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Open textbooks are free, online resources that can replace traditional textbooks and save students money. The costs of traditional textbooks continue to increase, and this can particularly affect at-risk, low-income students. Few studies have analyzed student perceptions of open textbooks and how they influence academic achievement, but the emerging trend is positive. In the present study, I assessed student perceptions of an open textbook and calculated the subsequent cost savings. Although there were some limitations to my study, such as a low sample size, my results closely mirror previous studies in that most students had favorable opinions of the open textbook and would prefer to use them over traditional textbooks. The average cost savings per student was $81 for one course, determined using a novel method that does not assume all students buy new textbooks. These savings were likely important to the students, the majority of whom worked five hours or more and have received Pell Grants or other tuition waivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College instructors in the United States usually make their own decisions about how to design course exams. Even though summative course exams are well known to be important to student success, we know little about the decision making of instructors when designing course exams. To probe how instructors design exams for introductory biology, we conducted an exploratory interview study with seven instructors teaching the same introductory biology course at a large university. We found that despite designing exams for the same course, instructor exam decisions differed with regard to what content was assessed, the exam format, the cognitive difficulty of exam questions, the resources used when crafting exams, and how exams were administered. We hope that this work can initiate conversations about how college instructors should design exams and lead to more uniformity in how student learning is assessed across the same courses taught by different instructors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify effects of variability of visual input on development of conceptual representations of academic concepts for college-age students with normal language (NL) and those with language-learning disabilities (LLD). Method: Students with NL (n = 11) and LLD (n = 11) participated in a computer-based training for introductory biology course concepts. Participants were trained on half the concepts under a low-variability condition and half under a high-variability condition. Participants completed a posttest in which they were asked to identify and rate the accuracy of novel and trained visual representations of the concepts. We performed separate repeated measures analyses of variance to examine the accuracy of identification and ratings. Results: Participants were equally accurate on trained and novel items in the high-variability condition, but were less accurate on novel items only in the low-variability condition. The LLD group showed the same pattern as the NL group; they were just less accurate. Conclusions: Results indicated that high-variability visual input may facilitate the acquisition of academic concepts in college students with NL and LLD. High-variability visual input may be especially beneficial for generalization to novel representations of concepts. Implicit learning methods may be harnessed by college courses to provide students with basic conceptual knowledge when they are entering courses or beginning new units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active-learning experiences – in classrooms, laboratories, and outside of courses – are highly valued components of preparing undergraduates to become biologists. We characterized the educational opportunities available to students in the biological sciences at colleges and universities within the eastern Great Lakes region and student perceptions of a variety of opportunities. We surveyed biology departments at 33 institutions to determine the availability of and participation in educational travel, internships, laboratories, skill development, and undergraduate research involvement. There was variation in the availability of internships, the types of skill development and educational travel offered, and the numbers of labs required in different biology curricula. Undergraduate research was offered at all institutions, and most research-active students presented results at least locally. Most colleges and universities offer a wide range of educational experiences and opportunities that complement traditional biology curricula and that are valued by students. Because fewer than half of the students took advantage of most of these experiences, schools still have the opportunity to increase their value in undergraduate education through increased student participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article advances the prerequisite network as a means to visualize the hidden structure in an academic curriculum. Networks have been used to represent a variety of complex systems ranging from social systems to biochemical pathways and protein interactions. Here, I treat the academic curriculum as a complex system with nodes representing courses and links between nodes the course prerequisites as readily obtained from a course catalogue. I show that the catalogue data can be rendered as a directed acyclic graph, which has certain desirable analytical features. Using metrics developed in mathematical graph theory, I characterize the overall structure of the undergraduate curriculum of Benedictine University along with that of its Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program. The latter program is shown to contain hidden community structure that crosses disciplinary boundaries. The overall curriculum is seen as partitioned into numerous isolated course groupings, the size of the groups varying considerably. Individual courses serve different roles in the organization, such as information sources, hubs, and bridges. The curriculum prerequisite network represents the intrinsic, hard-wired constraints on the flow of information in a curriculum, and is the organizational context within which learning occurs. I explore some applications for advising and curriculum reform. © 2015 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 43(3):168-180, 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent calls for reform have advocated for extensive changes to undergraduate science lab experiences, namely providing more authentic research experiences for students. