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In this industrial revolution era, university-level education emphasises higher-order thinking skills. This research aims to analyse the effect of implementing the PjB-HOTS learning model on cognitive learning, creative thinking skills, analytical thinking skills, and metacognitive skills of the students studying osmoregulation concepts in Animal Physiology courses. The sample consisted of 61 fifth-semester students divided into two classes. An open-ended test was used to measure students' cognitive learning levels, creative thinking skills, analytical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, and metacognitive skills. The research data were analysed using the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results of this research show that the learning model had a significant effect on the cognitive learning gains (0.000< [alpha]= 0.05), creative thinking skill (0.001< [alpha]= 0.05), analytical thinking skill (0.000< [alpha]= 0.05), and metacognitive skill (0.000< [alpha]= 0.05). These results indicate that the combined syntax of PjBL and HOTS can foster students' higher-order thinking skills and improve their cognitive learning gains. We recommend the PjB-HOTS learning model be used for other biological concepts at the university-level.

This study aims to develop a test to measure sixth grade students' success in 'Circulatory System'. For this purpose, a draft test containing 22 questions was prepared by the researchers. And then, the draft test was submitted to expert opinion and examined in terms of language and content. Following expert opinions, the 22 multiple-choice questions were administered to 128 seventh graders attended to two different secondary schools. Item analysis was performed in the data and thus, two questions were removed from the draft test. According to the findings, the overall item difficulty value of the 20-question final test was calculated as 0.654, and the item discrimination value was calculated as 0.54. KR-20 reliability coefficient of the test was 0.71. Seven of the questions are at the remembering level. Additionally, there were eight questions at the understanding level and five questions at the analysis level according to Bloom' revised taxonomy.

Background: Although the reading of science texts has been reported for high school learners, there is not much research on how younger learners engage with expository texts and how they develop academic language skills. In the instance of this study, the topic came from the curriculum content about animal reproduction. Aim: The study from which this article emanated aimed to explore how a sample of learners engaged with a short text, which required cohesive reading and some background knowledge and vocabulary. Setting: This study was conducted in a suburban school where the learners use English as a second language. Methods: A sample (n = 25) was randomly selected from five Grade 4 classes. Their reading comprehension of a custom-designed test was assessed, along with their writing competence in their responses to content questions as well as their drawings. The data were analysed in a typical content analysis modality. Results: This study showed that the learners do not apply inferencing skills and do not read cohesively across sentences and paragraphs and that their vocabulary and prior knowledge of animal reproduction is limited. Conclusion: The urgent need for the development of academic language skills in the early grades is foregrounded in this article, arguing that it can be infused in subjects across the curriculum of the early grades. Contribution: The task can be used by teachers and by researchers who may wish to replicate the study.

As the trend for English as a medium of instruction (EMI) increases, teacher self-efficacy to teach the contents of their teaching materials in an EMI context has become one of the major challenges. This study investigated the self-efficacy of Indonesian non-ELT pre-service teachers to teach in an EMI context. Two Indonesian non-ELT pre-service teachers, in charge of teaching biology and chemistry in English, in a secondary school in Thailand were interviewed to gain an indepth information about their experiences. The data from their teaching reflections and interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The study shows that both participants perceived that their self-efficacy to teach in EMI context was quite high despite various obstacles during their teaching practicum. Furthermore, four sources of efficacy information appeared to influence the Indonesian non-ELT pre-service teachers' self-efficacy to teach in the Thailand EMI context. Mastery experience (the personal experience of success) was the most influential source of efficacy information, followed by the other instances of self-efficacy sources including social persuasion, emotional state, and vicarious experience. The implication derived from this study is that the teacher training institutions in Indonesia need to facilitate the pre-service teachers to help them perceive their self-efficacy to teach in EMI context.

As a result of human beings' activities to dominate nature and transform it for their own benefit as they continue to advance in science and technology, environmental problems such as climate change have become the biggest threat faced by the biosphere in the current century. One of the biggest problems of humanity today is the scarcity of water resources. It is important to reveal the meanings attributed to the concept of water in biology textbooks in order to identify and eliminate the deficiencies or gaps between the concepts related to the subject. The main purpose of this study is to analyze how the concept of water is presented in secondary school biology textbooks. In line with this purpose, answers to the following questions were sought: What biological concepts is water associated with in biology textbooks and how often is it used? Under which categories can the concept of water be classified in biology textbooks? In the study, document analysis was conducted on four biology textbooks published by the Ministry of National Education to be taught in high schools in the 2023-2024 academic year. A qualitative methodology based on inductive logic was used to analyze the data. How water is emphasized in biology textbooks was discussed, and categories were developed to conceptualize explanations about water. These categories were: water as a substance in the structure of organisms, water as a habitat for organisms, water as a substance involved in chemical reactions, water as a human health factor, water as an essential requirement for organisms, water as an environmental problem factor and water as a scarcity factor. According to the results of the textbook content analysis, it was seen that the relationships between water and health concepts in the category of water as a human health factor were well structured. In the study, it was seen that the concept of water was presented in accordance with the target achievements in line with the secondary school biology course curriculum and that the key concepts were given literally. However, it was revealed that the concept of water in textbooks should be structured according to the principles of the systems thinking approach.

