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This study examines the often-heard assumption in science teaching that some pedagogies in science classrooms can serve a dual function--improve the student-perceived teacher quality and improve students' affinity to STEM professions. We asked 7507 freshmen from 40 colleges in the United States, selected in a stratified random procedure, to retrospectively report their experiences of a list of 32 pedagogies during high school biology, chemistry, and physics classes. Our survey also asked students to rate each teachers' quality and to report their Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics career interests at the beginning and end of high school. We found that teachers' chosen pedagogies, on the whole, had a stronger impact on how students rated them than on students' career interests. Interestingly, we also found considerable differences between the disciplines.

The effective use of technology in teaching can aid in enhancing the teaching and learning of a subject matter. This study aimed to enhance the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of five pre-service biology teachers (PSBTs) by implementing a TPACK-Instructional Design (TPACK-ID) model-based technology integration course at a Zambian public university. An explanatory case study design was used. Data sources for the study included semi-structured interviews, video lesson recordings, lesson plan reports and PSBTs' reflection notes. Data from interviews and reflection notes were analyzed using deductive thematic analysis while a TPACK rubric was used to simultaneously analyze lesson plan reports and video lesson recordings. The findings indicated that the TPACK-ID model-based technology integration course improved PSBTs' overall TPACK and sub-knowledge domains: pedagogical knowledge, technology knowledge, technological content knowledge, and technological pedagogical knowledge. The study recommends implementing context-based technology integration courses in teacher preparation programs to enhance pre-service teachers' TPACK.

The quality of education provided to students is closely related to teacher professional knowledge and teaching-learning activities used in classrooms. Teachers' and students' perceptions of teaching-learning activities used in their classrooms may influence and give insight into educational quality. This study compared 40 teachers' and 469 students' perceptions about teaching-learning activities used in biology classrooms. The participants were selected from eight Zambian secondary schools, and data were collected using paper-based Likert-scale surveys. Data were analysed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) to compute frequencies and Chi-square tests. The results revealed that teachers had more positive perceptions than students for all teaching-learning activities indicators. Furthermore, the perceptual differences between teachers and students were statistically significant for most (65%) of the teaching-learning activities. The results also revealed that the participants' perceptions of teaching-learning activities in the components 'making biology teaching-learning easy' and 'assessment strategies' were negative. The implications of these findings for teaching and learning were discussed. The study recommends exploring the reasons behind the participants' perceptions through data from actual classroom observations. The study also recommends supporting teachers' enactment of teaching-learning activities related to the categories 'making biology teaching-learning easy' and 'assessment strategies'.

Teachers' reflections on their practice are a powerful tool for measuring and supporting their professional knowledge. Pedagogical content knowledge is one of the most influential domains of teacher professional knowledge. This multiple-case study investigated the topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) components that Zambian secondary school science teachers integrate when reflecting on biology lessons. Three teachers from the same school were observed teaching a biology lesson and attended post-observation interviews. Data were mainly collected through lesson plans, lesson observation field notes and post-observation interviews. The data were analysed using in-depth analysis of explicit TSPCK, enumerative and constant comparative approaches. TSPCK maps were constructed to illustrate each teachers' integration of TSPCK components. The results revealed four features about the integration of TSPCK components: (a) None of the teachers depended solely on a single TSPCK component as they integrated other components (b) The components curricular saliency, students' prior knowledge and misconceptions, and conceptual teaching strategies were central in the TSPCK maps of all the teachers, while representations and analogies, and what make the topic easy/difficult to teach/learn were least integrated (c) All teachers had different pairs of reciprocal connections among TSPCK components, and (d) All teachers had different pairs of most integrated components. The implications of these findings for science and teacher education research were presented and discussed. It was concluded that teachers' reflections revealed the integration between TSPCK components and showed them differently. The study recommends investigating teachers' reflections over several lessons and tracking any changes in their TSPCK integration.

