Course syllabi are a required component of college and university courses. Syllabi present both broader course structuring practices, are a valuable "first impression" of what instructors want to offer their students, and are used as tools in course design. While best teaching practices suggest specific recommendations for syllabi…

The study aimed to explore Lower Secondary School curriculum of Life Sciences, in Morocco, to establish the current status of animal use and the extent at which it is a curriculum requirement for the introduction of the prescribed concepts and objectives. Two questionnaires were developed and administered to teachers and students to assess their…

In the past ten years, increasing evidence has demonstrated that scientific teaching and active learning improve student retention and learning gains in the sciences. Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), who play an important role in undergraduate education at many universities, require training in these methods to encourage implementation,…

The aim of this research is to develop a measurement instrument that is valid and reliable, called the Middle School-Life Science Concept Inventory (MS-LSCI), for the purpose of measuring the life science conceptual understanding of middle school-level students. Although there are several existing concept inventories related to biology concepts…

The Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough (GCGP) region is a highly prosperous area, with prodigious job growth. Assessing and understanding the skills demand of the present and future local labour market is therefore of great importance to inform policy discussions about skills development at the local level. This report uses the Employer Skills…

Manu Prakash, the developer of the foldscope microscope reported on in this paper, stated that it is important to use tools that can support open-ended inquiry in the classroom, without dumbing down those tools. Scientific equipment in the school laboratory is often very expensive and only available to those who can afford it. "Frugal…

This study investigated the content learning of fourth graders (N = 92) randomly assigned to complete electronic Frayer Models on life science vocabulary by themselves or while engaging in synchronous online discussions with a partner. The use of the graphic organizers was interspersed with other science activities. After seven weeks, all students…

Using a semi-structured interview approach, ten mentors from a leadership development program focused on building leaders in Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences across the nation provided insights regarding their mentoring method, process, and experiences. Mentors interviewed agreed the mentoring process was beneficial for themselves as well…

Easy-to-use classroom resources that support science teaching are always welcomed by time-poor teachers. Ideally these resources should be easy to find, useful and have the flexibility to be incorporated with minimal adaptation into an already full teaching day. Using food in the classroom is certainly not a new idea--especially for primary school…

Groundwater contamination is a serious environmental problem, given that all living things depend on this essential resource. Groundwater represents less than 1% of all water found on Earth, but nearly 90% of the freshwater used comes from groundwater (USGS 2016). The problem-based activity described in this article actively engages students in…

Articles discussing and analysing student peer-review activities proliferate the educational literature, typically describing one or more class exercises where students provide feedback on each other's work. These papers usually focus on a peer-review activity designed as a scholarly study, and make conclusions about its success or otherwise.…

This article uses actor network theory (ANT) to develop a more appropriate model of scientific literacy for students, teachers, and citizens in a society increasingly populated with biotechnological and bioscientific nonhumans. In so doing, I take the recent debate surrounding the first genetically engineered animal food product under review by…

Managing the future has become one of the major focuses of global governance in education. In its current mode, education seems unable to answer the needs and interests of the market and future megatrends, such as globalisation and digitalisation. Calls for precision education to introduce the usage of digital platforms, artificial intelligence in…

In calibration tasks students assess exemplar texts using criteria against which their own work will be assessed. Typically, these tasks are used in the context of training for peer assessment. Little research has been conducted on the benefits of calibration tasks, such as benchmarking, as learning opportunities in their own right. This paper…

Teaching scientific writing in biology classes is challenging for both teachers and students. This article offers and reviews several useful 'toolkit' items that instructors of science writing can use to improve college student success. The tools in this kit are both conceptual and practical, and include: (1) Understanding the role of student…