Genetics concepts is taught at secondary school to equip students with relevant knowledge to engage with related socio-scientific issues in order to make a reasonable decision. However, earlier research shown that students exhibited poor comprehension of this concept. Despite several interventions, this problem persists. This study was designed to examine senior school students' conceptual understanding, perceptions and misconceptions about genetics concepts as well as the causes of the misconceptions identified. The mixed methods design was adopted, while 789 students participated. Five instruments were used, while data collected were descriptively and content analyzed. The results revealed that 21.4% of the students understood genetics concepts, 27.6% did not, while 51.0% had misconceptions. Students had negative perception of genetics concepts ([x-bar] =2.47) and genetics contents indicator was the major causes of students' misconceptions ([x-bar] =2.92) against the 2.50 threshold. The teaching and learning of genetics concepts should be supported with relevant instructional materials and detailed textbooks.

Classifying, naming, and identifying insects have been complicated topics among science teachers and students. This problem is due to the highly technical collection protocols, safekeeping procedures, the unavailability of appropriate learning resources, and the closure of school laboratories and facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the remote learning setup, this study utilized Improvised Insect Traps (IITs) to provide an authentic learning experience in teaching and learning insect taxonomy at home. The study aimed to determine the effects of using IITs on students' self-efficacy beliefs and perceived levels of engagement. In this quasi-experimental study, 42 students designed and developed their improvised insect traps. Insect collection and classification were accomplished within four weeks. A 20-item validated survey questionnaire on self-efficacy and engagement levels was administered via Google Forms. Students' feedback was gathered using virtual focus group discussions and open-ended questions. Results revealed that IITs effectively improved students' self-efficacy beliefs (Z=0.033, p-value=0.022, g=0.68), while no improvement was noted in students' perceived levels of engagement (Z=0.143, p-value=0.188, g=0.07) in teaching and learning insect taxonomy. Moreover, students' feedback and responses were classified as Affordances or Constraints. Subthemes such as motivation, satisfaction, authentic learning, safety, and parental involvement were generated in the thematic analysis. Overall, this study found that the IITs activity is relevant in teaching insect taxonomy and delivering practical learning experiences among students in a distance learning modality.

Many research institutions and funders have recently stated their commitment to actively support and promote 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) in various aspects of health research including Patient and Public Involvement (PPI). However, translating this commitment into specific research projects presents significant challenges that existing approaches, practical guidelines and initiatives have not adequately addressed. In this paper, we explore how the lack of clear justifications for the EDI commitment in existing guidelines inadvertently complicates the work of those involved with PPI and we stress the need for conceptual clarity for any EDI effort to yield meaningful results. Our focus centres on the first principle of the EDI discourse, 'equality', particularly in the form of 'equality of opportunity' as outlined in current guidance provided by the National Institute of Health Research in the United Kingdom. We examine challenges related to justifying and implementing a general, unspecified commitment to equality of opportunity and explain that this reflects a lack of consensus regarding the moral value of PPI in research -- a profound problem that remains unaddressed. We then discuss how the presence of several opposing moral perspectives on PPI, makes determining the most appropriate way of addressing barriers to involvement complex and controversial, raising ethical implications for the work of health researchers, PPI specialists and coordinators. Finally we make suggestions on how future research can enrich the concept of 'equality of opportunity' in PPI and improve practice. While our primary focus is on the NIHR, a strong advocate of PPI in research, this analysis will point to normative and ethical considerations that may be relevant to other research institutions and funding organisations aiming to promote equality of opportunity in their public and patient involvement strategies.

Prior research suggests most students do not glean valid cues from provided visuals, resulting in reduced metacomprehension accuracy. Across 4 experiments, we explored how the presence of instructional visuals affects students' metacomprehension accuracy and cue-use for different types of metacognitive judgments. Undergraduates read texts on biology (Study 1a and b) or chemistry (Study 2 and 3) topics, made various judgments (test, explain, and draw) for each text, and completed comprehension tests. Students were randomly assigned to receive only texts (text-only condition) or texts with instructional visualizations (text-and-image condition). In Studies 1b, 2 and 3, students also reported the cues they used to make each judgment. Across the set of studies, instructional visualizations harmed relative metacomprehension accuracy. In Studies 1a and 2, this was especially the case when students were asked to judge how well they felt they could draw the processes described in the text. But in Study 3, this was especially the case when students were asked to judge how well they would do on a set of comprehension tests. In Studies 2 and 3, students who reported basing their judgments on representation-based cues demonstrated more accurate relative accuracy than students who reported using heuristic based cues. Further, across these studies, students reported using visual cues to make their draw judgments, but not their test or explain judgments. Taken together, these results indicate that instructional visualizations can hinder metacognitive judgment accuracy, particularly by influencing the types of cues students use to make judgments of their ability to draw key concepts.

