Accuracy and Idea Consideration: A Study of Small-Group Interaction in Biology

The study examines the relationship between scientific accuracy of contributions, peer idea consideration, one’s ability to direct the conversation, and learning outcomes of students engaged in small-group work in an introductory undergraduate biology lab course.

Using the Intended–Enacted–Experienced Curriculum Model to Map the Vision and Change Core Competencies in Undergraduate Biology Programs and Courses

This study applies the intended-enacted-experienced curriculum model to map the Vision and Change core competencies across undergraduate biology courses. A five-department pilot of a curriculum mapping survey is followed by a deep dive of 10 courses to provide a rich snapshot of current core competency teaching and assessment practices.

Audience Matters

There is growing attention to student assessments designed to reach beyond the classroom, including assessments with an immediate or future audience. The impact of audience, however, has not been examined in multimodal assessments across continents, institutions, disciplines, and teaching contexts. Using qualitative data, this article examines the impact on student learning of incorporating audience and awareness of audience in diverse settings through multimodal projects. These include a core assignment in an interdisciplinary, semester-long graduate class in the United States, a year-long capstone project for geography undergraduates in Northern Ireland, and a supplemental assignment for graduate and undergraduate biology students in Norway. This article investigates the impact of audience through multimodal assessments across these three settings and concludes that it can positively influence student learning, motivation, and skill development.

Context Matters: Social Psychological Factors That Underlie Academic Performance across Seven Institutions

Findings presented here demonstrate that institutional context plays an important role in the mechanisms underlying performance gaps in undergraduate biology and may affect how social psychological interventions impact performance across different learning environments.

Supporting Undergraduate Biology Students’ Academic Success: Comparing Two Workshop Interventions

When teaching college biology students to use effective learning strategies, does it help to address both the what and the when of studying? Findings indicated that students who learned about time management in addition to metacognition had higher exam grades and commitment to earning a college degree at the end of the semester.

Preparing for Class: Actions and Resources of Introductory Biology Students

Instructors want students to be prepared for class. There are several different resources and activities available to help students prepare for class, but very little is known about how students choose to prepare for class in the context of undergraduate biology.

Translating Monastic Lessons to Teaching Undergraduate Biology

My participation in the Emory Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI) has afforded me considerable means to enrich my teaching at the undergraduate level. Here, I discuss how I translated lessons learned from working with Tibetan Monks to teaching in a primarily undergraduate institution, including: 1) introducing each course with a challenge to the assumptions made as “Western scientists” 2) using the unique monastic pedagogy of debate to facilitate classroom scholarship, and 3) embracing compassion as a central tenet to engage and empower student learning, which has become the cornerstone of my teaching philosophy. In addition, I brought undergraduates with me to participate in ETSI, and the experience had a profound effect on their educational and career paths. These experiences with the Tibetan monks transformed my teaching and continue to inform how I approach undergraduate education.

Thinking as an Engelsian

In this essay, I address the question of how Marxism influences our thought and action as radical intellectuals by focusing on Friedrich Engels’ work, Dialectics of Nature, the way it has been taken up in critical environmental studies and how Engels’ thinking has influenced me. In later life, Engels made important contributions on topics that are distinct from Marx's economic work. He attempted to apply dialectical methods to the “natural sciences” and he also used his knowledge of anthropology to produce a study of the historical origins of private property and women's oppression. In both cases he has been accused of adopting a positivist approach that lacks the emphasis on human agency found in Marx. Here, I challenge this view by showing how Engels’ work has been of use to practicing scientists – particularly to Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin in their book The Dialectical Biologist. I further argue that this understanding of dialectics is fully commensurable and actually advances an approach to Marxism that is based on human self-emancipation. As an undergraduate biology student these scientists inspired me with their approach to their subject as well as their activism. The essay concludes with some brief thoughts on the importance and limitations of adopting a Marxist method when considering socio-environmental change.

A New Open-Source Web Application with Animations to Support Learning of Neuron-to-Neuron Signaling

Pesticides and their associated modes of action serve as real-world examples of chemical toxicity, stimulating student interest and supporting their understanding of nervous system function and cell signaling. An open-source web application called “Neuron-to-Neuron Normal and Toxic Actions” hosts narrated animations of pesticide toxic actions and exists as a resource for instructors of advanced secondary or undergraduate biology courses. This article describes the features of the web application, reports student feedback on the animations, and details a cooperative learning procedure for instructors to use the web application in online learning environments or in-person classroom settings with technology support.