This Doctor of Arts dissertation addresses the use of drawing as a tool to facilitate life science education and research. The literature review addresses frameworks of drawing-to-learn and Professional Vision which guided the design and implementation of the research and education experiences. A result of this dissertation work is a manuscript…

The discovery of frog abnormalities by students on a school field trip in 1995 sparked hundreds of scientific studies in search of the cause of abnormality. This Socio-Scientific Issue has been used as an inquiry-based learning exercise for training in the practice of science, but it is also well-suited to teaching the nature of science. Our goal…

Asking questions can be one of the most difficult, yet important, steps in driving student inquiry. As post-secondary instructors work to integrate inquiry into classrooms, very few concrete strategies exist for developing and promoting student questioning. The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a structured process used widely in K-12…

As researchers, teachers, and practitioners we often encounter young professionals and lay adults who do not understand basics of mammalian body temperature regulation. Often their single solid piece of knowledge is that some vertebrates (mammals and birds) are warm-blooded and some (fish, amphibians, and reptile) are cold-blooded, which is…

This study assessed the knowledge, feelings, and life experiences of students in public middle schools in the Brazilian Amazon toward aquatic mammals by applying semi-structured interviews, with a qualitative-quantitative approach. A total of 241 students, from all genders, aged between 12 and 14 years old, from four public schools of Pará State…

Further analysis of the effectiveness of integrating project-based learning (PjBL) in Invertebrate Zoology courses to improve students' science process skills and conceptual understanding needs to be carried out. This research was aimed to analyze the integration of PjBL in the Invertebrate Zoology course on scientific process skills and…

The Australian Curriculum Science has "Patterns, Order and Organisation" as one of its six Key Ideas. In the biological sciences, the structural patterns revealed by observing living things are used to order and organise them in a hierarchical system of binomial nomenclature, in which living things have a generic name and a specific…

Zoos have been under attack by animal rights groups for decades. Despite significant reforms to improve animal welfare in accredited zoos and aquariums across North America, and significant participation in animal conservation efforts globally, these attacks persist. If zoos are to continue long-term, they need to establish themselves as community…

In the 21st century, students must have high knowledge and thinking skills which can be achieved through learning activities. This study aimed to develop a Project-Based Module (PBM) on the topic of determination, differentiation, and organogenesis that is feasible and effective in improving students' cognitive learning outcomes (CLO), critical…

Natural history museums (NHM) are important for students' learning and motivation. However, the lack or scarcity of NHMs in countries with emerging markets may hamper the learning process. Virtual 3D models represent an important tool to counterbalance the lack of access of students to NHMs. Our study aims to understand if the use of 3D models may…

Effective educational tools are needed to facilitate learning of organismal and ecological sciences in the virtual setting. For entomology laboratory classes, physically collecting insects and curating them in formal collections encompass the traditional learning and assessment tools to introduce students to the natural world and increase their…

In March, 2020, campus restrictions associated with COVID-19 necessitated significant changes to undergraduate instruction at institutions of higher education. Rapid, unplanned transitions to remote learning caused disruptions for all educators, especially those who traditionally facilitate student learning via wet labs or live animal…

Undergraduate research experiences benefit students' scientific skills, and recent trends in undergraduate research and education include focusing on interdisciplinary projects and on place-based learning. Here we describe a semester-long pilot interdisciplinary undergraduate research program focused on local aquatic ecosystems, discuss perceived…

The objective of this study is to be able to find ways or the best strategies in teaching that will motivate students to exert effort in their studies, considering the present conditions in this pandemic period. A quantitative method was used to define the study's objective, where two sections of Psychology students who took up Science 101 and…

Most students have never had the opportunity to interact with amphibians. Field trips students list as most memorable are usually their outdoor experiences and interactions with living creatures. Apart from being memorable, field trips need to be meaningful and provide students with authentic learning experiences. Field trips allow students to…