In the past, students' participation in science competitions has been positively associated with their aspirations to pursue a career in science. Previous studies, however, were predominantly focused around successful competitors, overlooking the largest group of participants: those who are faced with early elimination. We therefore aimed to investigate the effects of elimination on the development of biology-related study and career task values and expectancy of success in first-round participants of the German Biology Olympiad (N = 381, mean age 16.5 years, 72% female). This study was the first of its kind to use a latent change score model approach to examine the effects of early elimination, with a particular focus on participants who placed great emphasis on succeeding in the competition. We found that, regardless of success or failure, participants' biology-related study and career task value remained stable from the first to the second round of the competition, while their expectancy of success in biology-related studies and career developed positively. Yet, for those participants who placed great importance on advancing in the competition, early elimination interfered with the development of study and career expectations, resulting in a weaker development. The outcomes of this study suggest that (1) science competitions should re-envision themselves to more directly address participants' values about studies and careers, especially in earlier competition rounds, and (2) science competitions should find innovative ways to provide detailed feedback to students and teachers to improve post-elimination performance. Our findings complement existing expectancy-value research and can serve as a starting point for future studies exploring mechanisms behind early elimination in different science domains and cultural contexts, providing empirical insight into creating an inclusive and supportive environment for all science competition competitors.

This research probed the perceptions of secondary school science teachers concerning the objective and utility of assessment, exploring the influences of gender, teaching experience, and specific science subject components. A total of 100 secondary school teachers from Selangor participated in the study, completing the Teacher's Conception of Assessment (TCoA) online questionnaire. This instrument comprised 27 statements categorized into four key aspects: Improvement, Irrelevance, School Accountability, and Student Accountability. Interestingly, the data revealed that the highest mean score was attributed to the irrelevance of assessments (M=4.44; SD=0.86), followed by assessment for improvement (M=4.21; SD=0.95), student accountability (M=4.18; SD=1.32), and lastly, school accountability (M=4.15; SD=1.44). A closer examination of the data pointed towards significant gender-based differences in teachers' perceptions of institutional accountability and educational enhancement through assessments, with female and male teachers scoring higher in these respective areas. However, the length of teaching experience did not appear to significantly affect the teachers' perceptions across any of the assessed parameters. There were noteworthy differences in teachers' perceptions of student accountability in assessments when evaluated based on the subject taught, with Biology teachers reporting higher mean scores as compared to Chemistry and Physics teachers. Additionally, teachers' perceptions regarding the improvement role of assessments and their irrelevance differed significantly across subjects, with general science teachers attaining higher mean scores than Chemistry, Biology, and Physics teachers. The findings of this study shed light on teachers' understanding of assessment, particularly in the field of Science, and serve as a valuable resource for all educational stakeholders. By understanding teachers' perceptions, policymakers and school administrators can make informed decisions that would potentially enhance teaching and learning processes.

This study has three aims: (1) test the effectiveness of using an ebook based on the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) Task to empower critical explanatory ability; (2) examine the influence of problem-solving style differences on critical explanatory ability; and (3) assess the interaction between the use of CLA Task-based Ebooks and problem-solving styles on critical explanatory ability. This study used a quasi-experimental design and 4×3 factorial design. The instrument was an essay test and Problem Solving Style Questionnaire (PSSQ). ANCOVA was used for data analysis (p = 0.05). This study concludes that: (1) CLA Task-based ebooks are more effective at empowering critical explanatory capabilities than PowerPoint-based CLA Tasks and PowerPoint-based conventional media; (2) Students with the problem-solving Assimilator type have a higher critical explanatory ability value than Diverger, Converger, and Accommodator types; and (3) The interaction between students who use CLA Task-based Ebook media with the problem-solving style Assimilator type has a higher average value of critical explanatory ability than other combinations.

