Bacterial conjugation is a genetic transfer that involves cell-to-cell between donor and recipient cells. With the current method used to teach students in genetic courses at the undergraduate level, the transconjugants are identified using bacterial physiology and/or antibiotic resistance. Using physiology, however, is difficult for both…

Evolution is at the center of the biological sciences and is therefore a required topic for virtually every college biology student. Over the past year, the authors have been building a new simulation software package called EvoBeaker to teach college-level evolutionary biology through simulated experiments. They have built both micro and…

Mass spectrometry is a widely used and versatile tool for scientists in many different fields. Soft ionization techniques such as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) allow for the analysis of biomolecules, polymers, and clusters. This article describes a MALDI mass spectrometry experiment designed for students in introductory…

In a collaborative effort between university researchers and high school science teachers, an inquiry-based laboratory module was designed using two species of insecticidal nematodes to help students apply scientific inquiry and elements of thoughtful experimental design. The learning experience and model are described in this article. (Contains 4…

These instructional materials include a teacher's guide designed to assist instructors in organizing and presenting an introductory course in technology education and a student guide. The materials are based on the curriculum-alignment concept of first stating the objectives, developing instructional strategies for teaching those objectives, and…

This module, one in a series of performance-based teacher education learning packages, focuses on a specific skill that vocational educators need to be successful in the area of instructional management. The purpose of the module is to give educators skill in planning, designing, and organizing the physical facilities of the vocational education…

THE REPORT COMMUNICATES TO ARCHITECTS THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FUNCTIONS CONTEMPLATED IN EXPERIMENTAL LEARNING CENTERS AND THE ACTIVITIES CONVENTIONALLY ASSUMED TO TAKE PLACE IN TYPICAL SCHOOLS AND PARTICULARLY CAMPUS LABORATORY SCHOOLS. THE NEW CONCEPT OF EXPERIMENTAL LEARNING CENTERS REQUIRES ORIGINAL AND CREATIVE ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING. THE…

Internet extends the reach of existing laboratory and training infrastructure to beyond the walls of such facilities. Though nothing can replace the hands-on experience in a laboratory; a carefully developed web-based digital lab may be the next best thing. In some cases, there may be benefits associated with a "distance laboratory" that…

This book is designed to be a quick and easy resource for anyone teaching physics for the first time. Written after extensive research, this book is filled with reliable labs, demos and activities that work well in the classroom. Also included are lesson plans, diagrams, and teacher notes for every activity. The book is not the end--it is just a…

To help students meet the demands of society, the University of Houston is using the framework of learning communities and constructivism to create a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching to provide media-rich thematically linked courses to engage a diverse student population. A case study investigated three semesters of thematically linked…

This document provides a laboratory manual for an experiment whose objectives are: (1) measure the constant acceleration of a body; (2) calculate the moment of inertia for various symmetrical shape objects; and (3) use the moment of inertia to solve for the constant acceleration of the body. The paper includes a list of materials needed, theory,…

Writing centers have to adapt their philosophies to meet challenges that are unique to individual institutions. Working with faculty in other disciplines inevitably brings changes in what writing centers do, creating a need for some adaptation in the way a center operates--on at least a practical, day-to-day level. The greatest challenge is to…

In the mid-1960s, social scientists Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss developed grounded theory as a systematic and rigorous method of qualitative data analysis leading to "the discovery of theory from data." In grounded theory, the researcher applies a set of coding procedures to the data until a provisional theory emerges inductively.…

This study is designed to document and evaluate how one program is attempting to transform a long established training model to meet current standards for training licensed professional counselors and for continuing program accreditation. A formative, or process, evaluation method has been implemented to evaluate and, simultaneously, to improve…

In "Discourse in the Novel," M. Bakhtin notes that writing and speaking are both fundamentally social acts--every utterance "exists in other people's mouths, in other people's contexts, serving other people's intentions" until the writer/speaker is able to appropriate it as her own. As an institution, the writing center enacts…