An effective, practical approach for incorporating molecular biology tools to biology and biochemistry students is described. For 6 weeks, students are exposed to bacterial transformation, plasmid DNA purification and analysis, parasite transfection, ectopic expression of fluorescent proteins, fluorescence microscopy, and flow cytometry analysis.…

The development of professional skills is essential for biology students to be successful in their future careers. However, current teaching approaches often fail to provide adequate training. The aim of this theory to practice study was to develop an effective methodology for improving the professional skills of biology students through…

In science class, students learn by making and living information, enabling them to make sense of knowledge effectively and permanently and to associate it with daily life. Applied science courses make learning more qualified. While science teaching is carried out in application areas such as laboratories, virtual laboratories are used with the…

This article explores results from a 3-year model of laboratory instruction, Project Synapse, that synthesized biology, chemistry, and communication curricula for firstyear science majors at a STEMfocused university. Laboratory biology-chemistry integration was featured at natural intersections where disciplines used similar tools, such as…

Students in environmental sciences, ecology, or wildlife management are often reluctant to acquire training in basic laboratory techniques. To advocate the importance of this training, we reviewed literature in the fields of biological and environmental science for one frequently used technique--centrifugation--and evaluated whether centrifugation…

Teaching has become a challenge mission among generations as direct instructions are not effective anymore and; therefore, students need to be convinced for sharing and fulfilling their responsibilities. In this study, students are perceived to act as role models in managing the laboratory classes of general biology. Four groups were classified as…

Integrating teaching and research can benefit both instructors and students by providing an enriching, stimulating experience that combines the instructors' interests with topics that are relevant and motivating to students. In keeping with National Science Foundation review criteria, the integrated course captures both intellectual merit, that is…

This study is done to have preservice science teachers chance to implement inquiry before expecting them to implement inquiry in their classrooms and to develop the preservice science teachers' inquiry skills and self-efficacy of science. The study group is composed of preservice science teachers who chose the 2nd grade Biology Laboratory course…

We analyzed the practitioner literature on lab-based instruction in biology in "The American Biology Teacher" between 2007 and 2012. We investigated what laboratory learning looks like in biology classrooms, what topics are addressed, what instructional methods and activities are described, and what is being learned about student…

Peer educators can be a powerful addition to classroom learning environments. Traditionally, the university science teaching model relies on graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to provide instruction in laboratory class sessions, but there is increasing evidence that undergraduate TAs (UTAs) can fill an equivalent role. A comparison of student…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are often used as instructors in undergraduate introductory science courses, particularly in laboratory and discussion sections associated with large lectures. These GTAs are often novice teachers with little opportunity to develop their teaching skills through formal professional development. Focused…

Do you have an idea for a new activity or laboratory exercise that you would like to incorporate into your course but feel unsure as to how it will be received by your students? This was our concern when developing first-year biology labs for a biology majors' course at University of Windsor. Through a Centred on Learning Innovation Fund (CLIF)…

Responding to the concern from our faculty that undergraduate students do not have robust laboratory skills, we designed and implemented a strategy to individually teach and assess the manipulative skills of students in first-year laboratories. Five core laboratory skills were selected for the course entitled Human Biology, a large, first-year…

Here, we describe a laboratory experiment as part of an upper-level vertebrate physiology course for biology majors to investigate the physiological response of vertebrates to osmoregulatory challenges. The experiment involves measuring plasma osmolality and Na[superscript +] -K[superscript +] -ATPase activity in gill tissue of teleost fish…