Metabolomics is a key discipline in systems biology, together with genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. In this omics cascade, the metabolome represents the biochemical products that arise from cellular processes and is often regarded as the final response of a biological system to environmental or genetic changes. The overall screening…

Included in this high school biology unit on sickle cell anemia are the following materials: a synopsis of the history of the discovery and the genetic qualities of the disease; electrophoresis diagrams comparing normal, homozygous and heterozygous conditions of the disease; and biochemical characteristics and population genetics of the disease. A…

All numerate humans have access to two systems of number representation: an exact system that is argued to be based on language and that supports formal mathematics, and an Approximate Number System (ANS) that is present at birth and appears independent of language. Here we examine the interaction between these two systems by comparing the…

National calls to improve science education include focusing on scientific practices coupled with learning disciplinary core ideas. Among the practices is constructing explanations. In the field of cellular and molecular biology, explanations typically include a mechanism and can be used to make predictions about phenomena. In this work, we…

This study evaluated the effect of students' academic achievement on identified difficult concepts or topics in Senior Secondary School Biology in Delta State, Nigeria. The study was quasi-experimental and the design was a 2X2 factorial non-randomized pretest-posttest control group design. The sample was drawn from intact classes from four…

Previous studies have shown that students often ignore molecular mechanisms when describing genetic phenomena. Specifically, students tend to directly link genes to their encoded traits, ignoring the role of proteins as mediators in this process. We tested the ability of 10th grade students to connect genes to traits through proteins, using…

Open-ended, inquiry-based multiweek laboratory exercises are the key elements to increasing students' understanding and retention of the major biological concepts. Including original research into undergraduate teaching laboratories has also been shown to motivate students and improve their learning. Here, we present a series of original…

This study explored the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and its development of four experienced biology teachers in the context of teaching school genetics. PCK was defined in terms of teacher content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of students' preconceptions and learning difficulties. Data sources of teacher knowledge base…

In the United States, genetic research, as well as policy and practice innovations based on this research, has expanded greatly over the past few decades. This expansion is indicated, for example, by the mapping of the human genome, an expansion of genetic counseling, and other biogenetic research. Also, a disability rights movement that in many…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of case teaching on how students learn about genetic engineering, in terms of meaningful learning and retention of learning. The study was designed as quasi-experimental research including 63 8th graders (28 boys and 35 girls). To collect data, genetic engineering achievement tests were…

Background: The paper plots some shifts in educational policy between 1988 and 2009 in England that launched the rhetoric of a "gender gap" as a key political and social concern. The rhetoric was fuelled by a rise in the importance of quantification in technologies of accountability and global comparisons of achievement. A focus on boys…

To understand genetics, students need to be able to explain and draw connections between a large number of concepts. The purpose of the study reported herein was to explore the way upper secondary science students reason about concepts in molecular genetics in order to understand protein synthesis. Data were collected by group interviews. Concept…

This study (1) explores the effectiveness of the contextualized history of science on student learning of nature of science (NOS) and genetics content knowledge (GCK), especially interrelationships among various genetics concepts, in high school biology classrooms; (2) provides an exemplar for teachers on how to utilize history of science in…

Fast-mapping paradigms have not been used previously to examine the process of word learning in boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS), who are likely to have intellectual impairment, language delays, and symptoms of autism. In this study, a fast-mapping task was used to investigate associative word learning in 4- to 10-year-old boys with FXS relative…