The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP), a consortium of diverse colleges and universities, provides support for integrating genomics research into undergraduate curricula. To increase research opportunities for underrepresented students, GEP is expanding to more community colleges (CC). Genomics research, requiring only a computer with Internet access, may be particularly accessible for two-year institutions with limited research capacity and significant budget constraints. To understand how GEP supports student research at CCs, the authors analyzed student knowledge and self-reported outcomes. It was found that CC student gains were comparable to non-CC student gains, with improvements in attitudes toward science and thriving in science. The early findings suggest that the GEP model of centralized support with flexible implementation of a course-related undergraduate research experience benefits CC students and may help mitigate barriers to implementing research at CCs.

When children ask questions about science, parents use a variety of strategies to answer them, including providing accurate information, connecting to prior knowledge, or simply saying "I do not know." This study examines the factors underlying individual differences in parental explanatory characteristics. Parents (N = 148; M[subscript age] = 38; 84% female, 16% male; 58% with White American children; 67% having completed college; 49% with household income over $75,000) of children ages 7 to 10 answered eight questions about biology as if they were responding to their child. They also completed three measures of different aspects of reasoning and values: the Picture Vocabulary Test (PVT) to measure verbal intelligence (Gershon et al., 2013), the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT; Toplak et al., 2014), which measures the tendency to override intuitive but incorrect responses to engage in reflective thinking, and the Authoritarianism Scale (Feldman & Stenner, 1997), which measures a parent's preference for encouraging obedience toward authority figures over encouraging their child's autonomy. Our findings support that different factors are associated with different explanatory characteristics. Parents high in reflective thinking tend to provide more connections to other knowledge in their explanations, while parents high in authoritarianism tend to provide fewer references to uncertainty and how to manage it. Implications for effective parent-child communication and children's scientific understanding will be discussed.

Mosquitoes are both a nuisance and public health threat. In recent decades, outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika in Florida have raised awareness of the importance of domestic and peri-domestic container mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The synanthropic nature of these species, coupled with their preference for human bloodmeals, makes them a concern of and target for mosquito control. However, mosquito control programs (MCPs) often struggle to sustainably manage these mosquitoes because of the cryptic and abundant nature of their larval habitats, and negative public opinion towards MCPs and the use of insecticides. Fortunately, mosquito control can be improved by the actions of homeowners and residents as they have regular access to their own property and containers. Schoolbased education programs can provide a means to community-wide education regarding mosquito control. We developed and delivered a mosquito education program to elementary, middle, and high school students. Knowledge of mosquitoes significantly improved in participating elementary and middle/high school students. This knowledge was partially retained according to a follow-up test that was administered. Additionally, attitudes towards mosquito control and at-home control methods significantly improved following the instruction. The improvements in knowledge and attitudes observed in students suggest they can and should be targeted for mosquito education campaigns by mosquito control programs and educators.

We examine the impact of "Bio"logy "M"entoring and "E"ngagement (BIOME) near-peer mentorship on 437 first-year undergraduate students over three cohort years. The BIOME course consists of ten, 50-minute meetings where groups of six first-year mentees meet with an upper-division student mentor to discuss topics including metacognition, growth mindset, and effective study strategies. We employed a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the impact of BIOME on mentee academic outcomes. Initial ethnographic analysis revealed that BIOME influenced student study methods, approaches to academic challenges, and use of campus learning communities. We then constructed a novel, program-specific instrument to measure the implementation of these habits, a construct we named "academic habit complexity." Regression analysis supported the hypothesis that enrollment in BIOME leads to students using more diverse approaches than their peers. Enrollment in BIOME, and the associated development of academic habit complexity, is related to higher course grades in General Chemistry, a biology major prerequisite. Finally, students participating in BIOME demonstrated improved short-term student retention as measured by increased enrollment in the subsequent prerequisite General Chemistry course. These results suggest that course-based near-peer mentorship may be an effective and scalable approach that can promote student academic success.

Personality results from the complex interactions among multiple learning and memory systems. There is a need to examine the personality-learning association using a personality model that captures this complexity: Cloninger's psychobiological model. The study addresses this need using a person-centered approach. In total, 686 adolescents completed the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) and a measure of approaches to learning. Students with a "steady" temperament showed a preference for the deep approach. Students with high character coherence also had this preference. A temperament profile-by-character profile interaction was crucial for understanding students' preferred approach to learning. These findings imply that adaptive learning approaches result from an integration of major systems of learning and memory, as measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory.

