Water is one of the most common molecules in the universe. Water is polarized, but it has many states besides the normal tetrahedron depicted in standard biology texts. Water is also the most ubiquitous molecule on Earth, the universal solvent. It is the internal and external habitat of cells. Ecologically, water is contiguous with life and the…

Previous research has shown that students employ intuitive thinking when understanding scientific concepts. Three types of intuitive thinking--essentialist, teleological, and anthropic thinking--are used in biology learning and can lead to misconceptions. However, it is unknown how commonly these types of intuitive thinking, or cognitive…

High-school teachers and students do not usually have access to scientific research advances because original research papers contain many highly specialized words that are specific to the discipline. Scientific newsletters (SNs) summarize current scientific research advances and trends. During the 2022-2023 school year, 21 SNs teaching biology…

The 2011 "Vision & Change" report outlined several recommendations for transforming undergraduate biology education, sparking multiple pedagogical reform efforts. Among these was the Promoting Active Learning and Mentoring (PALM) network, an NSF-funded program that provided mentorship and training to instructors on implementing…

Incorporating inclusive language in healthcare education allows learners to develop holistic communication skills. Adhering to principles of linguistic equity in healthcare, specific to sex- and gender-inclusive language (SGIL), creates a safe environment for all participants. Anatomy education introduces students to a standard, consistent…

Science communication is a key skill for undergraduates, but little research explores how biology students communicate about societally important, yet controversial topics like climate change. In this study, we explored whether and how biology students took on the role of science communicators about climate change. We surveyed 191 biology students…

Every student comes to science class with unique skills and problem-solving abilities; unfortunately, there is limited research on how to differentiate instruction so that equitable progress can be made for every learner. We used a novel pedagogical approach to differentiate for a wide range of problem-solving abilities when students were learning…

Hands-on experience is an essential part of project management education. We researched to determine whether our practical seminars organized as part of an undergraduate project management course provide the expected learning experience consistent with current project management practice. We organized two practical seminars for students in four…

The PeeR Investigators Mentoring Experiences in Research (PRIMER) program was developed to enhance mentorship and support in Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) at our institution. This program leverages PRIMER's prior research experience in computational biology courses to mentor students in our bioinformatics-focused CUREs.…

This is one of the first studies to examine self-care and burnout scores among social work college students after the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) mandated that social workers practice self-care. A total of 117 social work college students participated in an online survey on self-care practices using a demographic questionnaire,…

Parental rights have become perhaps the most important concept in contemporary educational policy debates. This paper attempts to clarify some of the conceptual terrain around parental rights, their foundations, and how (or, indeed, whether) parental rights might fit into dominant theories of rights more generally. The author does not argue…

The rapidly evolving educational landscape allows, and often demands, the integration of innovative digital approaches into the curriculum. Whether the course is conducted in-person, online, or hyflex, synchronous or asynchronous, the wide range of available digital tools and platforms now offer multi-faceted learning experiences designed to…

We describe a novel, university-level, introductory biology course that uses evolution as a narrative framework. Our course conveys the content in an introductory biology course by telling the story of the evolution of life on Earth. We begin with early Earth environments in which biological molecules and processes evolved and led to the first…

It is important for young people to be aware of job profiles and activities in the professional world. Bringing the education system closer to the professional world is vital for them to make decisions about their academic and professional futures. Programs developed to connect 15-year-old students who in Spain are in year 4 of their Compulsory…

Critical thinking is one of the most important sets of cognitive abilities and dispositions required for both scientists and global citizens. In this explorative study, we examine which critical thinking aspects are perceived as relevant by biology graduate students and in what ways they found these aspects important for their scientific work.…