This article examines the possibilities and limits of strategies directed toward racialized healing amidst declarations of pandemics and legislative attacks on public school teachers. We question what these strategies take as a self-evident truth: that race and racism can be conceptualized in terms of health and transparently addressed through research and practice focused on racialized healing. To complicate this assertion, we locate the strategies within a race-health nexus, a form of biopower. This nexus establishes norms, categories, and classifications that justify ranking and comparing, dividing and differentially intervening on some in the name of the health and wellbeing of all. We historicize how this nexus became integral to schooling in the United States in the 19th century, normalizing populations according to civilizational values that doubled as health standards. We argue that this nexus makes possible biopolitical strategies of "tailoring treatments" and "cultivating potential" that continue to undergird health and healing strategies in educational research and pedagogical practice today, thereby reconfiguring, rather than overturning, hierarchies of human difference. The analysis demonstrates that racialized healing strategies provide no ontological guarantee for reducing racialized harm. Instead, such efforts must be reflexively situated within the interplay of biology, coloniality, and education that makes "healing" seem necessary and urgent in the first place.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak mandated a rapid transition to online classes with little warning. Previous literature studying the effects of this sudden shift demonstrated enormous impacts on instructors and students. However, the details concerning science instructor assessment choices during this time are less clear. We asked biology instructors to reflect on the changes they made to their assessments of student learning during the emergency transition to remote instruction in spring 2020 and whether the potential changes were motivated by equity concerns. We also asked instructors to describe the assessment changes they intended to keep in future semesters. Through quantitative and qualitative analyses, we found that instructors removed forms of assessment more often than they added them, and the most common changes included how instructors administered exams and engaged students through participation. Instructors reported that equity concerns motivated their decision-making, particularly their concern over students' ability to access learning resources. Instructors indicated they would keep many of the changes they made in response to the shift to online learning. Our research shows that the pandemic dramatically altered how instructors assessed students in biology, but equity-based decisions leading to lasting change may be one positive outcome for future students.

Traditional exam reviews are passive and face many challenges to prepare students for exams. In this study, we proposed the Tab-Meta Key model, which emphasizes five major factors (time, accountability, big picture, key concepts, and metacognition) and is supported by prior literature. We also designed an exam review based on this model. This exam review is scientifically optimized regarding review contents, activity design, time management, and synergistic effects among different pedagogies. We also evaluated the effectiveness of the Tab-Meta Key-based exam review in Introductory Biology I. Our results demonstrated statistically significant improvement on students' academic performances as well as positive student perceptions. The Tab-Meta Key model proposed in this study can be implemented in other STEM courses.

There is a growing need for college science faculty to teach a diverse group of learners. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework can be used to create inclusive learning materials and activities in the higher education science classroom. A UDL Academy introduced science faculty to the UDL framework, which led to them implementing UDL in their classes. A chemistry and physics professor and an environmental science and biology professor participated in the UDL Academy during summer 2021 and implemented UDL in at least one course during the fall 2021 semester. They share their perspectives on the UDL implementations and implications for college science teaching.

Teachers' reflections on their practice are a powerful tool for measuring and supporting their professional knowledge. Pedagogical content knowledge is one of the most influential domains of teacher professional knowledge. This multiple-case study investigated the topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) components that Zambian secondary school science teachers integrate when reflecting on biology lessons. Three teachers from the same school were observed teaching a biology lesson and attended post-observation interviews. Data were mainly collected through lesson plans, lesson observation field notes and post-observation interviews. The data were analysed using in-depth analysis of explicit TSPCK, enumerative and constant comparative approaches. TSPCK maps were constructed to illustrate each teachers' integration of TSPCK components. The results revealed four features about the integration of TSPCK components: (a) None of the teachers depended solely on a single TSPCK component as they integrated other components (b) The components curricular saliency, students' prior knowledge and misconceptions, and conceptual teaching strategies were central in the TSPCK maps of all the teachers, while representations and analogies, and what make the topic easy/difficult to teach/learn were least integrated (c) All teachers had different pairs of reciprocal connections among TSPCK components, and (d) All teachers had different pairs of most integrated components. The implications of these findings for science and teacher education research were presented and discussed. It was concluded that teachers' reflections revealed the integration between TSPCK components and showed them differently. The study recommends investigating teachers' reflections over several lessons and tracking any changes in their TSPCK integration.

Contribution: This article applies science capital research to computing education in order to understand why students engage with a programme involving computing, and what they aspire to get out of their education. Background: Capital is a concept which has been used in educational research to study inequality, aspiration and achievement. Previous work has looked at capital in science education, but misses out on discipline-specific capital. This article applies science capital research to the field of computing education, providing insight into students' views and dispositions of computing, their confidence and knowledge, and other factors which are important for understanding student engagement with the subject. Research Questions: How can science capital research be adapted to computing education? Further to this, what insights can be generated from such a methodology? Methodology: Inspired by the concept of science capital, a survey has been developed and tested among 29 bioinformatics students with a biology background. These students were selected since they recently switched to a programme involving computing, allowing them to reflect on their motivation, aspirations, and outcome expectations. Informed by the initial results, a follow-up interview was designed, and ten students participated. Findings: Science capital research proves useful for studying factors underlying participation in computing. Students in this study are driven by career opportunities, as well as positive beliefs and values when it comes to computing, while perceiving barriers such as low levels of computing confidence, and a gap between their skills and future careers. In addition, gender differences among survey results were observed (p = 0.002).

