This study explored the effects of directed and undirected online peer feedback types on students' peer feedback performance, argumentative essay writing skills, and acquisition of domain-specific knowledge. The study used a pre-test and post-test design with four conditions (feedback, feedforward, a combination of feedback and feedforward, and…

In this study we investigated how a theoretical framework we developed for making differentiated instruction practical worked out in a trajectory (1 year, 5 sessions) that aimed to support 5 secondary biology teachers in designing differentiated instruction practices. The key feature of the framework is the development of cost-effective…

Teaching biological evolution can be difficult on a number of levels, be it student confusion arising from prior conceptions and the controversy surrounding evolution, or simply because the material is complex. Games and simulations can help to convey complex topics and also to increase variety in teaching methods. Here I describe a card game that…

Contemporary genomics research will impact the daily practice of biology teachers who want to teach up-to-date genetics in secondary education. This article reports on a research project aimed at enhancing biology teachers' expertise for teaching genetics situated in the context of genetic testing. The increasing body of scientific knowledge…

Recent neuropsychological research suggests that intuition and emotion play a role in our reasoning when we are confronted with moral dilemmas. Incorporating intuition and emotion into moral reflection is a rather new idea in the educational world, where rational reasoning is preferred. To develop a teaching and learning strategy to address this…

This study investigated the effectiveness of different types of feedback content (elaborate versus global) and feedback timing (immediate versus delayed) for learning genetics in a web-based learning environment as a function of learners' prior knowledge. It was hypothesized that learning outcomes of students with low prior knowledge would be…

While learning and teaching difficulties in genetics have been abundantly explored and described, there has been less focus on the development and field-testing of strategies to address them. To inform the design of such a strategy a review study, focus group interviews with teachers, a case study of a traditional series of genetics lessons,…