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This paper explicates the relationship between biological function and teleology by focusing not only on difference but also on conceptual overlap. By doing so, this paper is meant to increase awareness of the misleading potential of biological function and the educational necessity to explicate the meaning of biological function to biology students to prevent them from drawing inadequate teleological conclusions about biological phenomena. The conceptual overlap between teleology and biological function lies in the notion of telos (end, goal). Biologically inadequate teleology assumes that teloi (ends, goals) exist in nature and that natural mechanisms are directed towards teloi. Such inadequate teleological assumptions have been documented in students' reasoning about biological phenomena. Biological function, however, does not involve the assumption that teloi exist in nature. Rather, biologists use the notion of telos as an epistemological tool whenever they consider a structure or mechanism functional because they view this structure or mechanism as a means to an end (telos). Whereas for biologists such means-ends conceptualizations represent a productive tool for identifying biological phenomena functionally, for students, such means-ends considerations can be misleading. Therefore, this paper explicates how far the concept of biological function involves reference to ends (teloi) and how it relates to biological mechanisms. The paper draws implications on how to prevent students from slipping from functional reasoning into inadequate teleological reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing availability of digital technology in biology classrooms has facilitated an on-going transition from traditional lectures to the use of multimedia tools such as videos and interactive software. While most existing educational multimedia focus on illustrating textbook concepts, few address the process of science by linking those concepts with the researchers and their studies as reported and received in the primary literature. With the support of a 2015 ESA Centennial grant, we teamed up with students and university-affiliated artists to create four original animated videos of classic ecology papers of the last century. The videos were showcased at the 2015 Centennial Meeting Sunday Plenary and continue to be available for free viewing and sharing at http://ecomotionstudios.com/. Since their debut, the videos have received over 8000 views, have been employed as educational tools in undergraduate classrooms, and have been promoted as outreach tools by science media outlets including on the homepage for the journal, The American Naturalist. Here, we argue that the potential for artistry, narrative structure, and connection to the research process make animation an invaluable and underutilized medium for sharing primary literature with students and public audiences. We envision the future of ecology as one where decreasing video production costs and the opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration available at universities lead to increased production of visual media to supplement education and broadly communicate primary ecological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses relationship between biology and education, biological rationalities and social theory.

This paper studies how students justify everyday, scientific, and pseudo-scientific propositions, and whether they recognize the type of justifications they use. For this purpose, we work with 54 students in the 3rd year of compulsory secondary education in the subject of biology and geology, in which two learning activities designed to work on the evaluation of propositions are implemented. The results provide information on the students' preference for using habits and explanations in the evaluation of everyday propositions, and expert testimony and personality traits in the evaluation of scientific and pseudoscientific propositions, as well as the inability to acknowledge explanations and personality traits. These results provide us with useful background for reflecting on how to work on epistemic cognition in the classroom and thus broaden the conceptual frameworks on epistemic cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to investigate the challenges, faced by grade 11 and 12 teachers in the teaching of Biology in selected schools. The training of science teachers after independence till today has not succeeded in fully addressing the challenges teachers faced in the teaching of Biology. The study was guided by researchers like Lebata and Mudau [1], Makeleni, and Sethusha [2] who discovered that teachers faced challenges in the teaching of Biology because of the lack of well-equipped laboratories, limited prescribed textbooks, and overcrowded classes. The researchers use a case study design and a qualitative research approach in executing this study. A qualitative research approach was used in this study. The major findings include the lack of well-equipped laboratories and libraries, which have hindered the teaching and learning of Biology in the selected schools. The lack of adequate prescribed textbooks and overcrowded classrooms further hindered the teachers' ability to impart knowledge to their learners. Large Biology syllabus content and learners' poor attitude among others, are other challenges hindering the quality of teaching in the selected schools. We recommend that the Ministry of Education should build modern libraries and equip them with computers and internet connectivity, textbooks, and e-learning tools to help learners and teachers inculcate a culture of reading and studying. Teachers should introduce shared personal practice, and collective learning and application as used in professional learning communities. Teachers and principals should request for sponsors to build well-equipped laboratories and libraries for the schools. Teachers and principals can also request to temporally use the laboratories in other schools that have the needed facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present paper aims to examine the concept of "plant blindness" in the context of current sustainability debates. "Plant blindness" was the term introduced in 1999 by the botanists and educators James H Wandersee and Elisabeth E Schussler to describe what they saw as a pervasive insensitivity to the green environment and a general neglect of plants on the part of biology education. Design/methodology/approach: The fundamental importance of plants for life on Earth and the socio-educational challenges of redacted awareness of this importance are considered. Also, the diverse physiological, psychological, philosophical, cultural and geopolitical origins and consequences of indifference to plants in relation to aspects of sustainability agendas are examined with special reference to education. Findings: An examination of the outcomes of a range of research and practical initiatives reveals how multidisciplinary approaches to education and public engagement have the potential to address the challenge of "plant blindness". The need for these opportunities to be reflected in curriculums is not widely appreciated, and the socio-economic forces of resistance to confronting plant neglect continue to be formidable. Originality/value: Plant blindness is a relatively new field of research, and the full breadth of its implications are only gradually becoming apparent. If the present paper contributes to positioning plants as an essential element in sustainability education and practice, it will have met its objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We used college-level evolution textbooks to examine the presentation of sexual selection research—a field with ongoing debates related to sex, sexuality and gender identity. Many classic sexual selection concepts have been criticized for androcentrism and other forms of gender-sex bias, specifically for de-emphasizing the female role in reproductive behaviors and over-reliance on gender-sex binaries. These classic concepts are fundamentally captured in the idea that animal reproductive-related behaviors can be grouped in sex roles (e.g. competitive males and selective females). Recently developed alternative concepts provide a more nuanced understanding of the flexibility of sexual and reproductive-related behaviors, stemming in part from growing attention to a broader range of female behavior. To assess whether students are receiving content reflecting these insights, we measured the congruence between textbook content and the scientific literature, using insects as a case study because of the importance of this group in the development of sexual selection theory, its prevalence in current sexual selection research, and the number of insect examples included in textbooks. We first coded textbook content for sexual selection concepts. We used automated content analysis to analyze a database of citations, keywords and abstracts in sexual selection research published between 1990 and 2014, inclusive of the period covered by the textbooks. Results: The textbooks and research literatures prioritized the same taxa (e.g., fruit flies) and sex roles as embodied in classic sexual selection theory. Both the research literature and some textbooks acknowledge androcentrism and other forms of gender-sex bias in classic sexual selection paradigms, especially competitive male and selective female sex roles. Yet, while the research literature included alternative models, textbooks neglected these alternatives, even when researchers had studied both classic and alternative views in the same insect. Conclusions: We recommend using this kind of analysis of textbook content to engage students in a conversation around the social factors that impact knowledge construction, a key part of the epistemological understanding they need for a robust grasp of the Nature of Science and of evolutionary theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been shown that many people do not understand how scientific knowledge is built and accepted, even after scientific education. One way to deal with this problem is through teaching about the Nature of Science (NOS). NOS can be understood as a pedagogical construct aiming to foster the understanding of the main characteristics of scientific work. Recently, several researchers have advocated that we should consider pluralism within science when teaching about NOS. Accordingly, there have been efforts to develop ways of promoting instruction on NOS considering the specificity of distinct scientific fields. Aligned with this perspective, this paper aims to put forward a model for teaching NOS in the context of biological education. This model, named "Integrative Model for Teaching NOS in Biological Education" (IM-NOSBIO), is based on three pillars. The first is the Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science (FRA), developed by Erduran and Dagher. The second consists in the Conceptual Framework of Biology proposed by Scheiner. The third is the Pragmatic Conception of Models as Epistemic Artifacts put forward by Knuuttila. We propose that IM-NOSBIO has the potential to promote teaching and learning about different aspects of scientific knowledge and practice by taking advantage of how they present themselves in biological sciences teaching. To illustrate this potential, we offer an example of how this model can be used for teaching about certain aspects of NOS based on the history of the cell theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism Tribune / Lvyou Xuekan is the property of Tourism Institute of Beijing Union University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Formative assessment is considered to be helpful in students' learning support and teaching design. Following Aufschnaiter's and Alonzo's framework, formative assessment practices of teachers can be subdivided into three practices: eliciting evidence, interpreting evidence and responding. Since students' conceptions are judged to be important for meaningful learning across disciplines, teachers are required to assess their students' conceptions. The focus of this article lies on the discussion of learning analytics for supporting the assessment of students' conceptions in class. The existing and potential contributions of learning analytics are discussed related to the named formative assessment framework in order to enhance the teachers' options to consider individual students' conceptions. We refer to findings from biology and computer science education on existing assessment tools and identify limitations and potentials with respect to the assessment of students' conceptions. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Students' conceptions are considered to be important for learning processes, but interpreting evidence for learning with respect to students' conceptions is challenging for teachers.Assessment tools have been developed in different educational domains for teaching practice.Techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning have been applied for automated assessment of specific aspects of learning.What does the paper add Findings on existing assessment tools from two educational domains are summarised and limitations with respect to assessment of students' conceptions are identified.Relevent data that needs to be analysed for insights into students' conceptions is identified from an educational perspective.Potential contributions of learning analytics to support the challenging task to elicit students' conceptions are discussed.Implications for practice and/or policy Learning analytics can enhance the eliciting of students' conceptions.Based on the analysis of existing works, further exploration and developments of analysis techniques for unstructured text and multimodal data are desirable to support the eliciting of students' conceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionVaccines are the basis of health of our communities since they prevent severe infectious diseases. However vaccination rates continue to decrease due to the spread of misinformation about their side effects, which enhances vaccine hesitancy and puts at risk public health. Introducing vaccines from the One Health approach can help to develop an integral understanding of their role and to apply critical ignorance as part of criticality to avoid vaccine hesitancy and raise trust in science. This paper presents a design on vaccination for secondary-education teacher training developed toward this goal.MethodsThe design presented in this paper draws from previous studies on critical thinking, on vaccine rejection, and the One Health approach on other health issues in Secondary Education. The focus of this design is engaging secondary-education pre-service teachers in the practice of critical ignorance and criticality to assess diverse pieces of information on vaccination from the One Health approach.ResultsThis study discusses the design principles and the activities of an original design that aims to provide Secondary Education teachers with some tools to introduce critical ignorance and criticality for addressing misinformation on vaccines by using the One Health approach.DiscussionIf secondary science teachers are going to successfully confront misinformation on vaccination in their science instruction, we need to develop and test designs and approaches that prepare them for this purpose. Critical ignorance plays a central role in managing misinformation; thus, such instruction should engage future teachers in critical evaluation of information on vaccination, as well as in the application of the One Health approach to take responsible actions.

As a foundational evolutionary concept, the Hardy-Weinberg principle should be taught enthusiastically in introductory biology courses. In a companion Perspectives paper, I made the case that students are often given limited or incorrect information on the HW principle due to a lack of mastery or confidence on the part of their teachers. The purpose of this Innovations paper is to identify where errors are most-often made in the set-up and solutions of HW problems. The centerpiece of this paper is a set of six biological scenarios to which students need to apply the HW principle to answer interesting evolutionary questions. I provide explanations for solving the problems (including Excel instructions with formulas to perform chi-square tests), and I identify several teachable moments that are likely to arise in the discussion of the solutions. The use of this problem set and the pedagogical strategy described in this paper significantly improved students' performance on HW problems in my introductory biology class, and I expect that they can benefit other teachers at least as much. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, teachers are expected to engage their students in authentic practices, like scientific modeling. Research suggests that teachers experience challenges when integrating modeling in their classroom instruction, with one explanation that teachers themselves lack the necessary modeling competence. Currently, theoretical conceptualizations structure the modeling competence into three dimensions: meta‐modeling knowledge, modeling practice, and modeling products. While each of these dimensions is well researched on its own and the three dimensions are commonly expected to be highly positively related, studies investigating their specific relationships are widely lacking. Aiming to fill this gap, the present study investigated the meta‐modeling knowledge, modeling practice, and modeling products of 35 secondary preservice biology teachers engaging in a black box modeling task. Data were collected with an established pen‐and‐paper questionnaire consisting of five constructed response items assessing meta‐modeling knowledge and by videotaping the participants engaging in the black box modeling task. Herein, the three dimensions of modeling competence were operationalized as five variables including decontextualized and contextualized meta‐modeling knowledge, complexity, and homogeneity of the modeling processes and a modeling