Shorter lectures punctuated with activities to engage students in the learning process can increase student understanding, critical thinking, and overall learning. However, some students have negative responses to active teaching strategies. Here we explore the topic of student resistance to active learning, including reasons for this opposition…

When selecting a textbook, college instructors must weigh a variety of factors. One is whether the text is written at a level that is accessible to one's students. An important factor in this is how many technical words are used. I developed an index to calculate logodiversity, a term I coined that reflects the number of technical words and the…

Higher education faculty are not held to the same standard of pedagogical preparation as primary and secondary teachers. This perspectives essay points out the difference in pedagogical preparations between higher education faculty and high school teachers. The essay highlights research indicating the importance of pedagogical training, offers…

We investigated a pedagogical innovation in an undergraduate microbiology course (Microbes and Society) for non-majors and education majors. The goals of the curriculum and pedagogical transformation were to promote active learning and concentrate on clarity in teaching. This course was part of a longitudinal project (Project Nexus) which…

One of the difficulties in teaching basic molecular biology concepts to the students with little biological background is the lack of hands-on exercises that combines the challenges of the concepts with visualization and immediate feedback. BIOPS Interactive is a web-based interactive learning environment for molecular biology that complements…

Communication of scientific and medical information and collaborative work are important skills for students pursuing careers in health professions and other biomedical sciences. In addition, group work and active learning can increase student engagement and analytical skills. Students in our public health microbiology class were required to work…

We describe a new approach to teaching introductory biology. Our introductory experience for undergraduates is a laboratory course that is entirely inquiry and discovery based. We introduce our students to fundamental concepts in biology in the framework of three multi-week laboratory modules, each of which is an open-ended investigation of a…

The importance of Bioinformatics tools and methodology in modern biological research underscores the need for robust and effective courses at the college level. This paper describes such a course designed on the principles of cooperative learning based on a computer software industry production model called "Extreme Programming" (EP).…

Many new instructional theories advocate centering instruction around a set of authentic tasks to improve application and transfer of knowledge and help students take more responsibility for their own learning. At BYU-Hawaii, a general education biology course was redesigned to follow this task-centered approach and then taught to two groups of…

Service learning projects were incorporated into the curriculum of an undergraduate course entitled "Biology of Women". The goals of the service learning projects were: 1) to provide students with the opportunity to consider issues pertaining to human biology in real-world settings; 2) to foster student engagement with the community; and…

Students enrolled in a large-lecture, non-majors biology course employing a diversified instructional approach featuring both instructor-centered and student-centered techniques evaluated the effectiveness of each approach in fostering course goals. Students perceived both approaches to be effective to some extent. Students indicated that the…

The topic of inquiry is explored in an online freshman level introductory biology course for non-majors. The research took place in a distance learning program at a small community college in the Southeast. Students in the course were required to complete an extended guided inquiry in their homes and to communicate about their work by way of the…

Using cultured fibroblast cells, undergraduate students explore cell division and the responses of cultured cells to a variety of environmental changes. The students learn new research techniques and carry out a self-designed experiment. Through this project, students enhance their creative approach to scientific inquiry, learn time-management and…

"Alu"-insertion polymorphisms were used by an undergraduate Bioinformatics class to study how these insertion sites could be the basis for an investigation in human population genetics. Based on the students' investigation, both allele and genotype "Alu" frequencies were determined for African-American and Japanese populations as well as a…

Up until a short time ago the Y chromosome played the role of the juvenile delinquent within human chromosomes. It was considered to be rich in junk, short on genes, and rapidly degenerating. Now the Y chromosome is growing up by providing a means for investigating human migration. Through the use of genetic markers on the Y chromosomes, students…