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This article addresses one of the current issues in education: the use of resources in biological disciplines classes that are required for students to develop meta-subject competencies. The incorporation of natural objects into educational content can create a favorable environment for teaching biology classes and assist students in developing necessary knowledge about regional flora. The authors created a set of integrated plant tasks that require knowledge of ecology, plant physiology, and evolution. The main goal of tasks is to learn about regional plant species and to control what students have learned. Certain activities are specifically created for hands-on engagement with nearby natural entities to determine their taxonomic classification, morphological characteristics, and adaptations. This approach, according to the authors, ensures productivity in biology teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Paradigma is the property of Universidad Pedagogica Experimental Libertador 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.)

Modern, student-oriented teaching can be characterized by the promotion of autonomy and interest. In the school subject of biology, it is necessary to focus on different ecosystems from different aspects. One ecosystem that has hardly been considered in biology didactics so far is the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea. Therefore, this study implemented station work in a biology class as a method of teaching educational content on the Wadden Sea to determine the effects on the learners' intrinsic motivation as well as on their situational and individual interest. A total of 157 students from secondary schools (age: M = 14.4 years, SD = 0.5) participated in the study. The results indicate that station work has a statistically significant positive effect on the aforementioned constructs. To clarify the relationship between the two constructs from the literature, the scales used were related to each other in a correlation analysis, revealing a significant correlation between interest and motivation. The findings of this study lay an important foundation for the school-based consideration of the Wadden Sea in biology education research and also provide important implications for related studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the Computational Thinking (CT) ability of biology education students in artificial intelligence courses through code.org programming, an online programming software. Students were required to solve problems systematically and design systems with coding for beginners. The research method used a qualitative approach because it was based on observational data from computational media produced in accordance with artificial intelligence learning for education and based on CT indicators. The subjects of this study were 73 students of the Biology Education Study Program in 2021. How students responded to using the code.org platform was captured through a questionnaire distributed via a Google form. The results showed that students could follow each stage of educational game projects through the code.org platform to practice computational thinking skills in accordance with the success of the stages of doing simple projects through good, systematic and problem-solving coding. Student responses to the code.org platform as an online program tool that can hone computational thinking can provide creativity and enthusiasm for student learning. As evidenced by the questionnaire results, 63.3% of students strongly agree that this increases creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the efficiency of using technological and methodical innovations in the teaching of biology in recent years. It includes the methods and methods that are considered effective for use in biological education, new teaching principles, modern teaching technologies, etc. is attributed and efficiency is brought to attention. Also, in the article, issues of interactive training, its essence, methods and mechanisms of application in teaching biology were studied. It is also conveyed that increasing the digital and technological literacy of teachers is the need of the day. In the article, the need to convey to the public the importance of investing in the field of education as an actual issue was raised as a problem. The opportunities created by interactive training during dialog-reciprocal teaching in the educational process, the positive effect of the interactive mode, methods in a new format, and the use of digital technologies on the assimilation of biological knowledge were also explained in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary processes lie at the base of the entire observable biodiversity, both at present and in the geological past (i.e., in the fossil record). For this reason, the teaching of evolution should receive more recognition than it currently has (e.g., in Poland) and become accurately applied from the early formal education stages onwards. To test the possibility of effective teaching of evolution to primary school pupils, workshops using non-standard learning methods (‘purposefully-framed play’) were organised during childrens’ university (UNIKIDS) courses of one-hour sessions for 33 groups, comprising several to 20 participants, aged 7 to 12. The final task for all participants was to predict future evolutionary processes by creating new species adapted to given environmental factors. Pupils effectively completed this task, but a few misconceptions also become clear. These workshop scenarios suggest that evolution can be taught effectively at least in extracurricular settings to primary school pupils, but for a detailed insight, a quantitative analysis and application of such scenarios in school programmes should be tested in future.

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]

One of the trends of modern education is the interaction of training and upbringing. Biology, as an academic subject, has a great upbringing potential. The elements of upbringing, the characteristics ofwhich are presented in this article, are defined by the draft federal state educational standard of basic general education of the third generation. For each element of upbringing, the definition, target, content, procedural and effective components that determine the nature of their course are indicated. Knowledge of the elements of upbringing will help teachers to better organize the educational process in biology, and methodologists to prepare future teachers for the implementation of the upbringing function.

