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Artificial neural networks, inspired by the biological networks of the human brain, have become game-changing computing models in modern computer science. Inspired by their wide scope of applications, synthetic biology strives to create their biological counterparts, which we denote synthetic biological neural networks (SYNBIONNs). Their use in the fields of medicine, biosensors, biotechnology, and many more shows great potential and presents exciting possibilities. So far, many different synthetic biological networks have been successfully constructed, however, SYNBIONN implementations have been sparse. The latter are mostly based on neural networks pretrained in silico and being heavily dependent on extensive human input. In this paper, we review current implementations and models of SYNBIONNs. We briefly present the biological platforms that show potential for designing and constructing perceptrons and/or multilayer SYNBIONNs. We explore their future possibilities along with the challenges that must be overcome to successfully implement a scalable in vivo biological neural network capable of online learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilingual education programmes have become popular worldwide in part because they are believed to facilitate second/foreign/additional language (L2) learning, often with English as the target L2. In such programmes, students learn content and L2 simultaneously, but a common difficulty they encounter is mastering disciplinary literacy in the L2. However, research exploring bilingual students' development of L2 disciplinary literacy remains scarce. Therefore, this paper analyses a corpus of biology examination essays produced by a stratified sample of students studying in English medium education (EMI) in Hong Kong (204 essays totalling 45,823 words) using Multidimensional Analysis Tagger (Nini, 2015). The multidimensional analysis shows that this sample generally produced texts containing features closely related to scientific exposition. This paper also compares the features of essays written by students at different levels of academic performance as measured by their examination scores. The results show that the essays produced by students with better scores were more similar to academic prose, consisted of denser and more abstract information and used more academic vocabulary, nominalisation, conjunctions, and passive voice. This study demonstrates a potential relationship between students' mastery of disciplinary literacy and their academic achievement, thereby having implications for pedagogy in bilingual education programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For scientific claims to be reliable and productive they have to be justified. However, on the one hand little is known on what justification precisely means to scientists, and on the other the position held by philosophers of science on what it entails is rather limited; for justifications customarily refer to the written form (textual expressions) of scientific claims, leaving aside images, which, as many cases from the history of science show are relevant to this process. The fact that images can visually express scientific claims independently from text, plus their vast variety and origins, requires an assessment of the way they are currently justified and in turn used as sources to justify scientific claims in the case of particular scientific fields. Similarly, in view of the different nature of images, analysis is required to determine on what side of the philosophical distinction between data and phenomena these different kinds of images fall. This paper historicizes and documents a particular aspect of contemporary life sciences research: the use of the molecular image as vehicle of knowledge production in cell studies, a field that has undergone a significant shift in visual expressions from the early 1980s onwards. Focussing on textbooks as sources that have been overlooked in the historiography of contemporary biomedicine, the aim is to explore (1) whether the shift of cell studies, entailing a superseding of the optical image traditionally conceptualised as primary data, by the molecular image, corresponds with a shift of justificatory practices, and (2) to assess the role of the molecular image as primary data. This paper also explores the dual role of images as teaching resources and as resources for the construction of knowledge in cell studies especially in its relation to discovery and justification. Finally, this paper seeks to stimulate reflection on what kind of archival resources could benefit the work of present and future epistemic historians in particular those interested on the role of images as sources of training and knowledge production in scientific disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper we report on our evaluation of the impact of a flipped classroom approach on the learning experience of students undertaking an undergraduate biology course. The flipped sessions comprised pre-recorded lectures, online quizzes and in-class group activities in the course design. The success of the approach was evaluated on the basis of perceptions held by the course coordinator and students on how the new course design influenced the student learning experience. Data were collected through a student questionnaire and structured interviews with the course coordinator. Overall, the students reported a high degree of satisfaction with some elements of the flipped approach. However, some activities were less well regarded, with concerns identified by the course coordinator and students. A key finding was that elements from the model for student learning design presented in this article were correlated with student confidence, motivation and engagement. It was concluded that refinements of components of the flipped design, such as the pre-recorded lectures and the structure of the in-class sessions, may further enhance the student learning experience in this course. Highlights • Students benefit from the flipped classroom experience when learning designs are planned and effectively aligned. • The design influences