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This study introduces a practical work activity that allows students to investigate the inhibitory effects of seed extracts on pancreatic lipase activity. The activity is related to the issue of the ongoing global obesity epidemic and involves the use of materials and chemicals readily available in high school laboratories. We show how the activity can help students understand how scientists can control the reaction rates of key enzymes involved in the digestion of dietary fat, to combat obesity. The activity also illustrates how instructional scaffolding can help students understand important procedures related to the design, measurement, and handling of data which are critical in ensuring success among students performing scientific investigations.

Large data sets invite students to engage in scientific practices such as question asking, identifying correlations, using visualizations, and practicing data literacy in an authentic context. However, authentic data sets are rarely introduced in the biology classroom. We prepared an online inquiry activity based on authentic gross characteristics of a gazelle data set. These included gazelle’s weight, location (longitude and latitude), collection date, and measured lengths of body parts. In constructing the activity, we considered the following design principles: use of high-quality authentic data, choice of a wide data set to allow multiple research questions, and exposure of the participants to basic data science tools. The activity starts with an introduction to data sets and guided data analysis, and it ends with independent research of a large gazelle data set. The activity was experienced by 121 teachers and was found to promote higher-order research questions. Before the activity, most of the teachers’ questions focused on gazelle properties—first-order questions, according to Dillon’s (1984) classification of research questions. Following the activity, most questions belonged to the comparison and contingencies categories (second- and third-order questions, respectively). Thus, this activity might serve to expand the biology teacher’s toolbox in teaching inquiry and data literacy.

Blood Sugar Balance (BSB) is an accessible web-based game, created as an extension of our federally funded type 2 diabetes curriculum for high school biology classrooms. Modeling of complex systems and diseases, like metabolism and type 2 diabetes (T2D), is especially difficult and deeply impactful when executed in an engaging way. Blood Sugar Balance integrates environmental factors, biological factors, and personal choices to model glucose metabolism and understand the impact and risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Players earn points during gameplay by ensuring their game character maintains healthy blood glucose levels throughout the play period by regulating them. Players must make choices about food, exercise, and the release of hormones from the pancreas to manage blood glucose levels. Game settings can model the stages of type 2 diabetes as well as environmental factors that limit access to food, exercise, and health care options. Gameplay is fast and engaging, allowing exploration of factors that impact the final score. For example, how might accessibility to insulin impact the final score while playing at the type 2 diabetes setting? Here we describe the development of Blood Sugar Balance and the integration of data analysis into the accompanying NGSS-aligned lesson plan.

New laboratory activities have been developed to improve students’ scientific process skills. With the development of technology, teachers and students have the opportunity to use the new activities in their lessons. In this research, an Arduino-based activity was developed and then tested with different experiments. Students had the opportunity to practice some types of scientific process skills with regard to scientific facts (determining effects of variables; collecting data; measuring, reporting, and interpreting findings; and discussing possible reasons).

COVID took over the world starting in 2020. Everyone quickly “knew” about the novel coronavirus, but how much do they actually know about the virus behind COVID-19? This classroom activity gives students real-world practice in evaluating actual genetic sequences from SARS-CoV-2 and working with genome alignments to identify mutations and cluster different emergence patterns. This activity works through alignments, mutations/variants, protein folding, structure and function, and medical/immunology implications of the different variants. There are seven parts to this activity, and each one can be incorporated alone into a lesson or collectively used for a lab, case study, or other supplemental activity to strengthen learning objectives in genetics, biology, immunology, and public health. This learning activity is scalable to different levels and has successfully been incorporated into K–12 education as well as college and graduate education.

Concepts relating to enzymes and energy are central to understanding chemical and biological processes at the molecular level. Student learning of these crosscutting concepts can be challenging, so it is important to identify misconceptions and remediate them early, especially in introductory classes. Here we describe an activity in which undergraduate introductory biology students timed themselves crushing pieces of cereal to simulate and quantify the progress of an enzymatic reaction in the presence of competitive and noncompetitive inhibitors, and we asked students to connect the cereal analogy to concepts of thermodynamics. We developed an assessment and short surveys to evaluate the impact of the activity and to identify persistent misconceptions. Measurable improvements of assessment scores and qualitative student survey responses demonstrate the value of including a hands-on activity along with other modes of instruction.