product score. In contrast to our expectations and common assumptions in the literature, significant relationships between the five variables were widely lacking. Only the complexity of the modeling processes correlated significantly with the quality of the modeling products. To investigate this relationship further, a qualitative in‐depth analysis of two cases is presented. Implications for biology teacher education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Just a decade ago Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action was released, catalyzing several initiatives to transform undergraduate life sciences education. Among these was the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE), a national organization commissioned to increase the adoption of Vision and Change recommendations within academic life sciences departments. PULSE activities have been designed based on the recognition that life sciences departments and faculty are embedded within institutions of higher education which, similar to other large organizations, are complex systems composed of multiple, interconnected subsystems. The organizational change research suggests that effecting large-scale changes (e.g., undergraduate STEM education transformation) may be facilitated by applying systems thinking to change efforts. In this paper we introduce the approach of systems thinking as a professional development tool to empower individual STEM faculty to effect department-level transformation. We briefly describe a professional development experience designed to increase life sciences faculty members' understanding of systems thinking, present evidence that faculty applied a systems thinking approach to initiate department-level change, and discuss the degree to which transformation efforts were perceived to be successful. Though focused on faculty in the life sciences, our findings are broadly transferable to other efforts seeking to effect change in undergraduate STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bio-grafía. Escritos Sobre la Biología y su Enseñanza is the property of Universidad Pedaggica Nacional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The lab presented in this paper utilizes a proven four-step pedagogical framework (McLaughlin & Coyle, 2016) to redesign a classic Association of Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE) undergraduate lab (McLaughlin & McCain, 1999) into an authentic research experience on vertebrate fourchambered heart development and physiology. The model system is the chicken embryo. Through their research, students are also exposed to the embryonic anatomy and physiology of the vertebrate heart, the electrical circuitry of the developing heart, and the effects of pharmacological drugs on heart rate and contractility. Classical embryological micro-techniques, explantation of the embryo, surgical removal of the beating heart, isolation of the heart chambers, and more advanced tissue culture methods are also conducted. In this laboratory paradigm, students work in pairs to ask their own questions concerning the effects of two human cardiovascular drugs, denopamine? and acebutolol? on both in vivo and in vitro chicken embryonic heart rate and contractility, develop testable hypotheses based on information gathered from relevant scientific literature, devise and carry out a controlled experiment, and present the data in a professional scientific manner pertaining to a topic of clinical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present an appraisal of a lesson-study implementation with pre-service biology teachers concerning a health education issue, how blood pressure works and how it is affected. The participants were 11 pre-service teachers, a secondary school biology teacher and three teacher educators from a local University. A qualitative and interpretative approach was followed. Data were collected through participant observation, content analysis of the pre-service biology teachers' individual written reflections, and their proposal of a lesson plan. The results evidenced the value of this formative approach, concerning the learning opportunities it offers, not only related to the scientific content knowledge but also the didactic knowledge developed by pre-service teachers. They seemed to develop a holistic understanding of how to teach a theme as multidimensional as this one, health education, but they also developed didactic knowledge related to different central aspects of the teaching process, concerning lesson planning, task development, classroom management, and communication, and became aware of the importance of developing several crucial competencies as science teachers. The lesson-study approach revealed to be a strategy for learning about teaching planning that has the particularity of bringing theory and practice remarkably closer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-literacy (knowledge of natural history, and direct observation of the natural world and the organisms it contains) is critical to a holistic understanding of biology. Many undergraduate biology students lack this knowledge and experience, often because of a lack of engagement with the environmental science curriculum. The effectiveness of service learning is well established, but few examples of service-learning projects in the context of natural history education have been published. We describe how we used best practices for the development of a field-based service-learning project in a college-level natural history course. The project was built around established learning goals and was conducted through a partnership with a local state park. Students worked in groups to conduct bird biodiversity surveys and prepared a printed bird-watching guide, which was presented to park staff. The project was linked to a series of assignments intended to maximize academic and personal growth, including a project plan, progress report, and reflection paper. Students reported increased engagement in the course curriculum and an increased sense of the relevance