We quantitatively summarized the relationship between Five-Factor Model personality traits, job burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), and absenteeism, turnover, and job performance. All five of the Five-Factor Model personality traits had multiple true score correlations of 0.57 with emotional…

Gel electrophoresis is one of the most important tools used in molecular biology and has facilitated the entire field of genetic engineering by enabling the separation of nucleic acids and proteins. However, commercial electrophoresis kits can cost up to $800 for each setup, which is cost prohibitive for most classroom budgets. This article…

In South Africa, foundation programmes are a well-established alternative access route to tertiary science study for educationally disadvantaged students. Student access to, and performance in, one such foundation programme has been researched by the authors seeking opportunities to improve student retention. The biology module in particular has…

Effective professional development programs for science teachers provide opportunities for active learning and teacher self-reflection on beliefs about science teaching, learning, and practice. One model that fosters active learning and promotes reflection is collaborative curriculum development, in which teachers work together with university…

The article provides science educators with definitions of inquiry and its levels, relating them to real-world scientific processes. Such an educational shift entails a fundamental cultural change in the epistemology of science learning in schools, shifting it from "instructionism" to social constructivist learning. The highest level of…

Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is considered to be the unifying theory for all life sciences (American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS, 1990; National Academy of Sciences, 1998; National Research Council, NRC, 1996; National Science Teachers Association, NSTA, 2010a) and as such, the biology topic has been…

Background: The ubiquity, availability and exponential growth of digital information and communication technology (ICT) creates unique opportunities for learning and teaching in the senior secondary school biology curriculum. Digital technologies make it possible for emerging disciplinary knowledge and understanding of biological processes…

This work discusses the use of Darwin's "Tree of Life" as a didactic analogy and metaphor in teaching evolution. It investigates whether biology teachers of pupils from 17 to 18 years old know Darwin's text "Tree of Life". In addition, it examines whether those teachers systematically employ either the analogies present in that…

In this study, we used targeted active-learning activities to help students improve their ways of reasoning about carbon flow in ecosystems. The results of a validated ecology conceptual inventory (diagnostic question clusters [DQCs]) provided us with information about students' understanding of and reasoning about transformation of inorganic and…

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become an inseparable part of schoolwork and a goal of education to prepare scientifically literate and digitally competent citizens. Yet the introduction of computers into school work has been much slower than its introduction in other spheres of life. Teachers' lack of knowledge/skills and…

Molecular cloning skills are an essential component of biological research, yet students often do not receive this training during their undergraduate studies. This can be attributed to the complexities of the cloning process, which may require many weeks of progressive design and experimentation. To address this issue, we incorporated an…

Although the level of controversy varies from one community to the next, biology teachers across the United States struggle to teach evolution. Some face pressure to teach both religious and scientific theories of human origins; others did not have adequate coursework on evolution during teacher preparation. As a result, many biology teachers are…

Herein we report the development of an analytic rubric bank to assess non-content learning, namely higher order cognitive skills, the understanding of the nature of science, and effective scientific communication skills in student research projects. Preliminary findings indicate that use of this tool enhances our students' learning in these areas,…

To help undergraduates make connections among disciplines so they are able to approach, evaluate, and contribute to the solutions of important global problems, our campus has been focused on interdisciplinary research and education opportunities across the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This paper describes…

Reviews salient emerging themes in the scientific literature related to identifying etiology and pathophysiology of ADHD. While bypassing the need for new treatment research, the review highlights three themes. First, recognition of the epigenetic effects is expected to revitalize the search for and mapping of early environmental influences on the…