This study aimed to compare the effects of computer-based lessons versus traditional lessons on achievement of university students regarding meiotic cell division. A pretest-intervention-posttest design was used. To determine the effect of our computer-based intervention, we established a control group. In total, 100 second-year university students from a science education department (50 in the experimental group, 50 in the control group) participated in the study. Data were derived from a meiosis content test and interviews. The results showed the computer-based lesson had significant positive effects on student learning.

After numerous calls for action, science education within the United States is increasingly moving toward student-centered instructional models that emphasize science as a process and phenomena-based learning. In turn, this shift in instructional practice is driving the need for classroom-tested curricula that develop students’ science process skills and engage students in authentic science learning. In this article, we present a set of materials that were used to deliver inquiry-based science instruction for middle school students exploring the impact of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) on human health. Using the highly adaptable zebrafish model organism (Danio rerio), our activities guide students through the process of asking a scientific question, developing and testing a hypothesis, and using evidence to draw conclusions. Finally, we provide recommendations for implementation based on our experience with both in-classroom and distance learning modes of implementation.

This classroom activity showcases how a free website and app, iNaturalist, can be used to introduce students to inquiry while also providing them with an opportunity to explore the outdoors. Inquiry-based approaches are known to have positive impacts on student learning. In addition to this, teaching scientific concepts outside may improve student learning gains while also highlighting the great biodiversity that exists right in their backyards. This project allows students to generate and investigate their own research questions based on their local communities. Students gather observations on the local organisms, utilizing iNaturalist, and ultimately create a presentation to share their findings. The instructor can modify the length of the project and the level of inquiry to fit the needs of a specific classroom. This project can be repeated several times to promote an appreciation of nature. Students can transform into true ecosystem explorers.

First pioneered in 2010, Fish Cam provides the opportunity for students to engage in novel behavioral research without the need for extensive materials or for leaving the classroom. Fish Cam utilizes a robust behavioral paradigm, shoaling behavior in fish, and enables students to collect information from simple, easy-to-understand observations, allowing for student-led experimental design, data collection, analysis, and discussions on the scientific process. In these ways Fish Cam removes the cost and time-intensive aspects of doing this sort of work in the classroom. Shoaling behavior, which is well represented in the scientific literature, refers to social aggregations of fish. Almost all species of fish form shoals, and this process is easy to study under laboratory conditions. An evolutionary adaptation, shoaling provides individuals better access to resources and decreases the risk of predation. In its initial launch, Fish Cam was highly successful as a learning tool but suffered from difficulties associated with delivering the information online in 2010. Now, with the rapid development of online communication tools associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have the second iteration of Fish Cam. The flexibility of new delivery platforms enables partner organizations to view experiments and adapt the experience to their specific educational goals. Here we present an overview of Fish Cam, including lesson plans, a description of shoaling behavior in fish, and the results of Fish Cam studies run in the fall of 2020.

In biology class, climate change is relevant because of its impact on biodiversity. While the subject of climate change should be taught in science classes, problems with teaching it involve preconceived ideas that can create barriers. Instruction is also hindered by a lack of materials that support direct observation by students in both rural and urban areas. An inquiry-based approach incorporating phenology offers a possible solution to the problem, giving students the ability to observe climate change firsthand. Phenology is the practice of observing flora or fauna over a time period within a geographic area and recording seasonal changes. The data can be uploaded into the National Phenology Network for study purposes. This website also provides materials, lesson plans, and instructions for observing seasonal changes and connecting them to climate change, which can then be correlated to impacts on biodiversity. The Department of Natural Resources National Wildlife Federation also has material that can help the instructional process. When students are involved in direct observational activities, climate change moves from an abstract concept to a concrete phenomenon. Their new knowledge can empower students to try and make a difference at a local level.

Many of today’s adolescents have little to no connection to their environments or the native plants and animals that share their spaces. This is primarily due to a significant decrease in the amount of time children spend outdoors now, compared with children in the mid to late 20th century, compounded by a lack of natural history and outdoor experiences in schools. Nature journaling is an effective way for life science teachers to get adolescents outside and incorporate nature studies into their lessons. Students engaged in regular, sustained nature journaling could experience an increase in literacy and critical thinking skills, an increase in understanding and connections to their native landscapes, and a decline in anxiety and depression.

Data manipulation and statistical analysis are increasingly important learning goals for undergraduate biology majors, yet many biology students approach statistics courses with apprehension. We designed a set of activities to use engaging subject matter, bird feeder webcams located throughout the Western Hemisphere, to foster a growth mindset by gradually building on data analysis and experimental design skills, using the American Statistical Association’s educational guidelines.