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have attempted to eschew the limitations of traditional ‘cookbook’ laboratory exercises and have received increasing visibility in the literature. However, evaluating the outcomes of these experiences remains inconsistent and incomplete partly because of differing goals and conceptual frameworks on the part of those both teaching and assessing the courses. This paper synthesizes existing literature on CUREs and assessment practices to propose a framework for how researchers and practitioners may better align the goals and evaluation practices of CUREs in order to provide a more consistent view of these reformed laboratory courses for the field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Expertise in the broader impacts of scientific research is an increasingly important aspect of professional development, particularly because federal grant proposals are commonly reviewed using both the Intellectual Merit and the Broader Impacts Criteria. Unfortunately, training in broader impacts, such as science communication and outreach, is not typically part of undergraduate or graduate curricula. We initiated one of the first graduate-level biology courses on broader impacts, focusing on giving graduate students firsthand, authentic experiences with grant writing, science communication, and educational outreach. Students in this interdisciplinary course learned from experts, wrote for a broad audience about their own research, and proposed and implemented outreach in collaboration with local organizations. We outline our approach, discuss outcomes from each activity, assess our impact, and finally consider how future programs might expand on this model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is a discipline that emphasizes instructional development and enhanced student learning through the dissemination of practitioner theory and experience. The discipline, however, primarily considers the role and perspectives of higher education and K-12 faculty. Yet SoTL also has pragmatic implications for librarians as it promotes instructional improvement, collaborative research, networking, and professional development across the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the need for ecological literacy and problem solving has increased, but there is no evidence that this need is reflected by increased ecology coverage at institutions of higher education (IHE) across the United States. Because introductory biology courses may serve to direct student interest toward particular biological categories such as ecology, time devoted to topics in these categories within introductory biology courses may be crucial for captivating student interest. In a 2009 survey, members of the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) College and University Sections identified 20 topics they considered essential for inclusion in introductory biology courses. The NABT members, acknowledging the importance of ecological concepts, considered two ecological topics essential. The present study evaluated the actual coverage of ecology and other topic categories compared to recommendations and according to location. For this purpose, lecture and lab syllabi were collected from 26 rural, suburban, and urban IHEs from the Mid-Atlantic region. Course content was divided into eight categories, including ecology, and percentages of total lecture and lab time per category were calculated. This actual coverage was compared to the NABT recommendations. Actual coverage of ecology was not significantly different from coverage recommended by the NABT members, whereas cell/molecular/ biochemistry and evolution were lower and genetics, development, and taxonomy were higher than recommended. Course content was also compared by location, with no significant effect of institutional location on ecology coverage. We conclude that although students taking introductory biology courses in Mid-Atlantic IHEs are likely to receive the NABT's recommended coverage of ecology instruction regardless of institutional location, actual ecology coverage has not increased, regardless of the increased need for ecological literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major curriculum redesign effort at the University of Maryland is infusing all levels of our undergraduate biological sciences curriculum with increased emphasis on interdisciplinary connections and quantitative approaches. The curriculum development efforts have largely been guided by recommendations in the National Research Council'sBio 2010report and have resulted in revisions to courses in biology, mathematics, and physics over a period of 10 years. Important components of this effort included (1) developing online modules to infuse more mathematical content into six biology courses taken by biological sciences majors during their first 2 years of study; (2) strengthening the interdisciplinary connections of ancillary courses in mathematics and physics to support the development of quantitative skills in biological contexts; and (3) creating more quantitatively intensive courses for the final 2 years of the bachelors of science programme. These efforts, carried out by a large, multidisciplinary team of faculty, have resulted in increased coherence in the undergraduate biological sciences curriculum, increased quantitative skills in first- and second-year students, and a greater appreciation among graduates for the essential relationship between mathematics and modern biology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the origins of the practice of dissection in American medical education in order to both understand the function of dissection in medical education and challenge conventional wisdom about that function. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, American medical schools increasingly made human dissection a crucial part of their curricula, privileging use of the human cadaver over any other anatomical model. In this paper, I break apart the claims that American physicians made at that time regarding the unique pedagogic usefulness of the cadaver, and I juxtapose those claims against the realities of the dissection process. In doing so, I show how the realities of dissection differed sharply from the depictions given by physicians. In the conclusion, I argue that the cadaver still remained epistemologically and ontologically useful to the medical profession, although not necessarily for the reasons physicians explicitly stated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the US, there may be few scientific concepts that students maintain preconceived ideas about as strongly and passionately as they do with regard to evolution. At the confluence of a multitude of social, religious, political, and scientific factors lies the biology teacher. This phenomenological study provides insight into the salient aspects of teaching evolution as viewed