We report on the advantage of integrating teaching of biology and physics in the 7th grade as compared to the teaching physics and biology as discrete units. Experimental group (EG) had a lesson integrating knowledge of physics and biology, while control group (CG) had discrete lessons in physics and biology, referring each to their specific…

It has been reported (Aagaard & Skidmore, 2004; Sikorski et al., 2002) that only a minority of college students actually read the course textbook in preparation for examinations. Although professors widely lament students' propensity to ignore the carefully chosen textbooks, research specifically investigating why this phenomenon occurs is…

Despite considerable focus on evolution knowledge-belief relationships, little research has targeted populations with strong content backgrounds, such as undergraduate degrees in biology. This study (1) measured precertified biology and non-biology teachers' (n = 167) knowledge of evolution and the nature of science; (2) quantified teacher…

Perspectives are domain-specific strategies employed by experts in a specific field to formulate and investigate questions. Such strategies may therefore serve as good models for acquiring knowledge. Based on this premise, we developed the perspective of form and function, as used by both biologists and technical designers, into a tool for…

Research has shown that practising and pre-service science teachers often hold naive and uninformed views of the nature of science (NOS). In this study we examined the discipline-specific nature of pre-service teachers' views of the NOS. We report on the conceptions of ecology research held by university students as compared to a discipline…

The link between sleep hygiene and adolescent sleep is well documented, though evidence suggests contributions from other factors, particularly the family environment. The present study examined whether sleep hygiene mediated the relationship between family disorganization and self-reported sleep onset latency, total sleep time, and daytime…

The present study examines the genesis of emotional exhaustion among undergraduate social work students in Hong Kong. Of particular concern are the relationships among key factors, including the student's idealism, altruism and career orientation, and emotional exhaustion. To investigate this, the study employed survey data collected from 165…

Educating students about the process of evolution through natural selection is vitally important because not only is it the unifying theory of biological science, it is also widely regarded as difficult for students to fully comprehend. Anderson and colleagues (2002) describe alternative ideas and misconceptions about natural selection as highly…

There is an increasing need for an effective method of teaching bioinformatics. Increased progress and availability of computer-based tools for educating students have led to the implementation of a computer-based system for teaching bioinformatics as described in this paper. Bioinformatics is a recent, hybrid field of study combining elements of…

A biology teacher has developed a rare and troubling neurologic disorder. He hears of an experimental treatment that has produced impressive results. The treatment involves surgically ablating selective parts of the brain at close proximity to the brainstem. There is a risk that, during the procedure, vital parts of the brain could be…

We have developed and implemented a serial experiment in molecular cloning laboratory course for undergraduate students majored in biotechnology. "Pseudomonas putida xylE" gene, encoding catechol 2, 3-dioxygenase, was manipulated to learn molecular biology techniques. The integration of cloning, expression, and enzyme assay gave students…

Genetic research was banned in the Polish People's Republic from 1949 to 1956 as a result of the activities of Trofim D. Lysenko, a pseudo-biologist in the Soviet Union. This article examines the impact upon education in biology in Poland, including textbook revision, curriculum reform and revised understandings of the purpose of scientific…

Meiosis is a biological concept that is both complex and important for students to learn. This study aims to explore first-year biology students' explanations of the process of meiosis, using an explicit theoretical framework provided by the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) model. The research was based on responses of 334…

The attentional blink (J. E. Raymond, K. L. Shapiro, & K. M. Arnell, 1992) refers to an apparent gap in perception observed when a second target follows a first within several hundred milliseconds. Theoretical and computational work have provided explanations for early sets of blink data, but more recent data have challenged these accounts by…

Person and situational determinants of cognitive ability test performance and subjective reactions were examined in the context of tests with different time-on-task requirements. Two hundred thirty-nine first-year university students participated in a within-participant experiment, with completely counterbalanced treatment conditions and test…