A report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found 46% of rivers and streams and 21% of lakes are in poor biological condition (EPA, 2017). In this 5E standards-based inquiry lesson, students actively engage with the natural phenomena of algal blooms through the introduction of the harmful algal bloom (HAB) that occurred in Lake Erie’s western basin in the summer of 2011. Students make sense of relationships within aquatic ecosystems, using microcosms (miniature ecosystems) containing phytoplankton and zooplankton, and then communicate their findings through a scientific manuscript. This lesson engages students in the three-dimensional learning identified in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) under the standard of HS-LS2, Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics. More specifically, students address the expectation of HS-LS2-6 when they make sense of how the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, while changing conditions may result in new ecosystems. This long-term scientific investigation also provides students with opportunities to make sense of aspects of the nature of science, while increasing their science content knowledge and understanding of the practices of science. Evaluation of student work occurs at all stages of the lesson.

Undergraduate biology teachers usually emphasize taxonomic keys as tools for students to explore organismal diversity and biological roles, largely ignoring the epistemologically challenging process of creating the keys. Students are often frustrated by the challenging language and apparent randomness of traits selected for taxonomic keys, which in turn leads to decreased interest in and motivation for taxonomy. Here, we offer an Argument-Driven Inquiry activity designed to engage students in both the scientific practices and processes required to generate taxonomic keys. Students make observations of organisms in both field and lab settings, generate taxonomic keys, and engage in scientific argumentation with their classmates to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of their keys. Through this activity, teachers can help students recognize the useful yet imperfect nature of taxonomic keys and the subjective nature of choosing the traits used to construct them. We believe that by lifting the veil of certainty that often shrouds taxonomic keys, students become more open to the productive struggle inherent to taxonomy and the scientific process.

The discovery of and research into penicillin resistance by Sir Edward Abraham and Sir Ernst Chain can be used to teach the concept of natural selection and also multiple nature of science (NOS) objectives associated with Next Generation Science Standards, such as “scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence” and “science is a human endeavor.” After a brief history of Abraham and Chain’s work, we share a detailed multiday lesson plan and rationale for use in an eighth-grade in-person life science classroom. The instructional strategies discussed include analysis of excerpts of Abraham and Chain’s published work through a case study jigsaw using an explicit and reflective approach to teaching NOS. The explicit approach used here is the direct instruction of NOS concepts, while the reflective approach allows students to think about and reflect on what they are learning. Instruction includes close reading, direct instruction, small and large group discussions, and writing. Students are asked to create a scavenger hunt map at the end of the multiday lesson and are assessed with an online five-question pre- and post-assessment.

There is an emphasis on survival-based selection in biology education that can allow students to neglect other important evolutionary components, such as sexual selection, reproduction, and inheritance. Student understanding of the role of reproduction in evolution is as important as student understanding of the role of survival. Limiting instruction to survival-based scenarios (e.g., effect of food on Galapagos finch beak shape) may not provide students with enough context to guide them to complete evolutionary reasoning. Different selection forces can work in concert or oppose one another, and sexual selection can lead to the selection of trait variants that are maladaptive for survival. In semistructured interviews with undergraduate biology students (n = 12), we explored how leading students through a sequence of examples affected student reasoning of evolution. When presented with an example where sexual selection and survivability favored the same variant of a trait, students emphasized survival in their reasoning. When presented with a scenario where sexual selection selected for trait variants that were maladaptive for survival, more students described how two different selection forces contributed to evolutionary outcomes and described reproductive potential as a part of fitness. Moreover, these students considered how the maladaptive traits were inherited in the population. Scenarios where sexual selection and survival-based selection were opposed improved student ability to reason about how factors other than survival impact evolutionary change. When instructors introduce students to scenarios where survival-based selection and sexual selection are opposed, they allow students to change their reasoning toward inclusion of reproduction in their evolutionary reasoning.

Gene expression plays a pivotal role in the development, differentiation, and maintenance of organisms by allowing genes to encode for an observable trait (i.e., phenotype). To understand the function of a particular gene, several approaches can be taken, ranging from removing the gene entirely to targeting the product of the gene (i.e., the protein). RNA interference (RNAi) has been shown to be a powerful approach used to silence gene activity and examine the connection between DNA and protein along with controlling gene expression. The course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) described in this article is a hands-on molecular biology lab–based lesson that allows students to examine the impact of RNAi on Caenorhabditis elegans reproduction and development through the examination of the central dogma of biology. Through these activities, students gain practice in the scientific method of inquiry by designing experiments to observe how genotype connects to phenotype and, subsequently, organism behavior.