Every sphere of life has been revolutionised by science. Thus, science understanding is an increasingly precious resource throughout the world. Despite the widely recognised need for better science education, the percentage of school students studying science is particularly low, and the numbers of students pursuing science continue to decline internationally. This study establishes a new measure to investigate students' science self-concepts, motivation, and aspirations. The instrument shows sound psychometric properties in investigating secondary students' science self-concepts in different disciplines of science. Though available data show that students' science self-concepts are domain specific, it could not be shown that motivation and aspirations are.

This study focused on student achievement in ninth grade schools or academies compared to ninth grade students enrolled in traditional high schools. Student achievement was measured by standardized test scores. Other variables tested were gender and ethnicity. All students used in this study were enrolled in the ninth grade during the 2005-2006 school year at one of six schools selected for this research. Participants were enrolled in Algebra I and/or Biology I course(s) and therefore took the standardized Subject Area Test in these disciplines. Data indicated students enrolled in ninth grade academies scored significantly higher then ninth graders enrolled in traditional high schools on both the Algebra I and Biology test. Further analysis of data revealed significant differences based on ethnicity in achievement of Biology I students in the ninth grade academies when compared to the Biology I students in the traditional high schools. The African American students in the ninth grade academies had a higher mean score on the Biology I SAPT than Caucasian and African American students enrolled in the traditional high schools. Additionally, the Caucasian students in the ninth grade academies scored only 0.03 higher than the mean score of African American students in the ninth grade academies. (Contains 5 tables.)

Student affect was measured and compared with their overall learning outcome scores. There was a significant difference among the student affect scores (F = 4.52; df = 3, 444; p < 0.01). Among the affect items measured, only Progress Monitoring Information was significantly regressed on overall learning outcome scores (F = 5.45; df = 1, 103; p = 0.02). Active learning during class where students participated using their cell phones, and other wifi capable devices, was regressed on their overall performance (F = 17.4; df = 1, 120; p < 0.01). The Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) was applied in a novel way by allowing students to score their experience, and there was a significant difference in the overall RTOP score between these two instructors' sections (F 1= 23.58; df = 1, 157; p < 0.01). However, student learning outcome performance for these instructors was not significantly different. The RTOP items that measured the degree to which students had control in the course were significantly lower than the other RTOP items measured for instructors A and B, (F = 7.09; df = 24, 2650; p < 0.01) and (F = 5.08; df = 24, 1425; p < 0.01), respectively.

James Madison University faculty team-teach an interdisciplinary mathematical modeling course for mathematics and biology students. We have used two different project-based approaches to emphasize the mathematical concepts taught in class, while also exposing students to new areas of mathematics not formally covered in class. The first method allows students to select projects based on their individual interests, which provided the class with an exposure to the breadth of applications of mathematical modeling to biology. The second method allows students to select projects that are focused around one common biological theme, which encouraged a remarkable cohesion among the whole class. These strategies could be extended to various applications-based mathematics courses. We present our observations and make recommendations for project-based courses using both methods.

There is limited evidence of guidelines for planning for teaching at the higher education level either in the research literature or in higher education institutions themselves. As a result, novice lecturers struggle to plan for their teaching. The purpose of this study was to explore how planning can be done at a higher education institution by documenting the process of planning of a genetics course for teaching pre-service teachers. A self-study methodology was employed and multiple forms of data were collected including pre- and post-testing results, interviews and journal entries of reflections with critical friends on the different forms of data. Reflections and journaling were ongoing processes throughout the study. The study revealed that planning effectively for teaching at higher education institutions requires lecturers to consider pre-service teachers' multiple identities, which include pre-service teacher as a learner, a teacher and a member of society. These identities gave meaning and significance to the content that I presented to the students and impacted their learning. This study also revealed that the use of a framework such as the topic-specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework with its five components of learners' prior knowledge, curricular saliency, what is easy or difficult to teach, representations and conceptual teaching strategies results in structured and informed planning for teaching at university level, contributing to transformation of the content knowledge into a form that is understandable to the students.

The Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) is an example of a research-based instrument that assesses conceptual understanding in an area that contains well-documented alternative conceptions. Much of the CINS's use and original validation has been relegated to undergraduate settings, but the information learned from student responses on the CINS can also potentially be a useful resource for teachers at the secondary level. Because of its structure, the CINS can have a role in eliciting alternative conceptions and induce deeper conceptual understanding by having student ideas leveraged during instruction. In a first step toward this goal, the present study further investigated the CINS's internal properties by having it administered to a group (n = 339) of students among four different biology teachers at a predominantly Latino, economically disadvantaged high school. In addition, incidences of the concept inventory's use among the teachers' practices were collected for support of its adaptability at the secondary level. Despite the teachers' initial enthusiasm for the CINS's use as an assessment tool in the present study, results from a principal components analysis demonstrate inconsistencies between the original and present validations. Results also reveal how the teachers think CINS items may be revised for future use among secondary student populations.

The fundamental scientific concept of evolution occurring by natural selection is home to many deeply held alternative conceptions and considered difficult to teach. Science teachers' subject matter knowledge (SMK) and the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) component of knowledge of students' conceptions (KOSC) can be valuable resources for helping students learn difficult science concepts such as natural selection. However, little research exists that explores the relationship between science teachers' SMK and their KOSC on evolution by natural selection. This study explores the relationship between SMK and KOSC through the participation of four biology teachers at a single high school and thus deepens our understanding of the teacher knowledge base. Main data sources are teacher interviews in which each teacher answered SMK-type questions and predicted what their students' most common alternative conceptions were by using the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS). Other data sources include student responses on the CINS and classroom observations. Findings revealed relative independence between SMK and KOSC, although there is likely a minimum threshold of SMK to recognize student alternative conceptions. However, our work also revealed ways in which teachers were not leveraging their KOSC and suggest potential avenues for future inquiry.

This study shows how worksheets can be used to support learning in an informal learning environment. Although there has been some research into the use of worksheets in museum settings in developed countries, it is still not clear whether worksheets enhance or inhibit learning. Using a case study of grade 4-7 learners visiting a biology exhibition at a university museum in South Africa, the study demonstrates that worksheets can support student learning in the context of the study. Data was collected by audio-recording learners' conversations and directly observing the participants during their visit. Taking a sociocultural view of learning which focuses on the notion of scaffolding, the findings identify five ways in which worksheets can assist students to learn about the biology exhibits: as a guide, for engagement with exhibits and exhibitors, as a prompt to ask questions, to maintain focus and to promote collaboration. The findings further show that the role of the teacher in mediating worksheet use and in briefing the learners is a key influence on how the learners interact with the worksheets and the exhibition. The learners briefed by teachers who allowed a degree of free-choice in visiting exhibits were more collaborative and appeared to have had a more enriching learning experience. The role of exhibitors in relation to the worksheets influenced learners' use of the worksheets. The implications of the findings for museum exhibitors and teachers are discussed.

Educators and educational researchers alike are discovering that inductive methods--in which learners start with specific observations, problems, or cases and infer general laws from these instances--are more effective when higher-order thinking is the primary goal (Yadav et al. 2007). For decades, the case-study method has been widely used in law and business schools, but is less common in secondary education. In this article, the author provides three examples of case-based teaching that can be effectively used in high school biology, environmental science, or astronomy classrooms. (Contains 4 figures and lists 1 online resource.)

I describe three activities that allow students to explore the ideas of evolution, natural selection, extinction, mass extinction, and rates of evolutionary change by engaging a simple model using paper, pens, chalk, and a chalkboard. As a culminating activity that supports expository writing in the sciences, the students write an essay on mass extinction. All activities are geared for high school biology and perhaps introductory college biology classes. With little modification, activities 1 and 2 can be used successfully in middle school and perhaps in the higher elementary grade levels.

