This short paper presents an educational approach to teaching three popular methods for encoding DNA sequences: one-hot encoding, binary encoding, and integer encoding. Aimed at bioinformatics and computational biology students, our learning intervention focuses on developing practical skills in implementing these essential techniques for…

Enzymes are nature's catalysts, mediating chemical processes in living systems. The study of enzyme function and mechanism includes defining the maximum catalytic rate and affinity for substrate/s (among other factors), referred to as enzyme kinetics. Enzyme kinetics is a staple of biochemistry curricula and other disciplines, from molecular and…

The education science (or pedagogy based on scientific principles) of the learning of spectroscopy analysis in terms of critical thinking was examined in a community college setting with high school outreach and senor college transfer students enrolling in courses and/or projects. The most important discovery of science in the 20th Century was the…

There is a growing need for chemistry students to be able to handle and manipulate large datasets and analyze them in an efficient and accessible way. This creates the need to develop course materials that introduce these topics early in the undergraduate curriculum. To address this growing need, this activity introduced RStudio to students…

When learning about scientific phenomena, students are expected to "mechanistically" explain how underlying interactions produce the observable phenomenon and "conceptually" connect the observed phenomenon to canonical scientific knowledge. This paper investigates how the integration of the complementary processes of designing…

We review analytic frameworks related to the study of noticing in mathematics and science education for the purpose of suggesting trends in research literature across both disciplines over time. We focus on highly cited articles in both mathematics and science noticing research, along with recent articles in both disciplines. We focus specifically…

Technological tools, like virtual assistants (aka chatbots), have been ubiquitous in people's day to day. The challenge becomes how educators leverage digital omnipresence to benefit the learning environment. Using a curated chatbot allows educators to reach more students with instructor-approved information, particularly in large classrooms.…

Course-based undergraduate experiences (CUREs) have been employed to enhance students' content knowledge, self-efficacy, science identity, and enrollment in postgraduate programs. In this study, we used it as a science communication skills enhancement tool. The CURE-Comm Framework was implemented to integrate science communication into a CURE in…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now affecting all aspects of our social lives. Without always knowing it, we interact daily with intelligent systems. They serve us invisibly. At least that is the goal we assign to them: to make our lives better, task by task. Artificial intelligence has the potential to make biology education more engaging,…

Within the eukaryotic cell, the actin cytoskeleton is a crucial structural framework that maintains cellular form, regulates cell movement and division, and facilitates the internal transportation of proteins and organelles. External cues induce alterations in the actin cytoskeleton primarily through the activation of Rho GTPases, which then bind…

This paper presents an innovative teaching approach that integrates photoelectric technology with analytical chemistry instruction through inquiry-based learning (IBL), using cerium as a selected analyte. With the advancement of science and technology, a strong foundation of basic knowledge and methodologies is crucial in analytical chemistry…

This study was grounded in the spatial computational thinking model developed by the "3D Weather" project funded by the NSF STEM+C program. The model reflects a discipline-based perspective towards computational thinking and captures the spatial nature of computational thinking in meteorology and the reliance of computational thinking on…

We created a 2-week, dual-module summer course introducing high school students to environmental toxicology by teaching them quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) as a way to quantify gene expression of chemical defense proteins in response to exposure to environmental pollutants. During the course, students are guided through the various…

Energy is a central concept across the sciences and an important goal of science education is to support all students so that they develop a full understanding of the energy concept. However, given the abstract and complex nature of the energy concept, only a few students develop an understanding so that they can use energy ideas to make sense of…

As computational methods are widely used in science disciplines, integrating computational thinking (CT) into classroom materials can create authentic science learning experiences for students. In this study, we classroom-tested a CT-integrated geoscience curriculum module designed for secondary students. The module consisted of three inquiry…