Simple Summary: Biodiversity is declining worldwide, and knowledge of species and interest in nature are decreasing. The present study investigated the knowledge about bird species among the adult Bavarian population. Data were collected through a representative online survey with over one thousand respondents. The participants were asked to identify the species of birds they were shown pictures of. On average, 6 of the 15 species were identified correctly. Older participants scored higher than younger ones. The Eurasian blackbird showed the highest recognition rate, which correlates with the species abundance. Participants who performed better showed a higher tendency to act proactively for nature conservation, for instance donating money to NGOs. Knowledge of species is the basis for involvement in biodiversity awareness and protection. For the first time, we investigated how bird species knowledge is spread among adults in Germany in a representative study. It was shown that of the 15 species presented, only 6 were recognized on average, and 4.5% of the tested persons did not recognize any species at all. Only 0.5% knew all presented species. Younger participants in particular knew significantly fewer species than the group over 60 years. We also tested if species knowledge has an impact on the motivation to act for nature conservation. In this study, knowledge of species correlated directly with the willingness to take action for species protection, e.g., through donating money for proactive nature conservation. Simply being in nature was meaningless for the test result. However, if one was actively involved with birds, e.g., via bird counts or bird feeding, species knowledge was significantly better. [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.)

Abstract Background In addition to playing a key role in the dynamics of ecosystems, animal diversity, especially that of wild vertebrates, is intimately linked with human evolutionary history, which has resulted in diverse interactions that must be emphasized in formal education processes. We analyzed several methods of approaches used for biological education in order to teach about wild vertebrates and their conservation in urban and rural schools in the semi-arid region of Brazil. Methods Data were obtained via questionnaires applied to 990 students, of which 528 were urban and 462 rural, distributed among the seven grades/years that comprise the last two cycles of basic education in Brazil. The richness and diversity of the animals cited by the students were calculated, being the diversity using an adaptation of the equation for the Shannon-Weaver Index (H′). Data were analyzed using non-parametric descriptive statistics. Results Mammals and birds had the greatest richness and diversity of animals cited as most-studied in science/biology classes, and also the most indicated as occurring in the studied region. Among mammals, large carnivores with a showy appearance and utilitarian value had the highest citation frequencies, while there was a tendency for limited recognition of faunistic diversity in the other groups mentioned. Almost 70% of the students stated that their schooling processes dealt with the conservation of wild animals; however, about 50% of the students in both urban and rural contexts did not express conceptual understanding about the conservation of nature. Conclusions The recognition of animal diversity, especially vertebrates, beyond just mammals and birds, as well as conceptual clarity about the conservation of nature, are fundamental factors for the development of critical awareness of fauna and its conservation, and where the processes of schooling have a preponderant role. Finally, the study contributes to the legitimization of Ethnobiology as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge, especially in its interface with education, in addition to pointing out the importance of optimizing efforts in approaches to biodiversity conservation in formal educational processes.

Knowledge of species is the basis for involvement in biodiversity awareness and protection. For the first time, we investigated how bird species knowledge is spread among adults in Germany in a representative study. It was shown that of the 15 species presented, only 6 were recognized on average, and 4.5% of the tested persons did not recognize any species at all. Only 0.5% knew all presented species. Younger participants in particular knew significantly fewer species than the group over 60 years. We also tested if species knowledge has an impact on the motivation to act for nature conservation. In this study, knowledge of species correlated directly with the willingness to take action for species protection, e.g., through donating money for proactive nature conservation. Simply being in nature was meaningless for the test result. However, if one was actively involved with birds, e.g., via bird counts or bird feeding, species knowledge was significantly better.