Transdisciplinary learning--where students develop and apply knowledge from multiple disciplines to solve open-ended problems--is necessary to prepare students for the most pressing real-world problems. Because transdisciplinary education often requires reimagining the content and design of undergraduate science courses, it can be a challenge for instructors to envision how such work might take place. In this article, we share an example of an undergraduate course developed at the intersection of animal sensory biology and robotics engineering. Students in the course developed knowledge from both disciplines to design a robot that could mimic the sensory behaviors of some animals to achieve a predetermined task. We share examples of students' work in the course and evidence of how students' perceptions of science and engineering changed throughout their participation in the course. Additionally, we describe how we adapted a hybrid model of collaboration that made it feasible for students to work together on an open-ended project requiring access to robotics equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This course can serve as a model for instructors working to incorporate more interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary perspectives into existing science courses.

Active learning provides students with meaningful and introspective roles in education. However, active learning is difficult to achieve in online class settings, particularly for biology laboratories initially designed to offer direct interactions with live organisms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a transition to online learning was required in higher education institutions, creating challenges and opportunities to reform and rethink teaching practices. In this article, we report our success in designing and implementing an at-home lab for an undergraduate invertebrate biology course. The objective was for students to learn about cnidarian photosymbiosis in a 3-week experiment using live anemones. Additionally, we tested if learning outcomes are improved when adding a learning-by-teaching experience. We divided the 19 participating students into two groups, where half created videos to teach their experiment to a hypothetical high school audience and half made video reports for their instructors. We observed that the teaching group showed better topic comprehension than the reporting group. Overall, students responded positively to this online learning experience and expressed an increased understanding of cnidarian photosymbiosis. We provide recommendations for implementing this lab with greater success and at larger scales. We argue that adding teaching scenarios in remote learning can benefit students' overall knowledge comprehension.

The science education community is deeply invested in growing the next generation of scientists. One way to do this is through evidence-based interventions that support the motivation and performance of students in introductory classes. The literature is replete with interdisciplinary research presenting such interventions. Unfortunately, the process of developing and evaluating pedagogical practices is not the same as the process required to scale those efforts into actual university classrooms. Efforts to spread the word about successful practices often move slowly, through relatively small personal and professional networks. We present a complementary proactive strategy designed to raise awareness of one exemplar intervention across a broad swath of U.S. biology faculty. Our 30-minute anonymous engagement (in three 10-minute asynchronous virtual sessions) resulted in this particular intervention being adopted in some form by more than 4 in 10 faculty who learned about it, reaching an estimated 7,500 students across the United States. We describe the three phases of our intervention adoption process, each informed by social psychology theories of persuasion and decision-making, and provide a detailed guide and ready-to-use resources to replicate the process using other evidence-based interventions ready for scale.

Postsecondary science faculty face challenges in balancing the engagement of undergraduates and concomitantly ensuring they gain and retain knowledge, either in standard lectures or labs as well as in outdoor activities. Designing on-campus trails with interpretive signs may provide a unique avenue to inform students across majors of local biodiversity and tie in concepts related to ecology, organismal biology, and conservation. In this article, we evaluate the efficacy of course-specific interpretive signs deployed around a small on-campus natural area to engage first-year students. We assessed students' overall engagement level and retention of information conveyed across specific signs via a student-guided nature walk where students examined signs and answered both a pre- and post-activity survey, rated their favorite sign, and provided a short reflection on this outdoor activity. Students' responses indicated that they retained general information on specific signs, most notably regarding reptiles and what types of mammals are found around campus. Overall, students rated this activity as engaging, with 87.7% combined agreeing or strongly agreeing that signs helped them learn about the biodiversity and ecosystems on campus.

Learning to plan modeling-based investigations (MBIs) presents significant challenges for pre-service elementary teachers. Although they understand disciplinary core ideas and modeling practices, they address both as competing learning goals and, as novices, they have not experienced how to structure MBIs for their future students. In the context of a science teacher education course, we have designed a set of pedagogical supports around a biology-specific epistemic tool to help pre-service elementary teachers meet those challenges. This study builds the case of how a group of four pre-service elementary teachers learns to plan MBIs while working with the designed supports. We use the professional vision as a theoretical and analytical framework to characterize the group's learning through discourses to build shared professional understandings of planning MBIs around biology core ideas. Analysis focused on their highlighting and coding of relevant aspects of disciplinary core ideas, modeling, and structuring MBIs, as well as their creation and use of material representations. The findings illustrate that: a) epistemic negotiation supports the group in integrating biology core ideas and modeling practices when developing explanatory models, and b) pedagogical negotiation, through the de-construction of those explanatory models, supports the group structuring of a MBI, including a natural phenomenon and questions students can investigate in a coherent sequence. We discuss how a biology-specific epistemic tool embedded in pedagogical supports helps pre-service teachers learn to plan MBIs by facilitating both epistemic and pedagogical negotiations.