by public high school biology teachers. Transcribed interviews were coded, and data were sorted resulting in key themes regarding teachers' views of evolution education. These themes are presented against the backdrop of extant literature on the teaching and learning of evolution. Suggestions for science teacher educators are presented such that we can modify teacher preparation programs to better prepare science teachers to meet the challenges of teaching evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gene expression is a highly theoretical concept that requires advanced reasoning skills to comprehend. Often, students receive instruction but fail to replace prior conceptions and thus do not benefit. In order to investigate the reason for this failure, we used a directed inquiry activity that uses concrete analogies in both majors and non-majors biology courses at the community college and university levels. Results showed that the effect of this active learning approach was dependent on the student population; students with less prior exposure to the material experienced higher learning gains. Theoretical implications about the effects of prior conceptions on learning as well as instructional implications for teaching theoretical concepts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College introductory biology educators have an opportunity to increase ecological literacy. This research used a pre-/postsurvey design to ask the following questions: (a) What level of ecological literacy do underclass science majors have? (b) What demographic factors are related to ecological literacy? and (c) Does taking introductory organismal biology increase ecological literacy? We found that first-year science majors had relatively high attitudes and perceptions of the environment that were related to motivation, confidence, and future career goals but lower ecological knowledge that was not related to any demographic factors studied. Students exhibited very little increase in ecological literacy after completing an introductory organismal biology class. Therefore, we urge introductory biology instructors to assess whether they are increasing student ecological literacy and provide recommendations for doing so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is part of ongoing research investigating the experiences of undergraduate students who enroll in an integrated inquiry-based biology program during their freshman year. The purpose of this study was to explore students' perspectives on the program and their perceptions of science and scientific inquiry after completing the program. Five students from the first cohort of students enrolled in the program were interviewed at the end of their second year and 17 students from the second cohort were interviewed at the beginning and end of their first year. Students were asked how the program differed from their other science courses, what they learned about science as a result of enrolling in the program, and how the program prepared them for future science courses and research. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the data and identify students' views. Analysis indicated that students had an overwhelmingly positive experience in the program, viewing it as a more effective way to learn science and an excellent preparation for future science endeavors. As a result of embarking on inquiry projects themselves, they had a greater understanding of the process of science and the type of work done by scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has become apparent through the work of many researchers and practitioners that adults learn differently than their younger counterparts in the educational system. This is especially important to those educators teaching in colleges and universities in the sciences. Biology education in the post-secondary setting is inundated with teachers who know biology backward and forward but lack the skills to effectively teach that knowledge to others. By applying the theories of andragogy, transformational learning, and experiential learning, and by integrating practices of self-directed and critical reflection, we can improve the effectiveness of biology education in America colleges and universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community college science majors were assigned a team-based research project in a course sequence of General Biology I and II and were followed over a two-semester sequence during three academic years. The project was intended to introduce key General Education principles such as global citizenship, scientific reasoning, communication skills, information literacy, and stewardship. Conducted in partnership with library faculty, the assignment used course-integrated workshops and one-on-one reference instruction to help students produce research papers, learn the mechanics of online library research, and practice public speaking. Assignments were designed to emphasize and refine skills such as information literacy, critical thinking, and writing, while supplementing course content with current global events. Pre- and post-surveys were conducted to analyze assimilation of skills during General Biology I and mastering of those skills the following semester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 contains genomic sequences of virus ranging from the strains that caused the 1918 pandemic and subsequent seasonal cycles of influenza, as well as the H1N1 "swine|" flu, which has recently caused pandemic disease, and the H5N1 "avian" flu, which remains a potential threat. The web interface to this database allows retrieval of gene and protein sequences from selected strains of virus, alignment of these sequences, and construction of evolutionary trees. In this exercise, students develop hypotheses about the epidemiology or evolution of influenza originating from specific species, locations, or time periods. The hypotheses are tested by retrieving sequences from specified viral strains and constructing an evolutionary tree to visualize the origin of these strains. We describe the use of this exercise in a human biology course for nonscience majors as part of a unit about influenza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which predicts retention of mathematics and science majors in college students in the U.S. The study also examines the relation between the SAT standardized test and high school performance. Research involved 630 freshmen majoring in field such as biology and applied mathematics and addressed respective factors which may impact the amount of variance accounted for in their success in studying these subjects. The results of the study have led researchers to conclude that there is a need for future work focusing on specific high needs majors.