Biophysics consists of a transdisciplinary science that integrates diverse themes and areas, constituting an essential curricular component to courses in the areas of Biological Sciences and Health. However, research related to teaching-learning in this area, points out some challenging issues, such as a strictlyphysical or biological approach to content, shortage of didactic proposals, as well as researchers and references, especially concerning the Biological Sciences course. In this context, the Biophysics' approach that we present in this work corresponds to an incursion of this area in complexity, given more integrative teaching of Biophysics. Thus, we aim to discuss the interconnections between the non-equilibrium thermodynamics and the life sciences, their influences on the development of a "new Biophysics", as well as their implications for the teaching of Biophysics. We argue that the teaching of Biophysics that emerges with the studies of the thermodynamics of living systems, approaches the construction of a transdisciplinary or complex knowledge, evidencing the articulations and/or interconnections between the propositions of the sciences, between the curricular components and the various types of knowledge and contexts, in order to contribute to deeper and broader understanding and explanations of a given subject or problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In addition to playing a key role in the dynamics of ecosystems, animal diversity, especially that of wild vertebrates, is intimately linked with human evolutionary history, which has resulted in diverse interactions that must be emphasized in formal education processes. We analyzed several methods of approaches used for biological education in order to teach about wild vertebrates and their conservation in urban and rural schools in the semi-arid region of Brazil. Methods: Data were obtained via questionnaires applied to 990 students, of which 528 were urban and 462 rural, distributed among the seven grades/years that comprise the last two cycles of basic education in Brazil. The richness and diversity of the animals cited by the students were calculated, being the diversity using an adaptation of the equation for the Shannon-Weaver Index (H′). Data were analyzed using non-parametric descriptive statistics. Results: Mammals and birds had the greatest richness and diversity of animals cited as most-studied in science/biology classes, and also the most indicated as occurring in the studied region. Among mammals, large carnivores with a showy appearance and utilitarian value had the highest citation frequencies, while there was a tendency for limited recognition of faunistic diversity in the other groups mentioned. Almost 70% of the students stated that their schooling processes dealt with the conservation of wild animals; however, about 50% of the students in both urban and rural contexts did not express conceptual understanding about the conservation of nature. Conclusions: The recognition of animal diversity, especially vertebrates, beyond just mammals and birds, as well as conceptual clarity about the conservation of nature, are fundamental factors for the development of critical awareness of fauna and its conservation, and where the processes of schooling have a preponderant role. Finally, the study contributes to the legitimization of Ethnobiology as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge, especially in its interface with education, in addition to pointing out the importance of optimizing efforts in approaches to biodiversity conservation in formal educational processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between plants, insect herbivores and associated predators represent the majority of terrestrial biodiversity. Insects are vital food sources for many other organisms and provide important ecosystem functions and services including pollination, waste removal and biological control. We propose a complete and reproducible education programme to guide students to understand the importance of managing and conserving forest ecosystems in their region through the study of insect ecology and natural history. Our programme involved lectures, workshops and field surveys of insects with a group of 60 high school students in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia). It addresses the key stages of an entomological research project including: 1) general entomological knowledge and understanding the role of insects in terrestrial diversity and in ecosystem functioning and services; (2) the proposal of simple research questions including hypothesis development and evaluation using scientific literature, 3) fieldwork using different types of light traps; 4) sorting and identification of the insect orders using simple diagnostic keys and illustrated plates; 5) analysing and interpreting the results and 6) demonstrating findings to peers and a public audience. Identifying insects, exploring their natural history and understanding their functions in the field bring the students towards a better understanding and awareness of the importance of forest ecosystem conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of evolution by natural selection has begun to revolutionize our understanding of perception, cognition, language, social behavior, and cultural practices. Despite the centrality of evolutionary theory to the social sciences, many students, teachers, and even scientists struggle to understand how natural selection works. Our goal is to provide a field guide for social scientists on teaching evolution, based on research in cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and education. We synthesize what is known about the psychological obstacles to understanding evolution, methods for assessing evolution understanding, and pedagogical strategies for improving evolution understanding. We review what is known about teaching evolution about nonhuman species and then explore implications of these findings for the teaching of evolution about humans. By leveraging our knowledge of how to teach evolution in general, we hope to motivate and equip social scientists to begin teaching evolution in the context of their own field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we share our experience with organizing and running a Summer Academy in Biology as a form of non-formal education in the period 22. 08. - 27. 08. 2016 in the village of Drenta, close to Elena in the area of Veliko Tarnovo. A program of all the activities and the main accents of the pedagogical work is posted and made public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Costa Rica is internationally recognized for its abundant biodiversity and being a leader in the promotion of education strategies for biodiversity conservation. We interviewed staff from 16 institutions developing key environmental communication, education, and participation projects for biodiversity conservation in the country. Through content analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and Chi-square tests, we examined the characteristics of the projects carried out by these institutions and developed a typology of four categories derived from six variables: primary audience, content, project purpose, location, scale, and facility. Then, we designed a conceptual model describing the integration of conservation and economic development in the educational projects. We found two key approaches related to this integration: vision of nature protection which aims to inform audiences of ecological concepts and focuses on schoolchildren and vision of sustainability which engages adult audiences and is management-oriented. Education for community- based environmental management may serve as a good example of educational projects which integrate conservation and economic development, implementing a vision of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastic studies hold a low explored potential for citizen science and environmental education, but methodological issues challenge data produced by non-specialists. We compared microplastic abundance and diversity in the red tilapia Oreochromis niloticus recovered by untrained students with those recovered by researchers that have experience of three years studying the incorporation of this pollutant by aquatic organisms. Seven students dissected 80 specimens and performed digestion of digestive tract in hydrogen peroxide. The solution was filtered and inspected under a stereomicroscope by the students and by two expert researchers. A control treatment consisted of 80 samples handled only by experts. The students overestimated the abundance of fibers and fragments. Striking differences in abundance and richness of microplastics were verified between the fish dissected by students and by expert researchers. Therefore, citizen science projects involving the uptake of microplastics by fish should provide training until a satisfactory level of expertise is reached. • Microplastic (MP) in fishes were analyzed by undergraduate students and specialists. • Students overestimated the abundance of fibers and fragments by at least two times. • Fish dissected by students presented the highest MP abundance and richness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the long tradition of discussing health in the Brazilian school curriculum, it is important to investigate how this topic is addressed by the textbooks, the main resource used by most schools in the country. In particular, it is relevant to verify if this content is presented in a manner that contributes to the development of the students as active and critical members of the society. We analyze how health is treated in the textbook Biology, by Laurence (2005), which has been the high school Biology textbook most chosen by public school teachers among those certified by the National Program for High School Textbooks (PNLEM/2007), sponsored by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC). We used categorical content analysis techniques, involving the decomposition of the texts into units of analysis, the categories, which were built in this work through analogical regroupings, by using semantic criteria. In order to investigate the treatment given to health, we applied an analytical table to the units of recording, which consist of sentences, paragraphs, and sections of the textbook that discuss contents related to health and disease. This table systematizes eight health indicators, seeking to identify three health approaches: biomedical, behavioral, and socioecological. We found 267 units of recording in the textbook and, based on their analysis, it was possible to categorize the textbook as one in which the biomedical approach prevails. Our findings are consistent with other works that indicate the prevalence of this approach in Brazilian education, and Brazilian and international textbooks. Another important finding of the work is that the behavioral approach does not hold, at least for the analyzed textbook, as a view of health different from the biomedical and socioecological approaches. After all, when the book mentions behaviors and habits of life associated with health, it generally emphasizes biological dimensions, aligning with a biomedical approach, or, more rarely, discusses the need of sociopolitical changes, coming closer to the socioecological approach.

