Given the present need for biochemistry and molecular biology educators to transform their courses into an online format, novel methods aimed at promoting student learning and engagement must be considered. Herein, we describe the integration of graphical systems modeling as a tool for introducing biochemistry to secondary-level students. We…

Campus closures in Spring 2020 required rapid transition to online course delivery. Fall 2020 has similar needs and expectations. The Advanced Topics in Molecular Biology Techniques course, designed for upper division undergraduate and graduate students, uses a "journal club" format. The journal club format includes practice-based…

Current initiatives to transform undergraduate STEM education in the United States advocate for the use of multidimensional learning, wherein instruction provides opportunities for students to gain competency with fundamental or cross-disciplinary concepts and practices. To achieve this goal, the discipline-based education research (DBER)…

Some science subjects are often perceived to be difficult and boring by students due to their nature and the way they are taught. This study sought to check the effectiveness of the technology-enhanced instruction method with comprehensive use of virtual labs and animations in teaching nerve cells' (neurons and glial cells) structures and…

Students in environmental sciences, ecology, or wildlife management are often reluctant to acquire training in basic laboratory techniques. To advocate the importance of this training, we reviewed literature in the fields of biological and environmental science for one frequently used technique--centrifugation--and evaluated whether centrifugation…

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) has become an important tool in the biological sciences and has a growing number of applications across medical fields. Currently, few undergraduate programs provide training in the design and implementation of NGS applications. Here, we describe an inquiry-based laboratory exercise for a college-level molecular…

In an academic semester, living in social isolation and under restrictions of the pandemic, we organized weekly multidisciplinary seminars from a postgraduate course program in Curitiba, Southern Brazil, integrating students from different regions of Brazil and South America. Outstanding researchers from Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Mexico,…

This article describes a laboratory exercise designed for undergraduate students in the subject of "Regulation of cell proliferation" which allows the students to carry out a research experiment in an important field such as cell cycle control, and to be introduced to a widely used technique in molecular biology laboratories such as the…

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is the basis for many techniques used in biomedical research. Due to its wide use in molecular sensing, FRET is commonly introduced in many biology, chemistry, and physics courses. While FRET is of great importance in the biophysical sciences, the complexity and difficulty of constructing FRET experiments…

"Didn't understand or not fully understand" is the most common situation that students experience when they learn medical biochemistry and molecular biology (MBMB). Therefore, the primary task of teaching MBMB is to help students overcome the difficulties in "conceptual understanding." The core of the solution to these problems…

The interdisciplinary subject of agricultural biochemistry can provide an abundance of didactic opportunities for educators teaching biochemistry and molecular biology in secondary-level science courses. This is especially true in present times when virtual-learning strategies supersede in-person instruction and contemporary approaches are needed…

Approaches to learning and teaching have been undergoing massive changes. Technology has enabled many innovations while other methods have embedded authentic research approaches or looked to other disciplines. The tools in education session of the conference looked at tools being used to teach biochemistry and molecular biology ranging from online…

We describe an advanced, inquiry driven undergraduate course in Cancer Biology that combines faculty lectures typical of undergraduate courses with literature-driven discussions typical of graduate courses. As a capstone course, one goal of this course is to integrate knowledge from previous coursework in physiology, cell and molecular biology,…

Spatial understanding of molecules in molecular biology provides a better understanding of molecules in isolation and relation to their next elements. Augmented reality (AR) has recently been developed as a computer interface that enables the users to see the real world with virtual objects superimposed on it. We report a method that shows the use…

The amplification of nucleic acids is a fundamental tool utilized in various scientific disciplines, including Molecular Biology, Immunology, Microbiology, and Genetics. However, due to the time and technology required for traditional polymerase chain reaction and its derivatives, it is not always possible to include such methodologies in…