The article discusses the role of a biology foundations course in building successes out of at-risk students. The majority of students arriving at U.S. community college with hopes of entering the nursing, physical therapist assistant, and other allied health programs are at-risk students. It should be pointed out that, although many students come to college with gaps in their education, whether they are weak in mathematics or English, one should not generalize that all students are at-risk. It describes the foundations course goals.

The article describes the application of the concept of learning communities in an undergraduate biology program in the U.S. A learning community involves groups of students that learn together in cohort-based environments. It fosters self-direction and enhances intellectual sophistication by presenting students with unknowns, alternatives and uncertainties. Impediments to the approach include issues of student initiative, responsibility and expectations for traditional structure. Realistic limitations cited by students include the need for more extensive research facilities, software and journals.

The article presents information on the "Bio2010" report released by the U.S. National Research Council, which calls for interdisciplinary approach in biology teaching, and the implementation of the same at the Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. The Exercise Science program at Willamette University is based on interdisciplinary knowledge and skill building. The curriculum demonstrates a commitment to the interconnectedness of the various disciplines, as demanded in "Bio2010."

The article discusses the challenges related to curriculum changes in biology that are presented in the "Bio2010" report released by the U.S. National Research Council. The new biology emphasizes chemistry, mathematics, physics, engineering principles, and it includes interdisciplinary laboratories, seminar courses, and independent research. However, it is stated that one challenge to the interdisciplinary approach is the departmental boundaries between various disciplines.

We surveyed faculty in the biology departments of US institutions of higher education to compare the experience and training valued by faculty at hiring institutions with the experience and training most graduate students receive. Our data show that associate, baccalaureate, and master's institutions value teaching experience and skills more highly than research skills. In contrast, doctoral institutions place a higher value on the ability to publish research and obtain outside funding. These findings provide quantitative and qualitative insight into discrepancies between the values of those who train graduate students in biology and the expectations of the institutions likely to hire these individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Research Council completed a major study of undergraduate biology education, BIO 2010Transforming Undergraduate Education For Future Research Biologists (BIO 2010), funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health. The BIO 2010 report recommends that biology pedagogy should use an interdisciplinary approach incorporating a strong basis in mathematics and physical sciences. Many of the aims of BIO 2010 can be met by an interdisciplinary major program such as that of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Kenyon College. The Kenyon program effectively encourages students to connect biology with chemistry and mathematics and to develop a sound basis for research in the biological sciences. A continuing challenge is to balance the needs for depth of physical and mathematical understanding and breadth of diversity in biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that examined the factors associated with the success in undergraduate Anatomy & Physiology coursework at Lewiston-Auburn College, University of Southern Maine in Lewiston. Details of the grading system used for the period of the study; Analysis of the independent variables that correlated significantly with the final course grades of the students; Relation between the amount of previous study of mathematics and science in both high school and college and the final course grades of the students.

