Biology Commons^™

Using Avifauna To Access The Functional Success Of The Restored Beaver Creek Wetlands Near Cave Run Lake, Menifee County, Kentucky, Brian D. Wulker

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Biology by Brian D. Wulker on December 1, 2014.

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 …

20141001.2: Religious Studies And Biological Sciences Departments, 1957-1975, College Of Liberal Arts, College Of Science

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the Religious Studies Department and the Biological Sciences Department at Marshall University from 1957-1975. Items were received in 2014 and include information about the "Bible & Religion" major that was changed to Religious Studies, and misc information about the biological sciences department.

Acceptance Of Evolution By America’S Educators Of Prospective Teachers, Guillermo Paz-Y-Miño-C, Avelina Espinosa

New England Science Public: Series Evolution

Paz-y-Miño-C G & Espinosa A. 2014. Acceptance of Evolution by America’s Educators of Prospective Teachers. New England Science Public: Series Evolution 2(1): 1-92 (ISSN: 2326-0971). In NESP Series Evolution Vol 2 No 1, Paz-y-Miño-C and Espinosa use the conceptual framework of the Incompatibility Hypothesis (i.e. science/evolution and belief in supernatural causation are incompatible) to document the patterns of acceptance of evolution of 495 Educators of Prospective Teachers affiliated with 281 colleges and universities widely distributed in 4 regions, 9 divisions, and 50 states in the United States. These higher-education professionals (65% PhD-, 22% doctorate-holders) were polled in five areas: (i) …

Growing Conditions For Algae, Angeles Mora, Tamar Melkonian, Alejandro Calderon-Urrea

STAR Program Research Presentations

With the growing demands of water in California and the increasing cost of fossil fuels to operate water-cleaning equipment, Algae was cultivated in different concentrations of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK) during different trails to identify the best growing conditions for the removal water contaminates. Before testing algae in waste water, the Algae: Dunaliella Primolecta, Chlorella Vulgaris, and Scenedesmus Dimorphus were cultivated in four different media containing distilled water and plant vitamins. The different mediums used include: Orchid Grow More (20-20-20), Miracle Grow (30-10-10), Murashige & Skoog, and Orchid Bloom Boster (11-35-15). As a result of the investigation, the algae, …

Biological Sciences Newsletter - August 2014, Department Of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University

Biological Sciences Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Defining Success In Graduate School, Sean M. Bell, Jessica Blumstein, Katja Brose, Adam Carroll, Jean Chang, Julia Charles, Elizabeth S. Haswell, Melissa Michelitsch, Julia C. Owens, Christopher K. Patil, Rebecca Smith, Jon Tupy, Emily Walsh, Tracy Ware

Biology Faculty Research

[Response to Weiner OD (2014) How should we be selecting our graduate students. Mol Biol Cell 25:429–430. doi: 10.1091/mbc.E13-11-0646.]

Biological Sciences Newsletter - May 2014, Department Of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University

Biological Sciences Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Students Name Jaeckle Professor Of The Year, Hannah Dhue

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

To What Extent Is The Established Conceptual Framework Of Animal Behaviour Portrayed In Textbooks?, Andrea M. K. Bierema, Renee S. Schwartz

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

In 1963, Tinbergen revolutionized the study of animal behaviour by revamping the conceptual framework of the discipline. His framework suggests an integration of four questions: causation, ontogeny, survival value, and evolution. The National Research Council Committee on Undergraduate Biology Education to Prepare Research Scientists for the 21st Century (2003) suggests alignment between current research and undergraduate education. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to determine if the conceptual framework used by animal behaviour scientists, as presented in current primary literature, aligns with what students are exposed to in undergraduate biology education. After determining the most commonly listed textbooks from …

An Investigation Into The Habitat, Behavior And Opportunistic Feeding Strategies Of The Protected Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus Itajara), Angela Collins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Groupers (Epinephelidae: Epinephelinae) are apex predators within many reef communities worldwide. Grouper landings contribute significantly to global fisheries, and many populations are suffering from unsustainable levels of exploitation. The large size, site specificity and catchability of most groupers increase susceptibility to fishing pressure, and a large number of grouper species throughout the world are currently overfished. Multiple species are listed as endangered or threatened, and many have suffered local extirpations across their range. Removal of these upper level predators can significantly alter community structure and result in second order effects that may have critical ecological implications. The economic and ecological …

