Understanding coral reefs and the threats they face is an essential precondition in preserving them. This activity helps to educate middle school students about coral biology and the problem of coral bleaching. It will inspire students to participate in marine conservation initiatives. (Contains 10 figures and 3 resources.)

A course design for first-year science students is described, where the focus is on the skills necessary to do science. The course uses original research projects, designed by the students, to teach a variety of skills including reading the scientific literature, hypothesis development and testing, experimental design, data analysis and…

This paper describes the development and teaching of a biostatistics module within a fully online distance learning Master of Public Health (MPH) programme at the University of Manchester. The MPH programme caters for students from over 40 countries worldwide and all materials are delivered via the Blackboard virtual learning environment. In this…

The immune system is a vital physiological component that affords animals protection from disease and is composed of innate and adaptive mechanisms that rely on cellular and dissolved components. The serum complement system is a series of dissolved proteins that protect against a variety of pathogens. The activity of complement in serum can be…

Understanding life on a molecular level is greatly enhanced when students are given the opportunity to visualize the molecules. Especially understanding DNA structure and function is essential for understanding key concepts of molecular biology such as DNA, central dogma and the manipulation of DNA. Researches have shown that undergraduate…

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce a new idea: using biological mimics in the detection of toxic compounds. Biological mimics imitate the active site of a given enzyme or have catalytic chemistry similar to enzymes and can be used in place of biological molecules to provide longer stability and simpler operation. In the following text the…

Methanogens are strictly anaerobic Archaea that derive their energy for growth by reducing a limited number of substrates to methane. "Methanosarcina" spp. utilize the methylotrophic pathway to grow on methanol, methylamines and methylsulfides. These compounds enter the methylotrophic pathway as methyl-coenzyme M, the synthesis of which is…

In approaching how the grotesque is--or should be--situated within contemporary science (biology) education practices, Weinstein and Broda undertake a passionate reclaim of an education that is at the same time scientific, critical, and liberatory. However legitimate, their work offers more than they probably could have anticipated: It exemplifies…

Phosphorylation of proteins by protein kinases is an important mechanism in the regulation of protein activity. Among hundreds of protein kinases present in human cells, PKA, the first kinase discovered, belongs to the most important and best characterized group of these enzymes. The author presents an experiment that analyzes the "in vitro"…

The purpose of this study is to analyze variations in how the gene concept is used and conceived in different sub-disciplines in biology. An examination of the development of subject matter and the use of the gene concept in a common college biology textbook shows that the gene concept is far from presented in a consistent way. The study describes…

It was 2:35 am on a Saturday morning. Wiki Lim, process specialist from the Process Innovation Centre (PIC) of Hippi Care Hospital (HCH), desperately doodling on her notepad for ideas to improve service delivery at HCH's Emergency Department (ED). HCH has committed to the public that its ED would meet the service quality criterion of serving 90%…

This mixed-methods study investigated the relationship between burnout and performing noncounseling duties among a national sample of professional school counselors, while identifying school factors that could attenuate this relationship. Results of regression analyses indicate that performing noncounseling duties significantly predicted burnout…

The existing literature on indicators of an optimal learning environment for high-ability students frequently discusses the concept of challenge. It is, however, not clear what, precisely, constitutes appropriate challenge for these students. In this study, the authors examined an undergraduate honours course, Advanced Cell Biology, which has…

Twenty-eight freshmen majoring in biology and/or chemistry in an Arab college in Israel, were given a pre-test and a post-test in which they had to identify the control group and design a controlled experiment. During the course an intervention was used. Science was taught by inquiry while using strategies that promote higher-order thinking skills…

This paper is an academic observation of an Educational Multimedia Content development-training programme funded by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in Tanzania. This project focused on skills development in script writing and in radio and video programme development, aimed at transforming selected subjects from text to multimedia content. The…