Describes an open-ended project dealing with the biochemical analysis of plant seed extracts, which was developed for an introductory biology course for science majors at Elmira College in New York. Type of biochemical analysis used in the project; Description of the various steps in the project; Materials and instruments used in the project.

Presents the application of field trips as a method of teaching biology. Stages of field experience at University of Kentucky's Robinson forest; Timetable for a typical stage 1 weekend field trip; Activities done during the field trip; Difficulties encountered during the field trip.

Discusses biology education and the idea that students learn concepts successfully through a hands-on experience, cooperative problem-solving, and independent study. Description of a program at the University of Connecticut, Storrs in which course work prepared students for a summer internship at the Connecticut chapter of The Nature Conservancy; Assessment of the internship program.

Offers a look at the Instructional Technology Project, a program which provides Internet access to biology students and faculty at Floyd College in Georgia. Requirements of the program; Problems facing instructors in attempts to incorporate technology into science classes; Technology-based projects under the program; Effectiveness of using the Internet in education.

Examines undergraduate biology programs at colleges and universities in the United States to see what courses are being included as program core courses. Background on the study and teaching of biology; Analysis of biology core courses; Suggested core courses in biology.

We examined science inquiry, technology, and content in laboratory curricula of first-semester, general biology at six randomly selected community colleges in Colorado, USA. We derived a seven-point scale to assess science inquiry. For each exercise, we recorded the technology used, the biological principle examined, and whether the lab was derived from a commercial manual or a manual generated by the institution. Results showed that lab curricula at all six schools addressed an average of less than three categories of science inquiry. The main deficiencies were in deriving problems/hypotheses, variables, methods, and extensions. Labs implementing technology addressed significantly fewer categories of inquiry than those without technology. Microscopes were the most common source of technology, but were used almost exclusively for observations of teacher-determined objects, rather than as tools to increase the number of categories of science inquiry addressed. Labs from commercial manuals allowed students to address significantly more categories of science inquiry than labs from manuals generated by the institution. We suggest that educators evaluate inquiry in their labs with an inventory such as the one derived in this paper, and attempt to address the seven categories of science inquiry several times in each lab course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an active-learning technique that may be used in advanced college- and graduate-level animal behavior laboratory courses to better simulate the entire research process. Problems with some United States laboratory courses that do not require enough independent thought; Description of the components of this particular technique; Effectiveness and potential drawbacks; Conclusions and comments.

Provides an overview of the steps within the Total Science Experience (TSE) Laboratory for sophomore biology majors at the West Virginia University in Morgantown. Requests for proposals; Proposal development; Proposal review; Project execution; Manuscript submission and review; Research symposium; Challenges; Institutional commitment; Student evaluation.

Discusses the adoption of andragogical theory assumptions to teach biology to adult learners at the Louisiana State University in Eunice. Instructional strategies for adult learners; Application of the theory; Student response to the strategy.

Discusses the teaching of introductory biology to students at Yuba College, Woodland, California. Inclusion of readings from popular science writers within the syllabus; Samples of student comments on essays; Student evaluations. INSET: Evaluation of Assigned Journalism Readings.

Deals with the incorporation of community-service option as part of the course requirement for biology at the Tulsa Junior College in Oklahoma, US. Development of responsibility and accomplishment; Proposal to students to find a place to do community service; Relation of the community service to some aspect of biology; Some of the students' experiences.

Describes a multimedia presentation software developed to address the problem of organizing and presenting computer-based multimedia to students of general biology courses in the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Effective integration of illustrations into large lecture presentations; MacPresents--Multimedia Presentation Manager (MPM).

The article discusses the effect of teacher and student activities on the self-image and achievement of high school biology students in the U.S. It discusses the importance of science concept together with the principle understanding in the materials of Biological Science Curriculum Study. The purpose of which is to develop the conceptual understanding among students. Because the model is designed in a hierarchical scheme, it could contribute to learning as the students will be given enough time to comprehend and then categorized what they have learned. The model could also help students associate factual information into other meaningful ideas which could also measure their creativity.