of the course content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central dogma of molecular biology is key to understanding the relationship between genotype and phenotype, although it remains a challenging concept to teach and learn. We describe an activity sequence that engages high school students directly in modeling the major processes of protein synthesis using the major components of translation. Students use a simple system of codes to generate paper chains, allowing them to learn why codons are three nucleotides in length, the purpose of start and stop codons, the importance of the promoter region, and how to use the genetic code. Furthermore, students actively derive solutions to the problems that cells face during translation, make connections between genotype and phenotype, and begin to recognize the results of mutations. This introductory activity can be used as an interactive means to support students as they learn the details of translation and molecular genetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply the theory of learning to physically renormalizable systems in an attempt to outline a theory of biological evolution, including the origin of life, as multilevel learning. We formulate seven fundamental principles of evolution that appear to be necessary and sufficient to render a universe observable and show that they entail the major features of biological evolution, including replication and natural selection. It is shown that these cornerstone phenomena of biology emerge from the fundamental features of learning dynamics such as the existence of a loss function, which is minimized during learning. We then sketch the theory of evolution using the mathematical framework of neural networks, which provides for detailed analysis of evolutionary phenomena. To demonstrate the potential of the proposed theoretical framework, we derive a generalized version of the Central Dogma of molecular biology by analyzing the flow of information during learning (back propagation) and predicting (forward propagation) the environment by evolving organisms. The more complex evolutionary phenomena, such as major transitions in evolution (in particular, the origin of life), have to be analyzed in the thermodynamic limit, which is described in detail in the paper by Vanchurin et al. [V. Vanchurin, Y. I. Wolf, E. V. Koonin, M. I. Katsnelson, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 119, 10.1073/ pnas.2120042119 (2022)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty is an inherent aspect of the world we live in and is necessarily part of scientific knowledge and scientific inquiry. This paper presents a multi-case study about (1) how uncertainty occurs in the context of teaching and learning in a biology class about genetic engineering and (2) how K12 students deal with the occurring uncertainty. Designed as a Grounded Theory study, classroom observations (including videography) were combined with problem-centred interviews. Contrary to what was expected at the beginning of the study, the data did not contain considerable traces of uncertainty related to or caused by the actual genetic engineering content. Rather, it became apparent that the central phenomenon in the data related to uncertainty refers to the very norms of the biology classroom. Confronted with uncertainty the students tried to exclude the uncertain questions and situations from biology education, arguing that biology is about certain facts that should be reproduced by students. These findings are discussed relative to disciplinary cultures and the concept of habitus as well as in its relevance for the discourse about nature of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of England, secondary biology education is dominated by sub-organismal systems, such as physiology, often to the detriment of evolution & ecology and impeding an integrated understanding of biology. This paper proposes a framework that teachers could use to help them consider how the learning of physiological and developmental systems can be combined with ecological and evolutionary thinking. Thus, keeping a balance between anthropomorphic contexts, and those of nature. The framework has two axes: physio-developmental – ecology, and contemporary – evolutionary, from which four quadrants emerge for consideration during topic design. It is proposed that topic design in general should be centred on the whole organism in its environment, which would ensure that physiological phenomena are contextualised in the organism's ecology. Furthermore, it is proposed that by pedagogical use of comparative biology, an evolutionary perspective can be integrated with organismal systems and ecology, whilst also offering more opportunities for students to discern the pattern being studied and be exposed to more non-human organisms. The framework is designed for practising teachers and would not require a radical change in pedagogy or teaching resources, but a new way of seeing the content and organisation of the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microscopy is not specifically mentioned in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and consequently secondary education limits its use to learning parts, procedures, and observing fixed specimen slides. However, when alternative approaches (See Section IV in this paper) are encouraged, microscopy provides opportunities for hands-on learning, engagement, use of models, and gaining a sense of size, scale, and hierarchical organisation. This article reviews living organism- and ecosystem-based microscopy originally designed for gifted and talented education, and how it could support the NGSS Life Science Framework. The paper begins with a review of curriculum, then discusses (1) five ongoing microscope applications relevant to the NGSS, including mini-ponds modelling ecosystem-organism functions; (2) data from pre- and post-testing as a measure of comprehensive learning; and, (3) a culminating communication project/exhibit on pond life, environmental conditions, and pollution effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To help students acquire mathematics and science knowledge and competencies, educators typically use multiple external representations (MERs). There has been considerable interest in examining ways to present, sequence, and combine MERs. One prominent approach is the concreteness fading sequence, which posits that instruction should start with concrete representations and progress stepwise to representations that are more idealized. Various researchers have suggested that concreteness fading is a broadly applicable instructional approach. In this theoretical paper, we conceptually analyze examples of concreteness fading in the domains of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology and discuss its generalizability. We frame the analysis by defining and describing MERs and their use in educational settings. Then, we draw from theories of analogical and relational reasoning to scrutinize the possible cognitive processes related to learning with MERs. Our analysis suggests that concreteness fading may not be as generalizable as has been suggested. Two main reasons for this are discussed: (1) the types of representations and the relations between them differ across different domains, and (2) the instructional goals between domains and subsequent roles of the representations vary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Educationis is the property of CBPC - Companhia Brasileira de Producao Cientifica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The goal of this paper is to propose tables of contextual cognition as a tool for research and a model to facilitate the intercultural dialogue on science education in schools. The proposal arose from a qualitative case study, involving the use of tables of compared cognition in biology classes in a Brazilian public school. The results indicate that these tables helped students to understand relationships of similarities and differences between their previous knowledge and scientific knowledge and, equally, to delimit the original context and applicability of each of these ways of knowing. However, I perceived the need to expand these tables to gain a new meaning for the practical purposes of research and culturally sensitive science teaching. Finally, tables of contextual cognition considering these changes are proposed and I discuss the possible implications for teaching and research in science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today´s biology curriculum at levels ISCED 2 and 3 consists of many topics like genetics, evolution, and ecology that are on the one hand very important and help students to understand complex processes that shape the environment around them, but on the other hand, are also difficult to comprehend. The main problem with these topics is that processes within their scope occur on multiple levels of biological organization that also interact among themselves in diverse ways. The biology curriculum and textbooks introduce levels of organization (molecules, cells, tissues, organisms, populations, etc.) and describe the characteristics and functions of entities at each level (like cells and their organelles). Unfortunately, in the case of the Czech Republic and other European countries, they do not sufficiently promote the connections among the levels of biological organization and concepts and processes on, and across, the levels, and therefore, they lack coherence in the presented information. This lack of coherence then easily results in misunderstandings by students of scientific concepts (like respiration or heredity). To cope with these problems, there are currently many strategies that help to promote students’ coherent understanding of biological phenomena. One of them is the Yo-Yo Strategy, that helps students to define, connect and navigate among the levels of biological organization. In the paper, we discuss how to start using this teaching and learning method successfully in class in order to influence positively students’ understanding of even very abstract biological topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although John Scopes and his famous "Monkey Trial" strongly influenced the ongoing evolution-creationism controversy, relatively little is known about Scopes's post-trial life. Moreover, many questions about his trial remain unanswered (e.g., did he actually teach evolution in Dayton?). This paper answers these questions with new information from a previously ignored source - his family and friends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes a biology tutoring system with adaptive question selection. Questions were selected for presentation to the student based on their utilities, which were estimated from the chance that the student’s competence would increase if the questions were asked. Competence was represented by the probability of mastery of a set of biology knowledge components. Tasks were represented and selected based on which knowledge components they addressed. Unlike earlier work, where the knowledge components and their relationships to the questions were defined by domain experts, this project demonstrated that the knowledge components, questions and their relationships could all be generated from a semantic network. An experiment found that students using our adaptive question selection had reliably larger learning gains than students who received questions in a mal-adaptive order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies in the field of second-language-learners in German showed that students apply different strategies if they are exposed to a linguistic overload in school. These strategies very often result in behaviour of avoidance. In this paper, a case study from biology class illustrates a student named Lela who applies an avoidance strategy: She refuses to read schoolbook texts on her own and the autonomous work on a crossword puzzle, too. To capture the reason for Lela's behaviour this case study uses participatory observation protocols (OP) which are analysed via Key-Incident-Analysis. Moreover, we