A workshop titled Beyond the Symptom: The Biology of Fatigue was held virtually September 27-28, 2021. It was jointly organized by the Sleep Research Society and the Neurobiology of Fatigue Working Group of the NIH Blueprint Neuroscience Research Program. For access to the presentations and video recordings, see: https://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/about/event/beyond-symptom-biology-fatigue. The goals of this workshop were to bring together clinicians and scientists who use a variety of research approaches to understand fatigue in multiple conditions and to identify key gaps in our understanding of the biology of fatigue. This workshop summary distills key issues discussed in this workshop and provides a list of promising directions for future research on this topic. We do not attempt to provide a comprehensive review of the state of our understanding of fatigue, nor to provide a comprehensive reprise of the many excellent presentations. Rather, our goal is to highlight key advances and to focus on questions and future approaches to answering them.

The quantity and quality of research into autism and related conditions have increased dramatically in recent years. Consequently we selectively review key accomplishments and highlight directions for future research. More consistent approaches to diagnosis and more rigorous assessment methods have significantly advanced research, although the boundaries of the "broader phenotype" remain to be defined and the validity of Asperger's disorder as a discrete syndrome remains controversial. Recent epidemiological studies have shown that Autism Spectrum Disorders are common, but there continues to be debate about the causes of the increase in the frequency with which autism is diagnosed. Psychological research has helped to develop new developmental models for the disorder and there have also been significant advances in the molecular genetics of autism and understanding of the underlying neurobiological processes. Areas important for future research include the study of autism as it first develops, i.e., in infants and very young children, and of specific processes (psychological and neurobiological) which underlie the disorder. Significant challenges lie ahead in evaluating the growing number of treatments for autism and in integrating the results of research into treatment and educational settings.

The rapid rate of expansion of the disciplines of biotechnology, genomics, and bioinformatics emphasizes the increased interdependency between computer science and biology, with mathematics serving as the bridge between these disciplines. This paper demonstrates this inter-relationship within the context of a computational model for a biological process. We designed and implemented a lesson plan for an interdisciplinary science course that examines the evolutionary process from biological, mathematical, and computer science perspectives. The observations obtained from this lesson can be used to augment studies in mathematics with emphasis on arithmetic functions, probability, and generating series.

Biology teachers in introductory and upper level high school courses generally present principles of taxonomy as part of the curriculum. Students learn about classification systems that categorizes species into recognized taxonomic groups based on their degrees of structural divergence or derived ancestral traits. References made, hereafter, to specific higher taxa do not assign a particular ranking, because the designation of status or ranking to such groups is in a state of flux. Despite the ongoing questions about hierarchical ranking, teachers can introduce representative groups to students through purposeful activities that are planned within the limits of required curricula and available instructional time. There are a number of effective classroom tactics and instructional plans that biology teachers can employ to expose their students to Earth's biodiversity while developing observation and critical thinking skills. This article presents one plan which utilizes an instructional approach that integrates student inquiries of select higher taxa with their study of other topics taught during a biology course. (Contains 6 figures.)

Describes two studies investigating children's views of their internal body maps. Reports that the majority of 8-9 year old children did not connect tubes and organs in their drawings, and the majority of 7-11 year old children drew relatively small, unconnected, and freely suspended organs. (Author/YDS)

Presents the idea that several points should be considered in animal dissection: (1) ethics; (2) the animal's position; (3) the law; and (4) the actual benefits to society. Recommends that students be carefully prepared for animal dissection. Contains 21 references. (DDR)

Authors describe a biology course for nonmajors that appealed to student interests while retaining content integrity. The other philosophical foundations of the course were to increase student involvement and to conduct at least half of the laboratory aspect of the course at field-based locations. Details of transportation considerations, contextual settings, lecture topics, field trips, and laboratory activities are provided. (PR)

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children and phenocopies a muscle precursor that fails to undergo terminal differentiation. The alveolar subtype (ARMS) has the poorest prognosis and represents the greatest unmet medical need for RMS. Emerging evidence supports the role of epigenetic dysregulation in RMS. Here we show that SMARCA4/BRG1, an ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzyme of the SWI/SNF complex, is prominently expressed in primary tumors from ARMS patients and cell cultures. Our validation studies for a CRISPR screen of 400 epigenetic targets identified SMARCA4 as a unique factor for long-term (but not short-term) tumor cell survival in ARMS. A SMARCA4/SMARCA2 protein degrader (ACBI-1) demonstrated similar long-term tumor cell dependence in vitro and in vivo. These results credential SMARCA4 as a tumor cell dependency factor and a therapeutic target in ARMS.