The human gut microbiome is an important part of the digestive system and the human body as a whole. The abundance and richness of bacterial species in your digestive tract change based on your diet and lifestyle. A diet full of fresh vegetables, meat, and whole grains will cultivate a variety of bacteria that will help you absorb nutrients, prevent disease, keep your skin hydrated, and even improve cognitive function. A diet of sugar- and fat-rich foods will cultivate less diverse bacteria and species that cause inflammation in your gut and impair memory and focus (Quercia et al., 2014). I designed a simulation that uses inquiry and game play to teach high school (grades 9–12) biology students these concepts. The game involves teamwork, decisions about diet, cause and effect of various life events, and data analysis. Educational approaches such as game play and active learning have been shown to improve student engagement, retention of concepts, and overall success of a lesson (Sengupta and Clark, 2016; Michael, 2006).

In instructional settings, evolution and natural selection are challenging concepts to teach, due to the fact that these topics are difficult to observe in the laboratory or lecture hall. In the past few years, Avida-ED has emerged as an innovative tool for teaching evolutionary principles. It allows students to directly observe effects of evolution by changing different variables, such as environmental conditions and genetic sequences. In our study, we used pretest and posttest questionnaires to investigate the use of Avida-ED in undergraduate coursework. We showed that students demonstrated similar improvement in evolutionary understanding irrespective of major, undergraduate level, sex, or final end-of-course grade. These results reinforce the idea that Avida-ED can facilitate learning of evolution in all student populations.

Case studies are valuable tools for instruction but are often limited to a single topic and a single class period. Courses such as evolution that synthesize multiple concepts around a common theme, however, can use a single case study type project that extends over the entire semester to develop and link core concepts. A central theme in evolutionary biology is determining if complex biological traits represent adaptations that arose by natural selection. The instructional model presented here engages students in a step-by-step process to answer this question of adaptation for a trait of their choosing. In this process, the instructor first introduces the major concepts required to address adaptation. As each major concept is developed in class, students apply this concept to their particular trait, using information gathered from published studies. Students then report their research back to the class. At the end of the semester, each group synthesizes their evidence into a paper developing an argument as to whether or not their trait fits the criteria of being an adaptation. This project provides students with ownership of course material, gets students to act as practicing scientists, and helps them integrate and apply theoretical material to real questions.

Evolutionary medicine is a growing area of research and practice; however, it is not widely discussed in introductory biology courses. Because of the interest in human biology, using evolutionary medicine is a great way to hold students’ interest, placing topics in context, making the subject of evolution relevant. Too often students lose interest in learning about evolution because they think it is not pertinent. The pedagogical technique of using case studies in the classroom engages students in a way that will grow their understanding of topics, in this case evolution, as well as helping students with critical thinking and process skills, growing their scientific literacy. The following case study is appropriate for an introductory biology course that focuses on evolution, an AP biology course, or an introductory evolution course for undergraduates. The case focuses on the evolutionary perspectives of what might be causing human ear infections, as well as the role of beneficial species of gut bacteria in maintaining a healthy immune system. It is advantageous for students to know about natural selection and coevolution before using the case study.

The United States still has one of the lowest evolution acceptance rates in the world. Biology educators have been diligent in their methods to increase evolution acceptance and knowledge, with much success. However, misconceptions still arise through education, textbooks, and even social and religious settings that may influence our citizens’ low evolution acceptance rates. Much research has been done on such misconceptions. But with new technology and electronic advances, we now have a wide variety of information available at our fingertips. Advents such as social media, popular culture, and smart devices may incorporate new and unique misconceptions not seen before in evolution education. We see a younger generation raised in an era where they may experience a bombardment of evolution misconceptions daily, from the games they play to the posts or memes they read on social media. Research into these effects is lacking but may be essential to push the boundaries of evolution education into the future.