Understanding The Neuronal Controls Behind Heart Rate And Respiration, Sowmya Anjur

Faculty Publications & Research

Students in the course Physiology and Disease at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy learn physiology by designing, executing and evaluating their own experiments based on evidence. This semester, students designed laboratory experiments that involved the use of the same type of exercise to increase both heart rate and respiration rate. Students will collect quantitative data from these experiments to make conclusions regarding the correlation of heart rate and respiration rate. This will be followed by student research into the neuronal controls in the brain that were responsible for these correlations.

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 …

Student Identity Considerations And Implications Associated With Socioscientific Issues Instruction, Mitchel James Ruzek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to explore how aspects of identity, perceived levels of controversy, and the strength of a student's attachment to their controversial identity relate to conceptual understanding and knowledge acquisition during socioscientific issues (SSI) based instruction in a biology classroom. The knowledge gained from this study will have the capacity to enhance our understanding of the role that attachment to identity plays during SSI negotiation. Additionally, insight was gained into the role played by aspects of identity in conceptual understanding of scientifically controversial topics during SSI based instruction.

This study contributed to the existing knowledge base …

Assessing High School Biology Academic Achievement By Comparing Traditional Versus Virtual Dissection Of Rat Specimens, Arthur L. Jamison Jr.

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

American's lagging student performance on standardized assessments in critical subject areas such as science has in-part led to numerous educational reforms including No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, resulting in an increased focus on student achievement. International and national government officials note the direct correlation between the value of science and driving the economic prosperity of a nation adding increased pressure to improve science scores in the United States. Local districts and schools struggle with how to improve student achievement in order to meet the requirements of state and federal educational reforms.

The purpose of this mixed-methods …

A Broadly Implementable Research Course In Phage Discovery And Genomics For First-Year Undergraduate Students, Tuajuanda C. Jordan, Sandra H. Burnett, Susan Carson, Steven M. Caruso, Karl Clase, Randall J. Dejong, John J. Dennehy, Dee R. Denver, David Dunbar, Sarah C. R. Elgin, Ann M. Findley, Chris R. Gissendanner, Urszula P. Golebiewska, Nancy Guild, Grant A. Hartzog, Wendy H. Grillo, Gail P. Hollowell, Lee E. Hughes, Allison Johnson, Rodney A. King, Lynn O. Lewis T, Wei Li, Frank Rosenzweig, Michael R. Rubin, Margaret S. Saha, James Sandoz, Christopher D. Shaffer, Barbara Taylor, Louise Temple, Edwin Vazquez, Vassie C. Ware, Lucia P. Barker, Kevin W. Bradley, Deborah Jacobs-Sera, Welkin H. Pope, Daniel A. Russell, Steven G. Cresawn, David Lopatto, Cheryl P. Bailey, Graham F. Hatfull

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Engaging large numbers of undergraduates in authentic scientific discovery is desirable but difficult to achieve. We have developed a general model in which faculty and teaching assistants from diverse academic institutions are trained to teach a research course for first-year undergraduate students focused on bacteriophage discovery and genomics. The course is situated within a broader scientific context aimed at understanding viral diversity, such that faculty and students are collaborators with established researchers in the field. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) course has been widely implemented and has been …

Bridging Physics And Biology Teaching Through Modeling, Anne-Marie Hoskinson, Brian A. Couch, Benjamin M. Zwickl, Kathleen A. Hinko, Marcos D. Caballero

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

As the frontiers of biology become increasingly interdisciplinary, the physics education community has engaged in ongoing efforts to make physics classes more relevant to life science majors. These efforts are complicated by the many apparent differences between these fields, including the types of systems that each studies, the behavior of those systems, the kinds of measurements that each makes, and the role of mathematics in each field. Nonetheless, physics and biology are both sciences that rely on observations and measurements to construct models of the natural world. In this article, we propose that efforts to bridge the teaching of these …

