Education Commons^™

An Activity Aimed At Improving Student Explanations Of Biological Mechanisms, Caleb M. Trujillo, Trevor R. Anderson, Nancy J. Pelaez

PIBERG Instructional Innovation Materials

This document is intended for use by instructors and their students. The activity contains steps to introduce students to the MACH model involving analyzing and discussing explanations about biological mechanisms. Initially, students read modified articles about biological mechanisms during class, although instructors may prefer to assign readings outside of class before the activity. During the activity, students are required to analyze the readings for evidence of research methods, analogies, context, and mechanisms. In so doing, students learn how to integrate the information pertaining to each of the MACH model components into a coherent explanation about their biological mechanism. After performing …

A Tetrahedral Version Of The Mach Model For Explaining Biological Mechanisms, Caleb M. Trujillo, Trevor R. Anderson, Nancy J. Pelaez

PIBERG Instructional Innovation Materials

This document is intended for both instructors and students. Modified from the original MACH model this version, once cut and folded, creates a tetrahedral model that can conveniently be used as a teaching and learning tool to inform and guide students on how to write expert quality explanations of biological mechanisms. Each vertex of the tetrahedron represents a component of the model namely, Methods, Analogy, Context, and How. For a coherent and complete explanation about molecular mechanisms, it is important to integrate information pertaining to all four components of the model. The tetrahedral MACH model has been tested in both …

Online Versus Face-To-Face Biology: A Comparison Of Student Transactional Distance, Approach To Learning, And Knowledge Outcomes, Mary Erin Riggins

Dissertations

Community colleges are among many other institutions increasing course offerings online, but there is still some concern about the quality of online learning. Educator concerns, a lack of empirical evidence on biology courses offered online, and the need for an equal opportunity for education support the need for clarification of the quality of distance education in biology, especially in the community college setting. Student attitudes, approaches to learning, and performance should all be studied in order to formulate a better evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of online courses (Svirko & Mellanby, 2008).

The purpose of this study was to …

Development And Evaluation Of A Model For Secondary Evolution Educators’ Professional Development Needs, William L. Romine, Ellen Barnett, Patricia J. Friedrichsen, Aaron J. Sickel

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Professional development (PD) efforts have improved acceptance and pedagogical practice related to the theory of evolution in high school biology teachers. However, these teachers express need for more PD related to evolution. It therefore becomes necessary to understand teachers’ PD needs prior to structuring PD efforts.

Methods

We formulated and validated a model to explain secondary teachers’ PD needs using data from a survey of 276 secondary biology teachers who reported teaching evolution.

Results

In addition to reliable subscales, we found that obstacles to teaching evolution, school and community support for evolution instruction, confidence in evolution instruction, and prior …

Engaging Non-Scientists In Stem Through Problem-Based Learning And Service Learning, Andrew Tawfik, Rebecca J. Trueman, Matthew M. Lorz

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This study follows the evolution of a single biology course designed for non-science majors. In its original design, the course used only traditional pedagogical techniques, such as lecture and textbook homework assignments. Over several iterations of the course, the class combined problem-based learning (PBL) and service learning to better support student knowledge. For this study, our goal was for students to learn biology concepts as they engaged in a lake cleanup project within the greater Chicago metropolitan area. Data sources consisted of pretest, posttest, and final exam scores to assess learning. The results suggest the combination of PBL and service …

Spring 2014

Scientia

Q&A with Dean Koocher; Proud graduate discovers love of learning at DePaul; Intrepid biologist inspires lifelong lessons; Student organization spotlight: Psi Chi; Smart phones and synthetic bone capture Associate Professor Gabriela Gonzalez Aviles' interest; All for DePaul; Lab notes

Bioc 435: Advanced Topics In Biochemistry—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Edward N. Harris

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

BIOC 435 or Advanced Topics in Biochemistry is an ACE 10 (Achievement centered education)course for students in their senior year. This is a capstone course for Biochemistry majors and is the last of several biochemistry courses that they will take in their undergraduate enrollment. The course is also open to non-majors in a related science such as Biology and Biological Sciences, although these students typically do not do as well as the majors. Students who take this course should be well-prepared in the basic concepts of biochemistry with regards to nucleic acids and proteins as well as some familiarity with …