Evolution is often challenging for high school students to understand because it encompasses an array of interlinked processes that occur across a broad swath of biological scales. To help address this, we have developed a set of freely accessible, online, and interactive lessons that focus on the evolution of sweet garden peas from their starchy tasting ancestors. Gregor Mendel first explored the genetics of garden peas in the mid-1800s; our materials help students explore the basis of the R and r alleles from genetic, protein, cell function, artificial selection, and population genetics perspectives. These Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)–linked lessons integrate concepts across scales and are designed to be used in a flexible order, with support provided to teachers on how to choose a sequence that meets their students’ needs. Throughout, students act as scientists as they uncover how multiple processes at disparate scales all worked together in the evolution of sweet and wrinkled peas from ancestors that were starchy and round.

One of the important mechanisms in cancer cell metastasis is the cellular function of a specific cell type called myofibroblast cells. Myofibroblast cells are unique cell types that play an important role in the cancer cell microenvironment. As a step toward integrating the latest peer-reviewed cancer research findings into a general biology remote learning setting, we developed an innovative guest speaker talk to engage first-year undergraduates to develop a prediction on tumor microenvironment. In our article, we describe integrated remote approaches using Jamboard and reflective mentoring to validate and reflect on undergraduate team responses within an inclusive and equitable framework. These teaching and mentoring strategies provide a framework for senior undergraduates to be transformative role model scholars that inspire the next generation of Latinx and Native American undergraduates in important topics related to health and environment and the process of science for general biology undergraduates.

Plants are a vital component of human life on Earth; they provide us with food and essential nutrients as well as the oxygen we breathe. However, the science education community struggles to find ways to make plant processes less abstract and more understandable for learners. In this article we demonstrate how we make plant processes more understandable for learners by observing the behaviors of a specific plant structure, a stoma, which is a microscopic opening that plays a role in the movement of matter into and out of a plant. Recent research across plant-related science fields centers on plant stomata because they protect plants from various environmental strains, including attacks from pathogens. Translating this research into science classroom instruction has not occurred extensively. A key impediment is that few common methods to make stomata visible or demonstrate their dynamic nature to learners are available. The activities we share here make stomata visible utilizing a specific plant, Tradescantia zebrina, and common laboratory equipment. In the first activity, we share how to demonstrate stomata closing and opening by manipulating a combination of these environmental factors. In the second activity, we describe how to create a visual simulation of stomata response to attacks from microorganisms.

Students are often intimidated by genetic evolution equations because they do not relate to everyday concepts. We developed and piloted an instructional scaffolding patterned after income tax return forms that students use to calculate Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, natural selection, and mutation-selection balance of alleles. Students sequentially solve these evolution equations by entering variables into a series of cascading calculations similar to an Internal Revenue Service Tax Form 1040. We discuss suggestions for implementation of this exercise and demonstrate through assessment data that students have improved understanding of these equations after its application.

How to eat healthily is a question that has received much attention. It is important to find an easy way to help students figure out answers. Here we used a meta-analysis–based life expectancy calculator from recent research to let students self-test and to educate students about the impact of food choices and how to make good diet decisions. This activity can also let students experience the advancing role of big data meta-analysis in nutrition research and real life. In addition, it allows students to discuss the complexity of scientific research and its limitations.

Coursework that is dependent on experiential learning, such as that offered in the laboratory-based sciences, can present barriers for a variety of students. These barriers can be magnified for students who experience disabilities that impact their access to the full depth of the course content and materials. Our unique perspective was formed primarily by supporting two blind students at two institution types across multiple biological science departments. In this paper, we explain the barriers we find are currently impacting blind and visually impaired (VI) students’ access to STEM as well as some tools to navigate creating more equitable and accessible spaces to support blind/VI students in STEM. More specifically, we provide general recommendations for working with blind/VI students using a student-centered approach to planning and daily interactions, followed by tips and tools for preparing accessible materials and a case study on how to use learning outcomes to modify course activities to be more useful for blind/VI students, and lastly we provide recommendations for important collaborations.

Gene therapy has fascinated clinicians, scientists, and patients since decades ago because of its potential to treat a disease at the genetic level. This can be achieved in many ways, including replacing a disease-causing gene with a healthy copy. Gene therapy must overcome complex tissue and cellular barriers to introduce genetic modifications into the nucleus of the target cells to drive a high level of gene expression. Moreover, the genetically corrected cells must be present in significantly large numbers in the body to reverse the diseased condition and yet able to escape immunological recognition and survive in the long term to sustain the benefit. This paper reviews the early work as well as recent developments in gene therapy, including improvements to viral vectors and novel treatment strategies, diseases targeted, approved gene therapies, and current challenges and prospects for future progress.