This study investigated the effects of two types of oral explanations (ie, self-explanation vs. instructional explanation) and drawing activity (no drawing vs. drawing) on video learning outcomes. These outcomes were measured by visual attention to the video (indexed by fixation time on text and diagram areas), explanation quality (indexed by personal references, concepts, and elaborations), drawing quality, behaviour patterns and overall learning performance gain. A total of 116 undergraduate and graduate students watched a 4-min video on the human body's respiratory system. They were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (explanation generation: self-explanation vs. instructional explanation × drawing activity: no drawing vs. drawing). Results indicated that without a drawing requirement, students in the self-explanation condition displayed fewer personal references and exhibited a lower learning performance gain than those in the instructional explanation condition. Conversely, when drawing was required, self-explanation students demonstrated higher drawing quality and better learning performance gain. Additionally, students in the drawing condition directed more attention to the diagram area than those in the no drawing condition. These findings suggest that in video learning (1) educators should encourage students to produce oral instructional explanations and (2) if the goal is for students to generate self-explanations, they should also be prompted to draw to bolster their self-explanation efforts.

This study investigated the effectiveness of visual training or verbal training on how to use a text-picture processing strategy for learning from computer-based multimedia instructional material. Sixty-nine university students were randomly assigned to the verbal training group (students received text-based instruction for a text-picture processing strategy), the visual training group (students observed a video depicting an expert's eye fixations while using a text-picture processing strategy for an initial portion of a multimedia lesson) or the control group (students did not receive any instruction). During reading a multimedia lesson on biology, students' eye movements were tracked; and after the lesson, students took a posttest. Concerning learning outcomes, both visual and verbal training helped students perform better than the control group on a recall test and the verbal training group perform better on a transfer test. Concerning learning processes, both visual and verbal training caused students to attend less to on-screen text and more to on-screen pictures as compared to the control group. Mediation analysis showed that increased attention to pictures was a mediator for better learning outcomes. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Formative assessment is essential for improving teaching and learning, and AI and visualization techniques provide great potential for its design and delivery. Using NLP, cognitive diagnostic and visualization techniques designed to analyse and present students' monthly exam data, we developed an AI-enabled visual report tool comprising six modules and conducted an empirical study of its effectiveness in a high school biology classroom. A total of 125 students in a ninth-grade biology course were assigned to a treatment group (n = 63) receiving AI-enabled visual reports as the intervention and a control group (n = 62) receiving overall oral feedback from the teacher. We present the main statistical results of the within-subjects design and the between-subjects design respectively, to better capture the main findings. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant interaction effect of intervention and time on learning achievement, and the paired-sample Wilcoxon test indicated that the treatment group had experienced increasing learning anxiety (Cohen's d = 0.203, p = 0.046) and self-efficacy (Cohen's d = 1.793, p = 0.000) over time. Moreover, we conducted a series of non-parametric tests to compare the effects of AI-enabled visual reports and teacher feedback, but found no significant differences except for an increased self-efficacy (Cohen's d = 0.312, p = 0.046). Additionally, we had the students in the treatment group rate their favourable modules in the AI-enabled visual report and provide evaluative feedback. The study results provide important insights into the design and implementation of effective formative assessment supported by artificial AI and visualization techniques.

Providing hands-on practical education without access to laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic has required creativity and innovation. In this paper, co-authored by academic staff and students, we describe an at-home mobile phone-based 'spectrophotometer' experiment used in an introductory undergraduate biology course. Using colour picker apps, a smartphone can be used to quantify concentration, which was used to compare the strengths of different brands of tea. The protocol is designed to be low-cost and safe to perform outside of a laboratory. Students used the methods to learn important biochemical methods such as preparing dilutions, constructing calibration curves, normalising data and testing a hypothesis. We reflect on the experience of developing and using the protocol from a staff and student perspective, which highlights the advantages of this approach in terms of student independence and inclusivity. We also suggest alternative experiments that could be performed using the protocol. We encourage biology educators to think creatively about the possibilities for using mobile phones or at-home experiments in their teaching. Our experience suggests that at-home experiments like this protocol will have value even after the pandemic is over, particularly in terms of inclusivity.

