The design and implementation of a scientific writing assignment in a >100 student upper-level undergraduate microbiology class resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in an open-access journal. The primary course objectives and requirements were met by assigning groups of four to five students one of 25 distinct section topics of similar size…

Despite the growing importance of agricultural microbiology at the applied, productive and ecological levels, undergraduate degrees in Agronomy generally do not feature much microbiological experimentation. To address this deficiency, we have designed an experimental programme that evaluates the potential of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria…

Laboratory-based "practical" classes are an essential component in teaching molecular biology for undergraduate students. Universidad Regional Amazonica Ikiam is a higher education institution located in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, a high biodiversity place, including amphibians. Based on this, we have established a practical…

Plants are crucial parts of ecosystems but are traditionally considered boring and difficult by students. It is therefore not clear whether factual knowledge about plants contributes to building positive attitudes and interest in botany. We investigated whether factual knowledge about monocotyledonous plants is associated with secondary students'…

Attitude has been regarded as a motivating feeling for the learning of biology. However, how inquiry-based learning contributes to attitude change towards the learning of biology has not yet been studied in Rwanda. This study intends to determine the effect of inquiry-based learning on students' attitudes toward learning biology. A sample of 228…

In Research Group Meetings (RGM) and other professional activities, sometimes positions are fluid, but stances illustrate international scholars' bilingual competence in an RGM in Microbiology. In stances, people index sociocultural values by evaluating discursive figures in talk, proffering epistemic/affective assessments, and positioning each…

The convenient synthesis of dihydroberberine by the reduction of berberine is described as an experiment for an upper-division undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory course. Students obtained up to 74% yield of the desired pure product without the use of chromatographic techniques. The antimicrobial activities of both compounds against…

A disconnect exists between students and biology that is often propagated by information-dense lectures that provide little opportunity for integrative learning and reflection. The author's professional development activities have allowed him to build upon his pedagogical creativity and develop a structured reflective ePortfolio-based microbiology…

We outline protocols for producing slant-minis (SLINIs) and mini-deeps (MEEPs) and examples of their use in simple microbiology experiments suitable for high school students. The principal benefits of these protocols are decreased cost associated with significantly reduced media use; easier, less expensive disposal of waste; and increased safety…

Innovative teaching and learning is increasingly becoming part of medical education. We report the evaluation of a medical microbiology board game, Med Micro Fun With Facts (MMFWF), based on Trivial Pursuit™ principles. The game was developed to stimulate medical students' interest in microbiology and expose students to the subject content of an…

To meet complex ethical challenges in the engineering profession, students need ethics learning experiences that are integrated systematically across the engineering curriculum. Sustaining systematic changes in the engineering curriculum also calls for processes that respect and engage the engineering faculty. This paper reports the work to date…

Understanding molecular processes and coordinating the various activities across levels of organization in biological systems is a complicated task, yet many curricular guidelines indicate that undergraduate students should master it. Employing mechanistic reasoning can facilitate describing and investigating biological phenomena. Biofilms are an…

To promote graduate students' active learning, deep reading of high quality papers was done by graduate students enrolled in biochemistry and microbiology pharmacy curriculum offered by college of life science, Jiangxi Normal University from 2013 to 2015. The number of graduate students, who participated in the course in 2013, 2014, and 2015 were…

The amplification of nucleic acids is a fundamental tool utilized in various scientific disciplines, including Molecular Biology, Immunology, Microbiology, and Genetics. However, due to the time and technology required for traditional polymerase chain reaction and its derivatives, it is not always possible to include such methodologies in…

Reflection is critical for adolescents' problem solving and learning in game-based learning environments (GBLEs). Yet challenges exist in the literature because most studies lack a theoretical perspective and clear operational definition to inform how and when reflection should be scaffolded during game-based learning. In this paper, we address…