There are endless numbers of investigations that a student can be exposed to in the science classroom. Regardless of the investigation, students may sometimes be asked to construct a scientific explanation of a phenomenon or research question. One style students may use to write their response integrates the claim, evidence, and reasoning framework. As students learn to write in this style, it is important that they are provided with supports such as organizers. While many organizers exist, there are some additions that can be made to improve on the student’s experience. This article shares an example of a CER organizer that others can use and modify in their own classrooms. Rationale for its design is also provided.

While educationally beneficial, place-based learning can be challenging to implement in an applied forest ecology course that draws a diversity of students with limited forest experience. I describe a semester-long sequence of labs designed to instill place-based learning principles. The semester begins with an observational lab to develop an initial personal forest relationship, with future learning reinforcing and cultivating this bond. Forest-specific labs cover key applied ecology concepts while continuing to expand on students’ place knowledge with an overarching forest management plan to provide real-world application and expression of understanding.

The damaging outcomes of racist ideologies continue to influence all aspects of society. This in spite of the fact that at their core these ideologies rely on a fundamentally false assumption: that biologically there are different races among humans. The source of this fallacy is pseudoscience and historical prejudice, and yet even scientists and medical professionals continue to apply misconceptions about biological race when performing research or practicing medicine. Scientific educators are in a unique position to dismantle the central damaging assumption, and here we provide a straightforward approach that educators can employ for engaging in this conversation. It is organized around four questions that build sequentially and integrate the latest science with a history of the topic: How did the myth of biological subcategories of humans become ingrained as a scientific concept? How has scientists’ approach to taxonomy changed since Linnaeus’s first human classifications? What does biology now tell us about variation within the human species? Why is it critical to debunk this myth? We provide answers with which scientific educators can re-center the conversation around historical and scientific facts, while highlighting how misapplication of the evidence harms the integrity of science as a field.

As researchers, teachers, and practitioners we often encounter young professionals and lay adults who do not understand basics of mammalian body temperature regulation. Often their single solid piece of knowledge is that some vertebrates (mammals and birds) are warm-blooded and some (fish, amphibians, and reptile) are cold-blooded, which is incorrect. There are many thermal capabilities and regulatory strategies. We provide basics of body temperature regulation, including definitions, its evolution, examples of body temperature variability, unique examples of hibernation and torpor, and we explain how a better understanding benefits individuals in personal and professional lives. We suggest a simple replacement of the warm-blooded paradigm that can be used to inform even young students. As a starting point, students young and old are familiar with species of mammals (e.g., platypus and opossums) that do not maintain as constant or as warm of a body temperature as humans and dogs. Students also know that humans do not maintain a constant body temperature over time (they have a “temperature” when sick) or all part of their body (they have cold hands and feet outside in winter).

Genetics plays an increasing role in modern life as evidenced by the development of revolutionary techniques such as CRISPR-based genome editing and the rise of personalized genome services. However, genetics is difficult to learn; known issues include its abstract nature, different scales, and technical language. Pedigree analysis is a convergence of these concepts, requiring use of multiple symbolic scales and understanding the relationships and nature of alleles, genes, and chromosomes. To measure student understanding of these concepts, as well as support biology educational reform toward student-centered instruction, we developed a formative assessment to provide reliable and valid evidence of student understanding, learning, and misconceptions for pedigree analysis. Nine multiple choice items targeted to four learning objectives were developed in an iterative process with faculty and student input. We designed distractor answers to capture common student misconceptions and deployed a novel statistical technique to assess the congruence of distractor language with targeted misconceptions. Psychometric analysis showed the instrument provides valid and reliable data and has utility to measure normalized learning gains. Finally, we employed cross-tabulation and distractor progression to identify several stable misconceptions that can be targeted for instructional intervention.

Plastic debris in aquatic and marine environments often breaks up into fragments that are smaller than 5 millimeters, which are then classified as microplastics. While there is not yet a standardized and validated methodology for characterizing microplastics, the protocol developed in this study uses methods for isolating and observing microplastics and for the investigation of how they interact with organisms present in biofilms from urban waterways. Project-based learning (PBL) has been proven to be a successful strategy in K–12 science education; the implementation of PBL provides opportunities for student-driven inquiry and provides teachers with a means to integrate curriculum with current research and to consider the effects of human impacts on the environment. This paper describes the protocol developed for high school teachers to educate students about microplastics and how to successfully isolate and observe them. Teachers and students in Maryland successfully isolated microplastics from biofilm samples from the Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, and shared their results. International teachers and students in Barcelona, Spain, involved in a related project, had similar results and shared experiences through images, video, and online meetings. These collaborations provide important opportunities for student-driven inquiry and for them to engage in methods of current scientific research.