A study was conducted to examine the characteristics of students enrolled in an introductory biology course at a predominantly Black, southern university. Characteristics studied were ability, aptitude, locus of control orientation, cognitive style, number and enjoyment of spatial experiences, attitudes toward biology, and family background factors. (APM)

Anguilliform swimmers are long and narrow animals that propel themselves by undulating their bodies. Observations in nature and recent investigations suggest that anguilliform swimming is highly efficient. However, understanding the underlying reasons for the efficiency of this type of locomotion requires interdisciplinary studies spanning from biology to hydrodynamics. Regrettably, these different fields are rarely discussed together, which hinders our ability to understand the repeated evolution of this swimming mode in vertebrates. This review compiles the current knowledge of the anatomical features that drive anguilliform swimming, compares the resulting kinematics across a wide range of anguilliform swimmers, and describes the resulting hydrodynamic interactions using data from both in vivo experiments and computational studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this review is to discuss in greater detail the topics covered in the recent symposium entitled "Traumatic brain injury: laboratory and clinical perspectives," presented at the 2014 International Behavioral Neuroscience Society annual meeting. Herein, we review contemporary laboratory models of traumatic brain injury (TBI) including common assays for sensorimotor and cognitive behavior. New modalities to evaluate social behavior after injury to the developing brain, as well as the attentional set-shifting test (AST) as a measure of executive function in TBI, will be highlighted. Environmental enrichment (EE) will be discussed as a preclinical model of neurorehabilitation, and finally, an evidence-based approach to sports-related concussion will be considered. The review consists predominantly of published data, but some discussion of ongoing or future directions is provided.

Currently 1677 species are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), yet only a small percentage have been delisted due to recovery. In the fall of 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed delisting 23 species due to extinction. Tracking changes in species 'recovery status over time is critical to understanding species' statuses, informing adaptive management strategies, and assessing the performance of the ESA to prevent further species loss. In this paper, we describe four key obstacles in tracking species recovery status under the ESA. First, ESA 5‐year reviews lack a standardized format and clear documentation. Second, despite having been listed for decades, many species still suffer major data gaps in their biology and threats, rendering it difficult if not impossible to track progress towards recovery. Third, many species have continued declining after listing, yet given the above (1 & 2), understanding potential causes (proximate and/or ultimate) can be difficult. Fourth, many species currently have no path to clear recovery, which represents a potential failing of the process. We conclude with a discussion of potential policy responses that could be addressed to enhance the efficacy of the ESA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Positive nature experiences were associated with reduced systemic inflammation in a national U.S. Sample. • More frequent pleasant nature encounters were associated with lower C-reactive protein levels. • Findings were robust to adjustment for health behavior and psychological well-being. • Incorporating nature exposure into interventions could offer an accessible and cost-effective approach to improving health outcomes. Prior evidence indicates that contact with nature improves physical health, but data explicitly linking engagement with nature to biological processes are limited. Leveraging survey and biomarker data from 1,244 adults (mean age = 54.50 years, range = 34–84 years) from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS II) study, we examined associations between nature engagement, operationalized as the frequency of pleasant nature encounters, and systemic inflammation. Concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and fibrinogen were measured from fasting blood samples. Analyses adjusted for sociodemographic, health behavior, and psychological well-being covariates. More frequent positive nature contact was independently associated with lower circulating levels of inflammation. These findings add to a growing literature on the salubrious health effects of nature by demonstrating how such experiences are instantiated in downstream physiological systems, potentially informing future interventions and public health policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]