analysed the respective schoolbook texts and the crossword puzzle. Results reveal that Lela's avoidance strategies are not symptoms of laziness or a lack of interest but linguistic complexity in schoolbook texts and missing support of learning language of schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares and analyzes the questions and problems of Genetics raised between 2010 and 2019) in the university entrance exams of four autonomous communities (Andalucia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Murcia). After analyzing the 160 tests collected, it is found that there are differences between the communities both in the structure of the tests, the presence or not of certain contents and their evaluations in the correction. In relation to Genetics problems, differences between communities are also appreciated and certain aspects that can be improved from the didactic point of view are maintained. The need to modify the entrance exams is raised according to the desirable equity of the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research suggests that students use metaphors when asked to explain digestive processes and nutritional uptake. In this paper, we describe the results of a study designed to gain a deeper understanding of how metaphors and anthropomorphisms are used by students when describing such processes. We applied analyses based on the systemic-functional grammar framework to 123 student responses to a question about nutrition on a Swedish national test in biology in order to identify, describe and analyse how students use metaphors and to understand the linguistic structure of those metaphors. We also considered how the metaphors are linked to metaphor systems and anthropomorphisms, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the role of metaphors in this area. The results of our analyses provide important insights into how students understand digestion and nutrition and could provide the basis for improved teaching materials and methods for these important topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a PLOS Computational Biology Education paper. The idea that the brain functions so as to minimize certain costs pervades theoretical neuroscience. Because a cost function by itself does not predict how the brain finds its minima, additional assumptions about the optimization method need to be made to predict the dynamics of physiological quantities. In this context, steepest descent (also called gradient descent) is often suggested as an algorithmic principle of optimization potentially implemented by the brain. In practice, researchers often consider the vector of partial derivatives as the gradient. However, the definition of the gradient and the notion of a steepest direction depend on the choice of a metric. Because the choice of the metric involves a large number of degrees of freedom, the predictive power of models that are based on gradient descent must be called into question, unless there are strong constraints on the choice of the metric. Here, we provide a didactic review of the mathematics of gradient descent, illustrate common pitfalls of using gradient descent as a principle of brain function with examples from the literature, and propose ways forward to constrain the metric. Author summary: A good skier may choose to follow the steepest direction to move as quickly as possible from the mountain peak to the base. Steepest descent in an abstract sense is also an appealing idea to describe adaptation and learning in the brain. For example, a scientist may hypothesize that synaptic or neuronal variables change in the direction of steepest descent in an abstract error landscape during learning of a new task or memorization of a new concept. There is, however, a pitfall in this reasoning: a multitude of steepest directions exists for any abstract error landscape because the steepest direction depends on how angles are measured, and it may be unclear how angles should be measured. Many scientists are taught that the steepest direction can be found by computing the vector of partial derivatives. But the vector of partial derivatives is equal to the steepest direction only if the angles in the abstract space are measured in a particular way. In this article, we provide a didactic review of the mathematics of finding steepest directions in abstract spaces, illustrate the pitfalls with examples from the neuroscience literature, and propose guidelines to constrain the way angles are measured in these spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the end of the nineteenth century, biology as an academic discipline was as young as its corresponding school subject. Now nature itself was analysed as a complex (eco)system consisting of animals, plants, and man. The dramatic conceptual shift and subsequent development of school curricula called for teaching aids representing the new perspective on nature. The paper uses the different types of teaching aids as "index fossils" (Andreas Ludwig) of a specific material culture of education. Thereby we follow a central organising element of contemporary educational concepts around 1900: we will place the teaching aids on a continuum, reaching from "almost real" representations by taxidermists, to abstract schematics on wallcharts, or to wild life in moving pictures to describe and reflect powerful and lasting forms of vividness representing nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematical biology is a wide field of study with many venues that undergraduate students can access through research. However, the topics of study for these students can be overwhelming, and many topics of study yield either only trivial results or abstract outcomes that are nonintuitive and difficult to understand. We have used natural resource modeling, and more specifically, a partnership between academic researchers and federal scientists, as a bridge between undergraduate research and mathematical biology. Our collaboration is an interdisciplinary team that combines biology, mathematics, and statistics