We carried out a study of an instructional model that integrates flipped classroom with active learning, in-class activities into our biology course, using a mixed methods research design. According to the survey (n = 331), a majority of students found the flipped classroom engaging and helpful for class preparation and scheduling of learning.…

Curricula at most colleges and universities in the United States are scheduled according to quarters or semesters. While each schedule has several potential advantages over the other, it is unclear what effect each has on student performance. This study compares biology student performance during the two and a half years before and after the 1999…

Arne Duncan, US Secretary of State for Education, tweeted in 2013: "let teens sleep, start school later". This paper examines early starts and their negative consequences in the light of key research in the last 30 years in sleep medicine and circadian neuroscience. An overview of the circadian timing system in adolescence leading to…

Interdisciplinary undergraduate research experiences often require students to work in teams with other students and researchers from different disciplines, creating a need for development of new skills in interdisciplinary collaboration. In this paper, we describe our unique efforts to mentor participants in developing these skills during our…

One of the most intriguing results concerning chronopsychological effects at school is the worse school performance in evening-oriented adolescents. The study intends to correlate affective state with chronotype. Therefore, we carried out a field study in adolescents in a natural setting (in school) and assessed their actual affective state during…

To better understand the dynamics of online student test taking, including the likelihood of cheating by large numbers of students, we examined test-taking patterns and outcomes of weekly online quizzes in two large undergraduate biology lecture courses. Students taking a quiz late in a 1-3-day quiz access period performed 10-15% worse on quizzes…

Students in an introductory biology course had laboratory sessions in one of two patterns: as one three-hour session per week, or as two one-and-one-half hour sessions, one after each lecture. Each of the twelve instructors involved taught one section using each pattern. The Nelson Biology Test, the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, and a…

Description of a team approach to high school biology instruction. Four teachers and 620 students participated in the project which involved large-group instruction, multi-media presentations, discussions, laboratory activities, independent study, and viewing films and filmstrips. Both student achievement and affective response to the project were…

This article describes some typical 90-minute lessons in biology and chemistry designed for use with block scheduling. The lessons illustrate the benefits of block scheduling to science instruction. Contains an example of one day's block scheduling of science and mathematics courses. (LZ)

Describes personal experiences at the BioQUEST workshop titled "Approaches to Biology Education: Overcoming Social, Spatial, and Scheduling Constraints in Biology Education Reform." Describes activities and projects done at the workshop and discusses innovative curricula, flow charts, visualization, and case studies. Contains 12 references. (JRH)

Effects of varying the usual biology-chemistry course sequence were studied by comparing students' scores on the Natural Science Reading Test of the American College Test (ACT). Results showed that it made little difference whether college preparatory students at two New Orleans (Louisiana) high schools took chemistry before biology or vice versa.…

Describes an innovative high school program that uses oceanography, mathematics, and science as common threads in the instructional program. The program utilizes an innovative class structure, community involvement, and hands on activities. (DDR)

The schedule with dates and topics for television biology programs to be used with classroom lessons during the first half of the 1975-76 school year is provided, plus a brief description of the contents of some of the programs. (Author/ND)

Discusses preparation of secondary school biology teachers in China. Topics addressed include admission, orientation of prospective teachers, scheduling, teacher preparation curriculum, and inservice education. (JN)

The idea of organizing courses on the "sandwich principle" of alternate periods of academic study and industrial training is described. Results of a longitudinal study conducted at the University of Bradford are provided throughout the report. Following background information on the sandwich principle, students' reaction to sandwich…