The article presents a research that compares the effect of simulation games and worksheets on learning in a high school biology classroom in the U.S. There are three simulation games used in this study that were able to teach factual information. Students who were taught by the simulation game method had comparable accomplishment benefits with those who were taught using worksheets. Its impact was constant across ability and gender. In addition, the gender of students was importantly related to retention.

The article focuses on a college biology teaching program conducted in the U.S. in the year 1966. A Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Laboratory Block designed for high school biology was adapted for the laboratory of a college introductory biology course during the program. Almost 269 biology students used the Molecular Basis of Metabolism Laboratory Block which had been developed by Peter Albersheim, John Dowling and Johns Hopkins. Introduction to Biology is a two-semester course that allows credits for two hours of lectures, an hour of recitation and three hours of laboratory work during each week.

The article presents the comments of several professors in the U.S. about the Newer University Biology Core Curriculum in the country. The course is the common core curriculum for all undergraduate biology majors. The professors say that some courses in the curriculum such as genetics, ecology and evolution are interdepartmental in nature. According to them, the curriculum has the same advantages and disadvantages as the introductory course in biology.

The author of this article cites examples of scientific concepts used by U.S. college students to account for biological phenomena. These students have been in a course required for non-science majors at Queens College in New York City. To follow the analogy of taxonomy, two diverse methods of explanations have been pointed out: Aristotelian and Galilean. Other students use Animistic, Anthropomorphic, and Teleological concepts. The author asserts that there is overlapping and duplication among the varieties enumerated. Moreover, he recommends that this type of learning could increase awareness of the inadequacies of explanations which appear in many publications, both books and periodicals.

The article presents a study related to the problem of principles or matters which are to be included in the biological courses of secondary schools study. This study was made to decide the issues prominent in a federal government project and its relationship with the content of course in secondary school biology. The United States Biological Survey was taken as the basis for this study because it is one of the closely related activities to this field. The social structure of the United States is becoming complicated as well as highly organized. Three aspects need to be identified for ascertaining the aims to develop the principles to solve problems related with biology. They include scientific conceptions capable of modifying the thoughts of an individual, health and safety of the private and public life and principles, generalizations and hypotheses of science with respect to natural environment. The items of the study were taken from sources such as textbooks and courses of study.

The article presents information on the recommendations of the "Bio2010" report on the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program in science education. The report recommends a more interdisciplinary approach to biology curricula, which involves incorporation of concepts from chemistry, mathematics, physics, and engineering into biology courses and vice versa.

Focuses on the restructuring of biology departments in United States colleges and universities. Some departments splitting into autonomous entities, while others are seeking to consolidate with other departments; Case of Yale University, which split up its biology department into autonomous units; Chart of various colleges and universities and their plans for their respective biology departments; Issues regarding the restructuring.

The article comments on predicting genetics achievement in nonmajors college biology in the U.S. The authors cited field researchers who accounted on causes of student difficulty in genetics and reasoned out that a lack of hypothetico-deductive reasoning skills. Reasoning was the main factor limiting students ability to hold principles of Mendelian genetics in the solution of problems.

The article reports on the stand of the U.S. Office of Biological Education and the Education Committee of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) concerning professional accreditation in higher education. Both organizations have taken an opposition stand towards educational accreditation and have developed other means of encouraging professional development and improvement among biology teachers. It highlights the reasons of AIBS in contradicting the argument of the proponents of such accreditation. AIBS stresses that professional excellence often comes from the efforts of creative teachers to improve the quality of their teaching methods.

The article discusses biology undergraduate education in the U.S. Topics include a survey by Sylvia Hurtado and colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles' (UCLA's) Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) that found science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers did not leverage inclusive teaching methods as much as non-STEM teachers, ways to improve U.S. biology undergraduate education, and the importance of leadership support for successful reform.