Virtual field trips are transforming education in biology and other place-based disciplines -- and not just since COVID-19 has imposed social distancing constraints. Efficient methods for content creation, combined with affordable immersive technology, provide the opportunity to integrate immersive experiences into ever-larger classes. However, many aspects of how immersive experiences can enrich and improve learning in place-based education are still not well understood. We present an empirical study, conducted in a large undergraduate ecology class, comparing students, that experienced an immersive virtual version of a field trip to a biological preserve as preparation for a later actual field trip to the site, with a control group that visited the real site but without having had the virtual experience. Within the virtual experience group, we also varied the quality of the headset. The VR field trip was well received for raising spatial awareness and also motivation and interest. Students ranked it higher than any traditional means with regard to achieving a high level of preparedness for the actual field trip. In contrast, no statistically significant evidence was found for differences in perceived learning outcome and enjoyment of the actual field trip.

It is a controversial issue in education that students perform dissection experiments. Different opinions have been noted in studies on this subject, and various applications are recommended according to education levels. This case study aimed to determine pre-service science teachers' views of hands-on dissection and virtual dissection. The study group consisted of 36 students, 29 female, and seven male. An open-ended question form and student diaries were used as data collection tools. The implementation started with observing the chicken embryo development process that the students actively carried out. Then, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the frog dissection experiment was conducted as a virtual dissection. The content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. According to the findings, the observations made during the chicken embryo development process emerged negatively due to ethical and moral concerns as the development process progressed. The frog dissection experiment applied in the virtual environment was accepted by the majority of the pre-service teachers who stated that they would prefer virtual dissection tools.

The purpose of the current study is to qualitatively explore how Thai preservice biology teachers make decisions on, and informally reason about, an agriculture-based socioscientific issue (SSI). The SSI arises mainly as a controversy between two social classes, namely the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, involving haze pollution. Participants comprised 45 fourth-year preservice biology teachers (11 males and 34 females) almost equally divided between the two sectors. They completed a written questionnaire asking for the level of their concern, their reasons for concern, and their positions regarding a solution to haze pollution -- that is, the banning of agricultural burning. Data were inductively analysed using an iterative process of coding and categorising. The results suggest that, while they shared the main concerns about health and the environment, the participants from different sectors tended to approach the issue differently. While this difference must be confirmed with a larger population, it supports the hypothesis that socio-professional identities play a role in the process of decision-making and reasoning regarding SSIs. It is recommended that the socio-professional identities of those engaging in SSIs should be explicitly considered in the context of SSI-based instruction.

The aim of this study is to design various instructional materials to teach biological systems in a 'Systems in Our Body' unit to 6th grade students with visual impairment (SVI) and to evaluate the effectiveness of these materials. In the study, a design-based research model was used. In the first stage, individual learning needs of SVI and their understanding of biological structures in the 'Systems in Our Body' unit were determined. In the second stage, instructional materials matching the individual needs were designed and implemented. In the last stage, the usefulness of these materials and their effects on learning were explored. As a result of the study, it was seen that designed instructional materials made positive contributions to students' learning and understanding.

Gamifying is related to the motivational gain and engagement of participants in these systems, even in situations not exclusively related to the creative and entertainment industry. In the Biology teaching context, motivational strategies have fundamental importance to the learning process. The aim of this work was to investigate the development and application of gamified systems, mainly board games, in Biology teaching. Through a systematic review, 39 scientific studies published in the Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were identified and categorised. As a result, an increased distribution of publications under this focus was observed over the analysed period. The main benefits attributed to the use of board games as a teaching-learning tool were: low cost and accessibility; wide applicability and flexibility; overcoming of communicative and cognitive barriers; improved motivation, engagement and learning; and stimulus of new experiences and skills. This study suggests that board games are a promising strategy to be used in the process of teaching-learning Biology, although some limitations can be reported.

This paper explores the extent to which Biology syllabi are open to students' engagement with and acquisition of critical thinking skills in Tanzania's developing country context. It focuses on the Biology syllabus of Ordinary-level secondary education and that of Advanced-level secondary education. The paper reports the findings of a study whose primary objective was to explore the coherence of the two syllabi under review with the elements of critical thinking skills drawn from extant literature. The analysis also entailed exploring the coherence between the specific objectives of the syllabi linked with critical thinking skills and the assessment questions suggested. The study used the Atlas TI programme to analyse the data to achieve the research objectives. The findings revealed that the specific objectives in the syllabi under review focus mostly on lower order thinking (LOT) skills, according to Bloom's taxonomy of learning, rather than on higher order or critical thinking skills.

