An understanding of biological variation is important for understanding ecological interactions, ecosystem function, and species' response to environmental change. Biological variation is essential to species survival because natural selection acts upon the phenotypic variation within a population: the more varied the population's genetic…

This Innovative Practices piece details the design of a scaffolded project in a public health course that paired a narrative inquiry assignment with an empirical health literature review assignment to highlight both the positivist and constructivist epistemologies of critical health research in public health. The authors discuss and reflect on the…

We used problem-based or experiential learning in our undergraduate Health Policy course to examine food deserts via a health impact assessment (HIA) assignment. An HIA evaluates potential effects on population health before a policy/program is implemented, to improve health and reduce adverse outcomes. We investigated if the HIA assignment…

The social, economic, and educational upheaval that has been occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the concurrent and stressful conversation about race and racism in the United States, and domestic political turmoil has turned the world on its head. In these so-called "unprecedented times," traditional higher education appears to be on…

The utility of Just-In-Time-Teaching (JITT) is compared across course topics and groups of students not receiving JITT exercises in class. JITT feedback incorporated various active learning exercises based on students' performance on online homework problems from Sapling Learning. With over 200 students in two sections participating in the…

Substantial research has identified the negative health outcomes associated with bullying for adolescent victims. Researchers have examined expressive writing as a possible method by which to decrease violence among adolescents. Results of these studies, however, suggest that expressive writing is associated with positive, negative, and neutral…

With states and districts across the country implementing the Common Core State Standards, teachers have more opportunities than ever to collaborate around the shared goals of strengthening curriculum design, classroom practices, and student learning. Building from this premise, the Common Assignment Study (CAS) has brought together teams of…

Literature suggested that the mandated filtering required by the Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000 adversely affected the educational system. The literature stated that schools imposed more restrictive filtering than the Act mandated. School systems had the responsibility to ensure that children learn to read, write, and perform…