Biology laboratory instructors play a key role in creating an optimal environment where college students try hard and enjoy their classroom experiences. This study used achievement goal perspective theory to examine the influence of instructor behaviors on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students' perceptions of the…

Classifying, naming, and identifying insects have been complicated topics among science teachers and students. This problem is due to the highly technical collection protocols, safekeeping procedures, the unavailability of appropriate learning resources, and the closure of school laboratories and facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the…

The authors of this article applied the determination of phenolic and flavonoid content in small berries to create a didactic cycle based on student-centered active learning (SCAL) in which students actively participated in the topic while studying and profile-forming as future biology and chemistry teachers. The fundamental part of the proposed…

Structure in the form of feedback has been shown to be highly relevant to students learning. Offering feedback, stating clear expectations and instructions, might enhance students' perceived competence. The context chosen for this study were experiments studying bird flight in biology lessons. Students experimented in a scientific discovery…

There are a wide range of student emotions in academic settings, but apart from emotions such as interest and well-being, disgust is a negative emotion which might be relevant in biology education, for instance, during dissection or when encountering living animals. This paper addresses the issue of situational disgust during a course at the…

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of living animals on pupils' intrinsic motivation and knowledge. Various studies from the late 1970s and 1980s stress the high effectiveness of authentic learning experiences in pupils' knowledge acquisition. However, there are only few current empirical studies on this topic. The research question…

One of the greatest challenges instructors face is getting students to connect with the subject in a manner that encourages them to learn. In this essay, we describe the redesign of our Developmental Biology course to foster a deeper connection between students and the field of developmental biology. In our approach, we created a community of…

Attempts to answer two research questions: (1) Does the use of a digital camera in laboratory activities increase student learning?; and (2) Does the use of digital cameras motivate students to take a greater interest in laboratory work? Results indicate that the digital camera did increase student learning of process skills in two biology…

This article presents an activity for early-in-the-year parents' night. The beginning of a new school year is an exciting time. The authors, as teachers, like to capture that excitement by engaging their 10th-grade biology students in an inquiry project demonstrating the nature of science and scientific inquiry. They developed the Next Step…

The desire to observe and understand the natural world is strong in young children, but high school students often consider science irrelevant to their daily lives. Therefore, as teachers of older age groups, the authors constantly struggle to engage students in scientific exploration so they can master concepts and appreciate the nature of…

Presents a collaborative learning exercise intended to teach the unfamiliar terminology of experimental design both in biology classes and biochemistry laboratories. The exercise promotes discussion and debate, develops communication skills, and emphasizes peer review. The effectiveness of the exercise is supported by student surveys. (SOE)

Presents a laboratory exercise on spicy food and body temperature that introduces the scientific method to introductory biology students. Suggests that when students perform their own experiments which they have developed, it helps with their understanding of and confidence in doing science. (Author/SOE)