Instructional Scientific Humor In The Secondary Classroom, Francine Wizner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study is an examination of the manner in which educators employ scientific content humor and how that humor is perceived by their students. Content humor is a useful strategy in drawing the attention of students and improving their receptivity toward scientific information. It is also a useful tool in combating the growing distractions of the electronic classroom. Previous studies have found that humor has a positive effect on knowledge, memory, and understanding. However, few studies have been conducted below the undergraduate level and mainly quantitative measures of student recall have been used to measure learning. This study employed multiple …

Art Or Science?, Allison Marsh

Section 3: Imaging the Fast Moving

No abstract provided.

Biology News, Winter 2014, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Biology.

Biology News

Contents:

-- Greetings from the Department of Biology
-- Biology Students and Alumni

-- Department News

-- The Department of Biology receives funding for specimens and microscopes from the Carver Charitable Trust
-- Carl Thurman's efforts extend the benefit of Carver Funding
-- Reconnect with the Department of Biology

-- Faculty and Staff News
-- Jeff Tamplin receives $60,000 grant
-- Marine Biology (new course offering)
-- Field trip to hatchery
-- Award of Faculty Excellence
-- Dean's Teaching Award
-- TriBeta Teaching Award

-- Student Club News
-- Student clubs combined to travel to Omaha zoo
-- Annual spring …

A Course-Based Research Experience: How Benefits Change With Increased Investment In Instructional Time, Christopher D. Shaffer, Consuelo J. Alvarez, April E. Bednarski, David Dunbar, Anya L. Goodman, Catherine Reinke, Anne G. Rosenwald, Michael J. Wolyniak, Cheryl Bailey, Daron Barnard, Christopher Bazinet, Dale L. Beach, James E.J. Bedard, Satish Bhalla, John Braverman, Martin Burg, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Hui-Min Chung, Kari Clase, Randall J. Dejong, Justin R. Diangelo, Chunguang Du, Todd T. Eckdahl, Heather Eisler, Julia A. Emerson, Amy Frary, Donald Frohlich, Yuying Gosser, Shubha Govind, Adam Haberman, Amy T. Hark, Charles Hauser, Arlene Hoogewerf, Laura L.M. Hoopes, Carina E. Howell, Diana Johnson, Christopher J. Jones, Lisa Kadlec, Marian Kaehler, S. Catherine Silver Key, Adam Kleinschmit, Nighat P. Kokan, Olga Kopp, Gary Kuleck, Judith Leatherman, Jane Lopilato, Christy Mackinnon, Juan Carlos Martinez-Cruzado, Gerard Mcneil, Stephanie Mel, Hemlata Mistry, Alexis Nagengast, Paul Overvoorde, Don W. Paetkau, Susan Parrish, Celeste N. Peterson, Mary Preuss, Laura K. Reed, Dennis Revie, Srebrenka Robic, Jennifer Roecklein-Canfield, Michael R. Rubin, Kenneth Saville, Stephanie Schroeder, Karim Sharif, Mary Shaw, Gary Skuse, Christopher D. Smith, Mary A. Smith, Sheryl T. Smith, Eric Spana, Mary Spratt, Aparna Sreenivasan, Joyce Stamm, Paul Szauter, Jeffrey S. Thompson, Matthew Wawersik, James Youngblom, Leming Zhou, Elaine R. Mardis, Jeremy Buhler, Wilson Leung, David Lopatto, Sarah C.R. Elgin

Faculty Publications

There is widespread agreement that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs should provide undergraduates with research experience. Practical issues and limited resources, however, make this a challenge. We have developed a bioinformatics project that provides a course-based research experience for students at a diverse group of schools and offers the opportunity to tailor this experience to local curriculum and institution-specific student needs. We assessed both attitude and knowledge gains, looking for insights into how students respond given this wide range of curricular and institutional variables. While different approaches all appear to result in learning gains, we find that a significant …

In Memoriam: Robert Lloyd Rausch—A Life In Nature And Field Biology, 1921–2012, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

During his distinguished career, Robert Rausch, a man of great integrity and principles, served in his lifetime as a singular ambassador for parasitology in a broad international arena. Robert was a friend to many, was honored to be considered an equal among the nomadic bands of Nunamiut traversing the Brooks Range 60 years ago, and will be long remembered for the strength of his science and his perceptive views of the natural world.