Many students majoring in biology education at university find genetics as a quite complicated and difficult subject. A reflective journal has been used widely in teacher education to improve students' performance. This study aims to describe the role of the reflective journals for biology education students ina genetics course. The subjects in this research were 53 students of biology education at a private university in Indonesia who were pursuing their third year of education. The data were collected from the Likert scale questionnaire, students' reflective journals, and online feedback sheet. The result showed that the reflective journals had roles for biology education students when learning genetics, namely concept understanding, attitudes and values, and learning experiences. The benefit of reflective journals in students' attitudes and values achieved the highest average value based on the Likert scale questionnaire with very high interpretation criteria in all item statements. Most students gave positive comments about the reflective journal activity and proposed to apply it in another course. Some students also provided suggestions about the technical implementation and time duration. The reflective journals activity benefits the students, as well as helping the lecturer to evaluate the learning process in the genetics course.

Change theory has increasingly become an area of scholarship in STEM education. While this area has traditionally been a topic for organizational psychology, business management, communication studies, and higher education, STEM education researchers are increasingly aware of the need to use formal theories to guide change efforts and research. Formal change theory encompasses our current research-based knowledge about how and why change occurs, and therefore, can guide the selection and design of promising interventions. Yet learning about and using theory is challenging because many of us have no formal training in this area and relevant scholarship comes from many different disciplines. Inconsistent terminology creates an additional barrier. Thus, this essay aims to contribute to a common lexicon in STEM higher educational change efforts by clearly distinguishing between formalized change theory, which emerges from research, and a theory of change, which guides the logic of a specific project. We also briefly review the current state of the field regarding the use of formal change theory and provide examples of how change theory has been used in biology education. Lastly, we offer practical guidance for researchers and change agents who wish to more intentionally and effectively use change theory in their work.

We developed an advanced, year-long course sequence in eukaryotic cell and molecular biology in order to increase conceptual understanding. Three years of historical data from a one semester, traditional-lecture, senior cell and molecular biology course (n = 237) were compared with 3 years of data collected from the year-long course sequence (n = 176). There were significant content gains for the students who enrolled in the course sequence when pre- and post-assessments were compared (p < 0.0001). There was an association between earning a C or better in the course sequence and 70% or higher in the post-assessment instrument (p < 0.05). Final course grades for Bio 135A were calculated from three open ended exams and the percentage of correct answers on the clicker questions. For Bio135B, final grades were calculated from three open ended exams, clicker responses, a seven-page literature review on an environmental carcinogen and its effects on signal transduction pathways, and a formal presentation of one of the research articles they used in the literature review. The students who took the second semester of the course passed at higher rates than the students who enrolled in the traditional-lecture course (p < 0.05). Clicker answers to the research problem sets and the final course grades correlated significantly for both semesters of the course sequence (p < 0.01). We conclude that conceptually-connected learning gains can be obtained when the content is taught in a format that includes short lectures and group work to solve research questions.

Asynchronous online learning has grown in popularity due to its flexibility in providing higher education access to learners regardless of distance, transportation, and scheduling constraints. However, for successful online learning, students must adapt and intensify the self-regulated learning (SRL) skills they developed in face-to-face settings to the context of the online learning environment. SRL is the process by which students plan, complete learning activities, and evaluate their independent knowledge-building practice. Studies have associated higher education retention with SRL, suggesting the need for SRL-supportive features in online courses. However, current literature lacks universally applicable instructional design interventions to foster learners' SRL skills across disciplines. This study uses qualitative methods to investigate student perceptions of a reflective SRL intervention in an online biology course in a United States community college. The intervention included weekly self-reflection and post-exam goal-setting prompts followed by instructor feedback. Textual analysis of student reflections confirmed students' enactment of SRL during the intervention. Additionally, surveys and email interviews showed that students viewed the reflective intervention as a communication strategy and a means of receiving support from their instructor. This finding provided insight into the impact of the intervention on transactional distance. This study recommends reflective prompts as a beneficial practice in online courses and proposes further research to better understand the benefits of reflection on the learning process across educational disciplines. The easy-to-implement intervention is described for the consideration of other practitioners.

Sex/gender is an interesting phenomenon in biological and social sciences. It is characterised by constant redefinitions and conflicts as knowledge increases and social norms change. To understand the change in sex/gender representations in biology education, we analysed Finnish secondary school human biology textbooks from the 1990s until the most recent books. We classified the depictions of sex/gender differences and their explanations in texts and illustrations. We also composed stereotypes of men and women and calculated the number of feminine and masculine words. Contrary to previous studies, this study shows that feminine words were more numerous due to reproduction being closely linked to the word 'mother'. Biology textbooks mostly outline biological sex differences and explain them with hormones. While we found fewer sex/gender stereotypes and inclusion of sex/gender diversity in the recent textbooks, there was a decreasing trend on discussing sex/gender. These changes can partly be explained by curricular changes and the emergence of an additional subject, health studies, which has led to emphasising binary biological sex/gender in biology. We suggest that our results shine a light on a process where 'queer' is partially included in hegemony but which does not question the hegemony through critical discussion and scientific knowledge.