This study explored the use of social media as a tool in enhancing student's learning experiences, by using online instruction as a supplement to a face-to-face general education course, such as biological sciences. Survey data were collected from 186 students who were enrolled in a Biological Sciences course. The course was taught in a blended…

Fieldwork is an important and often enjoyable part of learning in Bioscience degree courses, however it is unclear how the recent reforms to Higher Education (HE) may impact the future funding of outdoor learning. This paper reports on the findings from a recent survey of 30 HE Bioscience practitioners from across the UK. Their current level of…

Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) uses specially designed activities and cooperative learning to teach content and to actively engage students in inquiry, analytical thinking and teamwork. It has been used extensively in Chemistry education, but the use of POGIL is not well documented in other physical and biological sciences. This…

No one is satisfied with science education in the U.S. today. One need only look at Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data to see what a mediocre job is being done of imparting a solid science education to the…

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute monitored the evolution of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) through two public drafts, on both of which reviewers provided extensive feedback and recommendations for improvement. This third Fordham Review of the (NGSS) is the product of a nine member team that includes practicing scientists and…

This paper describes the development of curriculum design expertise from the perspective of a teacher reflecting on a science lesson. His involvement in the research process resulted in a self-determined professional development strategy. The description comes from data collected through lesson observations and an in-depth stimulated recall…

In recent years, new bioinformatics technologies, such as gene expression microarray, genome-wide association study, proteomics, and metabolomics, have been widely used to simultaneously identify a huge number of human genomic/genetic biomarkers, generate a tremendously large amount of data, and dramatically increase the knowledge on human…

The National Research Council (NRC) was asked by the National Defense Intelligence College (NDIC) to convene a committee to review the curriculum and syllabi for their proposed master of science degree in science and technology intelligence. The NRC was asked to review the material provided by the NDIC and offer advice and recommendations…

Good quality, timely feedback is a key factor to help students achieve their full potential. Increased class sizes have put significant strain on the ability to return work promptly without compromising feedback quality. In the current study, two screencasting technologies were used to produce audiovisual feedback. For essays, Jing was used,…

Laboratory instruction is critical to the understanding of biology and is a central piece of biological sciences instruction. Although much investigation has focused on the content of biology laboratory exercises, we contend that understanding the extent to which the laboratory materials can aid or limit experimental investigation is of equal…

The genome projects of the past decades have created extensive databases of biological information with applications in both research and education. We describe an inquiry-based exercise that uses one such database, the National Center for Biotechnology Information Influenza Virus Resource, to advance learning about influenza. This database…

The PhD graduate from a US research academic institution who has worked 5-7 years to solve a combination of laboratory and computational problems after an in-depth classroom experience is likely superbly trained in at least a subset of the life sciences and the underlying methodology and thought processes required to perform high level research.…

The Arnold Arboretum is a public "tree museum" that sits on more than 300 acres of parkland in Boston. Like many public parks, the arboretum uses a percentage of its funding to provide nature education for adults and schoolchildren, facilitated by trained volunteer docents. One such effort is the Head Start-Arboretum project, which…

In this article, the author discusses how to tell the difference between a cold and airborne allergy symptoms. A cold is caused by a viral infection. Viruses spread through an infected person's cough, sneeze, handshake, or contact with a contaminated surface. When a virus enters one's body, his/her immune system reacts. This produces the symptoms…

We evaluate the case for using feedback iteratively, to improve student engagement and learning. In this model, students were invited to respond to tutor feedback with students' own responses. Among the three courses/modules (three tutors) studied, differences in feedback styles were evident from: (a) thematic analysis of tutor comments and, for…