Many students become overwhelmed when asked to design and conduct their own unique experiments. To assist with this problem, I implemented an interdisciplinary, place-based unit where students are guided in the development of their own scientific questions and experiments around the phenomenon of maple syrup production. Students learn about the science of maple syrup production, design experiments, collect and analyze data, draw conclusions, and share their findings with the school community. This project has myriad opportunities for students to engage in problem solving, teamwork, and inquiry.

Generating ideas and then testing predictions are important parts of the scientific process. In this laboratory exercise, I begin by challenging students to think about the reasons that the number of species on an island will increase or decrease. In small groups, students discuss how species richness changes over time and how rates of extinction and colonization will change depending on island size, distance from the mainland, and number of species already on the island. Students will make and test predictions using model islands and bean “species” only after they have come up with their own ideas of how species number changes over time and made predictions in the form of a graph. Last, students go outside and test the effect of area on the number of species found on a nonisland “island” (such as a wooded patch between sidewalks). This quick exercise allows students to differentiate between hypotheses and predictions and introduces such terms as sample size and replication while allowing for discussions about when the data don’t always match predictions.

Assessment of student learning is crucial to capture accurately student understanding of core concepts and competencies as well as to provide relevant feedback for informing teaching and learning. Yet, many instructors in two-year and four-year undergraduate institutions rarely have pedagogical training to design fair instruction and assessments. This qualitative study describes changes occurring in the perspectives and practices of two postsecondary educators teaching introductory biology courses after participating in a one-day workshop on assessments and applying their new knowledge during course implementations. The assessment workshop emphasized the use of “backward design” for course planning and alignment. Learnings particularly focused on using Bloom’s taxonomy and best practices in assessment design. Data from educators’ interviews and samples of their course documents revealed encouraging findings. Even after a short intervention, the educators took initiatives to align course objectives, learning activities, and assessments. And notwithstanding the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, they also made some changes in formulating and communicating objectives with students, introduced relevant learning activities, and revised assessment questions to reflect best practices. The article discusses these findings and offers the next steps for research on supporting educators to design fair assessments and courses for undergraduate instruction.

Biological terms describing abnormal numbers of chromosomes, such as polyploidy, eupolyploidy, aneuploidy, autopolyploidy, and allopolyploidy, can be confusing to students. A card-sorting activity designed to expose high school students to these key terms used in the evolution and genetics units of biology classes allows them to visualize these concepts. Students work with classmates to organize key terms with matching definitions and diagrams. The activity will solidify students’ knowledge and understanding about different chromosomal abnormalities that can result from nondisjunction occurring in meiosis or from mating with different species, which may lead to sympatric speciation. The culmination of the activity includes students using their inquiry-based skills to investigate mystery plant and animal cards and determining if they are autopolyploid or allopolyploid organisms.

In the 21st century, which is often characterized by fake news and pseudoscientific claims, it is important that students should engage with the tenets of science, and how it differs from pseudoscience. The Rationality Index for Plant Use (RIPU) tool, introduced in this article, could be used in a problem-based and cooperative learning activity, where students explore the tenets of respectively science and pseudoscience. During such a learning activity, students will engage with scientific literature to either find support for hypotheses, or to nullify it. The activity also holds affordances to sensitize students toward the processes of science and the realization that scientists publish their findings in high-quality, peer-reviewed journals.

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were proposed in 2013 in the United States for K–12 learning to emphasize the importance of science and engineering practices in the three dimensions of science learning. In this study, we show that DNA extraction experiments, which are familiar in the United States, can be used not only as demonstration experiments but also as educational material for science practices. We could visualize extracted DNA using an enzyme treatment with DNase and RNase and agarose gel electrophoresis. We conducted a science practice in which a DNA extraction experiment was used as an extracurricular club activity in Japan. The students made predictions, conducted experiments, obtained results, and reflected on their findings. Although there are still points needing improvement, our results indicate that the DNA extraction experiment can be used as a new teaching material for NGSS science practices.

Inspired by the inaccessibility of laboratory experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, we designed an at-home experiment on diet and diabetes for a high school (9th grade) life science course. It promotes active learning through an affordable experiment, embedded hyperlinks, and video content to make virtual learning exciting and accessible.