the level of student satisfaction and the extent of engagement in in-class activities. • Student satisfaction with their learning experience is associated with student motivation, confidence and engagement. • Identifying specific aspects of the learning experience for improvement gives course coordinators a practical focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the challenges faced by senior Biology students in reading 'nominalizations' in textbook materials and illustrates how the challenges can be addressed through pedagogical activities. The study draws on emerging descriptions of field and discourse semantics in Systemic Functional Linguistics that are inspired by Halliday's distinction between 'live' and 'dead' grammatical metaphors. It first presents a metalanguage to discriminate functions of nominalization. Two different kinds of 'mismatches' of meaning are discussed, including how field activities are reconstrued through discourse semantic resources, and how discourse semantic resources are remapped as lexicogrammatical resources. The paper attends to nominalization from the perspective of the knowledge that is at stake in its use. In addition to providing linguistic metalanguage, the paper demonstrates pedagogic practices designed to support teachers to make this knowledge visible. These pedagogic practices include cross-mode redescription and Detailed Reading from SFL-informed Reading to Learn pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I draw upon debates about race in biology and philosophy as well as the concepts of ineliminable pluralism and psychological essentialism to outline the necessary subject matter knowledge that teachers should possess if they desire to: (i) increase student understanding of scientific research on genetic and behavioral variation in humans; and (ii) attenuate inegalitarian beliefs about race amongst students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A tandem duplication random loss (TDRL) operation duplicates a contiguous segment of genes, followed by the random loss of one copy of each of the duplicated genes. Although the importance of this operation is founded by several recent biological studies, it has been investigated only rarely from a theoretical point of view. Of particular interest are sorting TDRLs which are TDRLs that, when applied to a permutation representing a genome, reduce the distance towards another given permutation. The identification of sorting genome rearrangement operations in general is a key ingredient of many algorithms for reconstructing the evolutionary history of a set of species. In this paper we present methods to compute all sorting TDRLs for two given gene orders. In addition, a closed formula for the number of sorting TDRLs is derived and further properties of sorting TDRLs are investigated. It is also shown that the theoretical findings are useful for identifying unique sorting TDRL scenarios for mitochondrial gene orders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The study of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) that is presented in this paper aims to obtain an impression of teachers' knowledge and beliefs concerning teaching evolutionary theory. The starting point of this project was the development of the Educational Reconstruction for Teacher Education model (ERTE). The PCK-study shows that teachers' attitudes toward students' conceptions of evolutionary theory are not always constructive and that teachers often lack awareness of the historical nature of biology. Scenario questions proved to be effective interview items in order to acquire a detailed picture of teachers' ways to react to students' pre-scientific conceptions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports how a teacher–researcher partnership examined a biology teacher's existing pedagogical practices and attempted, through a task design innovation, to create the circumstances under which more interactive and emergent assessment for learning practices could flourish in her classroom. This work involved the use of digital video playback technology as the trigger or catalyst for reflection on concrete experiences by the teacher and her students to occur. Results suggest that the digital video innovation brought about changes in student–teacher interactions in science practical work and assisted the teacher in reflecting on her professional learning. The educative effects produced by the catalyst were dependent on the teacher noticing changes in her students and moving in tandem with them along a parallel path of experiential and practitioner-based learning. Overall, the value of the study undertaken is located in sharing an authentic, lived science assessment experience with the intention of assisting colleagues notice aspects of their own pedagogic practices that may be hidden at present. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Biology and other STEM courses with clear structure and regular active learning are associated with improved student performance, particularly for marginalized students. • Small or incremental changes in teaching can increase student interaction with each other and with the instructor. • Moving content to outside of lecture using reading guides or simple videos can make room for active learning during class time. Multiple research studies have shown active learning can increase student performance, reduce fail rates, and increase the success of marginalized students in STEM. In this mini-review we discuss a simple framework for planning and implementing active learning in the classroom. We provide seven strategies to support faculty members who want to implement this framework, with five suggested teaching activities and two mechanisms of creating space in the lecture to use the activities. Each strategy is given with a foundational research paper describing the evidence that it improves learning, engagement and inclusion in the classroom. We include our own experiences using these strategies in large biology lectures that had segments devoted to neuroscience topics, but they are effective in smaller classes as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]