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 …

Nature Of Science Conceptions, Attitudes Towards Evolution And Global Climate Change, And Course Achievement In An Introductory Biology Course, Benjamin Elijah Carter

Theses - ALL

Many researchers have studied student attitudes toward and knowledge of evolutionary science, attitudes towards global climate change (GCC), conceptions about the nature of science (NOS), and course success. However, at the time of this writing, no studies explicitly link these topics.

It is overwhelmingly acknowledged by the scientific community that evolution and global climate change (GCC) are undeniably supported by physical evidence. And yet, both topics remain very politically contentious in the United States. Efforts to mitigate the disconnects between the scientific community and the general public on these issues are imperative to science education. Such undertakings need to examine …

La Diversidad De Los Análisis De Diversidad La Diversidad De Los Analisis De Diversidad [The Diversity Of Diversity Analyses], Victor D. Carmona-Galindo, Tizziana V. Carmona

Biology Faculty Works

There is a lack of consistency with respect to the use of the terms like species richness, diversity and biodiversity, which extends to the analysis of diversity indices and the merit of using diversity indices in the evaluation (comparison and contrast) of biological communities. The purpose of this article is to provide working definitions for these terms and cite examples from the primary literature that demonstrate the utility of estimating richness, evaluating proportional abundance patterns, as well as comparing indices of diversity and similarity to study patterns of biological organization at different ecological scales. Additionally, we provide a manual in …

Acquisition Of An Electrochemical System Instrument For The Development Of Sensors, Elmer-Rico E. Mojico

Cornerstone 1 Reports : Expansion and Enhancements of the Thinkfinity Platform

No abstract provided.

Thinking Aloud In The Science Classroom: Can A Literacy Strategy Increase Student Learning In Science?, Lindsey Joan Mockel

Dissertations and Theses

This research study investigated the effect of using the think aloud protocol while reading informational text on students' ability to learn from text in a secondary science classroom. The participants in this study were high school students (n=47) in three classes of a mixed-grade Integrated Biology, Chemistry, and Physics course. The study tracked student achievement during a four-week curriculum unit on the theory of evolution and evidence for biological evolution. All students received instruction on using the think aloud protocol, and all students practiced the think aloud protocol when reading short articles related to scientific evidence for evolution. The researcher …

Learning Upper Level Molecular Biology Using The Yeast Two-Hybrid (Y2h) System, Brandon Wubben, Kim Buyert, Sam De Nooy, Nick Wilson, Tony N. Jelsma, Robbin Eppinga

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

A challenge with upper level biology labs is that experiments cannot normally be done in a 3-hour window. It can also be a challenge to stay motivated when doing labs with predetermined outcomes. Third, a “one size fits all” laboratory can be boring for those of us with previous experience. Finally, having to share a small lab space with many classmates simultaneously makes working efficiently difficult. An unexpectedly large enrollment in our molecular biology lab course provided our professor with an opportunity to use a class project to address the above concerns. One of our professors has a collection of …

Jellyfish Identification And Quantification In The San Francisco Estuary, Amalia Borson, Lindsay L. Sullivan, Wim Kimmerer

STAR Program Research Presentations

As potential predators and competitors of plankton-eating fish, jellyfish have the potential to negatively impact fish populations. Jellyfish were collected weekly with plankton tows from the RombergTiburonCenterpier in Tiburon, CA. Since some jellyfish were too small to identify, one tow was collected and preserved to record abundances, and a second tow was collected to rear jellyfish until distinguishing characteristics were visible enough for identification. Jellyfish in the preserved tows were then identified, measured, and counted, and their abundance (number m^-3) was calculated. Jellyfish from the second tows were reared in plastic buckets that were lightly bubbled using aquarium …