Contact with living animals is an exceptional possibility within biology education to facilitate an intense immersion into the study topic and even allow for a flow experience (Csikszentmihalyi ). Further, it might affect the perceptions of the students' basic needs for autonomy and competence and thereby their quality of motivation (Deci and Ryan , ). Still, there is little empirical evidence about the duration of the exposure with living animals that is required. We investigated the students' flow experience, and the students' motivation, reported retrospectively in three different treatments: lessons involving short-term or long-term contact with living harvest mice and a control group without living animals. Our sample consisted of 156 fifth graders (10.76 years, SD = 0.513). The test instruments were adapted versions of the Flow Short Scale (FSS, Rheinberg et al. ) and of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI, Ryan ). As expected, the control group produced significantly lower scores for both FSS and IMI. In addition, we found a significant difference between students with short-term versus long-term contact. Whereas the flow experience was indistinguishable for all pupils who had contact with living animals, those with long-term experience reported significantly higher intrinsic motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rumen Lyubomirov Doychev's life and professional activities are briefly described. He was admired lecturer for the students, earnest researcher and respected colleague. His teaching and research focused on promising new branches of biology - ecology and ethology, and their application in protecting nature and biological diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of cognitive learning theories, instructional design manipulations have primarily been investigated under tightly controlled laboratory conditions. We carried out two experiments, where the first experiment was conducted in a restricted system-paced setting and is therefore in line with the majority of empirical studies in the learning sciences. However, the second experiment was done in an ecologically more valid classroom setting, with students working at their own pace with the instructional material embedded in a professional hypermedia learning environment. Both dealt with the same topic in the domain of biological education, namely the structure and functioning of the enzyme ATP-Synthase. In both experiments, the educational value of three- versus two-dimensional animations as well as of visual cues was investigated in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Students’ understanding was facilitated by the presence of a 3D-representation format under tightly controlled conditions only. Regarding the ecologically more valid classroom setting, the 2D format tended to foster understanding more efficiently than the 3D format. The implementation of visual cues enhanced the amount students remembered in both experiments. Our results indicate that the results of tightly controlled laboratory conditions may not be easily generalized to naturalistic classroom settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to a century-old tradition in biological thinking, organisms can be considered as being optimally designed. In modern biology this idea still has great heuristic value. In evolutionary biology a so-called design heuristic has been formulated which provides guidance to researchers in the generation of knowledge about biological systems. We developed and tested a teaching/learning method based on this idea. We call this approach 'learning biology by designing' because students develop knowledge about the function and mechanism of biological systems by redesigning them. The three main components of the learning by designing approach are described in this article: (1) the design heuristic; (2) the main characteristics of the teaching-learning process; and (3) guidelines for developing lessons with the desired characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science education is under revision. Recent changes in society require changes in education to respond to new demands. Scientific literacy can be considered a new goal of science education and the epistemological gap between natural sciences and literacy disciplines must be overcome. The history of science is a possible bridge to link these 'two cultures' and to foster an interdisciplinary approach in the classroom. This paper acknowledges Darwin's legacy and proposes the use of cartoons and narrative expositions to put this interesting chapter of science into its historical context. A five-lesson didactic sequence was developed to tell part of the story of Darwin's expedition through South America for students from 10 to 12 years of age. Beyond geological and biological perspectives, the inclusion of historical, social and geographical facts demonstrated the beauty and complexity of the findings that Darwin employed to propose the theory of evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students need tools, thinking skills, to help them think actively and in depth about biological phenomena. They need to know what kind of questions to ask and how to find answers to those questions. In this article we present a toolkit with 12 'thinking tools' for asking and answering questions about biological phenomena from different perspectives. We show how teachers can use the toolkit to design lessons in which students are stimulated to think deeply and from multiple perspectives about biological phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of the Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences is the property of Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences 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.)