professors with government research scientists. As a team, we have mentored students through opportunities such as a Research Experiences for Undergraduates and other projects. In this article, we provide an overview of how we develop questions for undergraduates and outline two case studies, both of which resulted in peer reviewed journal articles. Last, we describe how we also transfer the results from these undergraduate projects to resource managers so the results may be applied to real world problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent calls to reform undergraduate biology education, including Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education, have led biology departments to examine their curriculum to determine the extent to which it aligns with Vision and Change content and competency recommendations. The recently released BioSkills Guide translates the broad Vision and Change core competencies into more specific program-level learning outcomes (LOs). A curriculum map may be used to evaluate a curriculum by examining where content and skills are taught. This map can then be used to determine how well the curriculum that is actually taught aligns with the planned curriculum (a set of LOs). The Western Washington University Biology Department used a new curriculum mapping tool, the BioSkills Curriculum Survey, to examine the extent to which Vision and Change core competencies and BioSkills LOs were taught in our courses. Instructors completed the survey for every course they taught in the last two years, enabling us to gather data on competency and LO coverage and assessment across our curriculum. We answered questions about where in the curriculum competencies and LOs were taught, how different instructors teaching the same course taught LOs, the extent to which different LOs were assessed, and how teaching LOs differed in different degree tracks and different course levels. For a subset of courses, students also completed a modified survey to determine how students' perceptions of skills coverage matched instructor's perceptions. One main finding was that we taught Science and Society LOs less than others and, when taught, we did not often assess them. We also found that students' perceptions of competency teaching did not align well with instructors' perceptions. The data were used to make informed decisions about ongoing curriculum revisions. This paper illustrates the questions that can be answered using this mapping tool for competencies and we offer recommendations about how a department can take a data-driven approach to curriculum reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with an empirical study examining the effectiveness of interdisciplinary teaching in biology and physical education (PE) regarding the students' growth in knowledge. The study was conducted with 141 German sixth form students. In groups, they were taught three hours a week for a period of six weeks. In order to compare the effectiveness of regular lessons with the project, the study uses a test and control group design. This means a test group takes part in interdisciplinary teaching (IdT) lessons while a control group of peers receives subject-related lessons. After being exposed to the different kinds of lessons for a certain time, we then compared the effects on the students' skills in a pre-/post-test. The IdT lessons are designed to complement each other so that the biology lesson supplies explanations for processes occurring in PE, whereas the PE lesson provides a visualisation of the theoretical biology content. In this paper, fi rst the current German curricula requirements as they relate to interdisciplinary teaching will be outlined. After this, the state of research concerning interdisciplinary teaching, methodical-didactic expectations and learning targets will be provided. Following on from this, the data investigated in the course of the study will be presented, such as the study design and measuring instruments. The results of the pre-/post-test will be described and then discussed in the conclusion. They indicate a signifi cant growth in knowledge with the test group (IdT) when compared with the control group (F(1,113.24)=126, p<0.01, n2p=0.43). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic biology is a growing field with an increasing number of successful applications. Yet, synthetic biology (SynBio) education initiatives are underreported and disconnected from each other. In this review we survey the literature on SynBio education and stratify this body of work into three categories: classroom activities, course designs, and program-level curriculaplanning. For each category, we discuss the methods used to assess students' experiences and achievement of learning objectives. Throughout, we identify trends and opportunities for further development in SynBio education. We determined that the design of low-cost education kits is a growing opportunity to support student learning at the level of classroom activities. In support of that work, we present a mapping of published education kits onto Bloom's taxonomy, taking into account increasing accumulation of knowledge through continued experience. We further found that project-based learning is used widely and has proven effective in course designs. To facilitate such activities, we provide a high-level guide for the conversion of a didactic course into a project-based learning course. Further, we note that, currently, programs are delivered primarily at the graduate level, taking inspiration from traditional degree programs while incorporating interdisciplinary training. Finally, we find that design-based research may provide an effective framework for an iterative, mixed-method study design. To support such efforts, we provide a schematic overview of design-based research and its application to a learning progression for interdisciplinary skills. We conclude with a discussion of specific learning concepts that may be useful to SynBio educators and education researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]