies interactionsQuantitative reasoninggraphsCommunity EcologyParasitologyfood webs

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    Escape Zoom!: Reviewing Introductory Evolution Content Using an Escape Room Format
    Reviewing and integrating key concepts and learning goals at the end of a biology course can be overwhelming to students and instructors alike. Often end-of-term review sessions in preparation for...

    Keywords: Evolutionartificial selectionSpeciationextinctionsexual selectionphylogenetic treesmechanisms of evolution

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    A Modeling Exercise in Sexual Selection using a Student-Created Bird Species
    Evolution-centered lessons at the undergraduate level can often be jargon-heavy, propagate misconceptions if taught ineffectively, and be uninteresting to students who may not see the relevancy of...

    Keywords: Evolutionfitnesssexual selectionNatural Selectionintersexual selectionmate choice

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    Cladistic Analysis Lesson Using Bats
    Phylogenetic analysis can be a challenging concept to grasp for undergraduate biology students. This cladistic analysis lesson utilizes the amazingly diverse Order Chiroptera as a model to...

    Keywords: batsphylogeny and classificationVertebrate Morphologycladistic analysisbat evolution

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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...

    Keywords: bioinformaticsmolecular modelingCOVID19protein structure and functionUCSF ChimeraSARS-CoV-2 spike proteinACE2 receptor

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    Learning Quantitative Genetics: Investigation of Genetic Control for Cold Stress Response in Plants
    Course-embedded undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for students have been shown to increase students’ understanding of the process of science, affirm their scientific identity, and...

    Keywords: data analysisrecombinationplantsquantitative geneticsabiotic stress responsegenetic control of complex traitsinheritance of complex traits

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    A Student-Led Hearing on the Use of HeLa Cells in Research
    In this role-playing case study, students will learn about the HeLa cell line and its origins while examining multiple perspectives surrounding the cell line and its uses. The goal of this case...

    Keywords: bioethicsscience policycell culturedebateHeLa cellsinformed consentrole playsocial justice issues

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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...

    Keywords: bioinformaticscancertranscriptomicshigh-throughputData wranglingSingle cell RNA sequencingq

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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...

    Keywords: mutationtranscriptioncrisprtranslation

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