Tree thinking is an integral part of modern evolutionary biology, and a necessary precondition for phylogenetics and comparative analyses. Tree thinking has during the 20th century largely replaced group thinking, developmental thinking and anthropocentricism in biology. Unfortunately, however, this does not imply that tree thinking can be taken for granted. The findings reported here indicate that tree thinking is very much an acquired ability which needs extensive training. I tested a sample of undergraduate and graduate students of biology by means of questionnaires. Not a single student was able to correctly interpret a simple tree drawing. Several other findings demonstrate that tree thinking is virtually absent in students unless they are explicitly taught how to read evolutionary trees. Possible causes and implications of this mental bias are discussed. It seems that biological textbooks can be an important source of confusion for students. While group and developmental thinking have disappeared from most textual representations of evolution, they have survived in the evolutionary tree drawings of many textbooks. It is quite common for students to encounter anthropocentric trees and even trees containing stem groups and paraphyla. While these biases originate from the unconscious philosophical assumptions made by authors, the findings suggest that presenting unbiased evolutionary trees in biological publications is not merely a philosophical virtue but has also clear practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The treatment of molecular biology in thirty-four Spanish high school biology textbooks has been analysed using a checklist made up of twenty-three items. The study showed a tendency to confuse the genetic code with genetic information. The treatment of DNA transcription, regulation of gene expression and translation were presented as masses of factual information without necessarily facilitating the acquisition of an understanding of the main concepts. The biological meaning of terms such as 'translation', 'codified proteins' or 'regulation of gene expression' were particularly unclear and poorly related to a wider understanding of cell biology. In conclusion, our data showed the need to improve text books by placing a greater emphasis on the understanding of basic concepts, rather than concentrating on factual detail, and by placing molecular biology in a broader context of cell and whole-organism biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]