Perhaps the best way to learn about science is to practice the craft; this is sound pedagogical practice with most disciplines. Students can and should do credible research (Yurkiewicz & Steucek 1970). There is no dearth of problems that beckon our attention. Secondary school and college students represent an enormous resource which could be utilized to conduct research within the confines of science courses. It is no longer possible to teach all that is known about the natural world; emphasis on the process of scientific investigation should not be slighted to squeeze in factual material. On the contrary, the process of scientific investigation should be emphasized, particularly to nonscience majors. Models in biological science have changed dramatically during the past half century, illustrating the limited utility of presenting only factual material. Since many community problems have a biological basis and since students are able to study biological problems relatively easily, the initiation of scientific research in biology courses is appropriate. Moreover, such projects may satisfy local school district goals of a pedagogical nature and prepare students for effective citizenship; perhaps a government/civics teacher could be involved with the definition of a problem. Local health, environmental, agricultural, industrial and scientific researchers represent good sources of important projects; moreover, collaboration with these scientists could be rewarding for all (Spector & White 1985). The initiation of any research project demands that attention be given to the procedure for sampling the population of interest. I will address this problem. Biological science is becoming more quantitative; this is evident in journal articles and in laboratory exercises published in manuals. With this shift from a descriptive to a quantitative presentation, students are often introduced to simple statistical techniques, such as Student's t-test and analysis of variance which are often found in appendixes of laboratory manuals. Interestingly, appropriate sampling procedures are often ignored by these same laboratory manuals. These statistical analyses make assumptions about how data were collected and hence place constraints on the sampling procedure. The use of an appropriate sampling procedure generally takes little time and provides a healthy assurance that the findings will not be discounted on the basis of artifactual bias. This important point should be made to all students of science.
也许学习科学的最好方法是实践这门手艺;这是大多数学科的良好教学实践。学生可以而且应该做可信的研究(Yurkiewicz & Steucek 1970)。需要我们注意的问题比比皆是。中学生和大学生是一个巨大的资源,可以用来在科学课程的范围内进行研究。我们已经不可能把关于自然世界的一切知识都传授给别人了;强调科学调查的过程不应忽视事实材料。相反,应该强调科学调查的过程,特别是对非理科专业的学生。在过去的半个世纪里,生物科学的模型发生了巨大的变化,这说明了仅呈现事实材料的有限效用。由于许多社区问题都有生物学基础,而且由于学生能够相对容易地研究生物学问题,因此在生物学课程中开始科学研究是合适的。此外,这些项目可以满足当地学区的教学目标,并使学生为有效的公民身份做好准备;也许政府/公民教师可以参与问题的定义。当地的卫生、环境、农业、工业和科学研究人员是重要项目的良好来源;此外,与这些科学家合作对所有人来说都是有益的(Spector & White 1985)。任何研究项目的开始都要求注意对感兴趣的人口进行抽样的程序。我会解决这个问题。生物科学正变得越来越量化;这在期刊文章和手册中发表的实验练习中都很明显。随着从描述性到定量演示的转变,学生们经常被介绍到简单的统计技术,如学生t检验和方差分析,这些通常在实验室手册的附录中找到。有趣的是,这些相同的实验室手册往往忽略了适当的抽样程序。这些统计分析对如何收集数据做出假设,从而对抽样程序施加约束。使用适当的抽样程序通常需要很少的时间,并提供了一种健康的保证,即调查结果不会因人为偏见而打折扣。这一点应该告诉所有理科生。
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Pub Date : 2015-11-01DOI: 10.1525/ABT.2015.77.9.12
K. Wellner
Haeckel's Embryos: Images, Evolution, and Fraud . By Nick Hopwood. 2015. University of Chicago Press. (ISBN 978-0-226-04694-5). 388 pp. Hardcover. $45.00. Flip through biology textbooks, old or new, and chances are that you will find an illustration of vertebrate embryos arranged in rows and columns (see cover). This particular image, an embryo grid, is traced back to the work of Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) and remains the single most published illustration in biology texts; no other diagram has proved so prevalent and resilient. Nick Hopwood's Haeckel's Embryos: Images, Evolution, and Fraud takes us on a journey of rich historical insight surrounding the origin and evolution of Haeckel's embryo grid. Hopwood is a professor at the University of Cambridge, where he studies embryonic development, the history of biology, and the visual culture of science. Having written a variety of scholarly articles about the history of embryology, Hopwood is no stranger to Haeckel's intriguing story, and Haeckel's Embryos presents a culmination (but not simply a repeat) of his previous publications. Hopwood provides the context for us to understand how Haeckel designed his drawings to mediate between a general …
海克尔的《胚胎:图像、进化和欺诈》2015年,尼克·霍普伍德著。芝加哥大学出版社。(ISBN 978-0-226-04694-5)。388页,精装版。45.00美元。翻翻新旧的生物教科书,你很可能会发现脊椎动物胚胎一排排排列的插图(见封面)。这张特殊的胚胎网格图可以追溯到恩斯特·海克尔(Ernst Haeckel, 1834-1919)的作品,至今仍是生物学教科书中发表最多的插图;没有其他图表被证明如此普遍和有弹性。尼克·霍普伍德(Nick Hopwood)的《海克尔的胚胎:图像、进化和欺诈》(Haeckel’s embryo: Images, Evolution, and Fraud)带我们踏上了一段围绕海克尔胚胎网格起源和演化的丰富历史见解之旅。霍普伍德是剑桥大学的教授,在那里他研究胚胎发育、生物学历史和科学的视觉文化。霍普伍德写过许多关于胚胎学历史的学术文章,对海克尔的有趣故事并不陌生,而《海克尔的胚胎》是他以前出版物的高潮(但不仅仅是重复)。霍普伍德为我们提供了理解海克尔如何设计他的绘画来调解一般……
{"title":"Review: Haeckel's Embryos: Images, Evolution, and Fraud, by Nick Hopwood","authors":"K. Wellner","doi":"10.1525/ABT.2015.77.9.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/ABT.2015.77.9.12","url":null,"abstract":"Haeckel's Embryos: Images, Evolution, and Fraud . By Nick Hopwood. 2015. University of Chicago Press. (ISBN 978-0-226-04694-5). 388 pp. Hardcover. $45.00.\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000Flip through biology textbooks, old or new, and chances are that you will find an illustration of vertebrate embryos arranged in rows and columns (see cover). This particular image, an embryo grid, is traced back to the work of Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) and remains the single most published illustration in biology texts; no other diagram has proved so prevalent and resilient. Nick Hopwood's Haeckel's Embryos: Images, Evolution, and Fraud takes us on a journey of rich historical insight surrounding the origin and evolution of Haeckel's embryo grid.\u0000\u0000Hopwood is a professor at the University of Cambridge, where he studies embryonic development, the history of biology, and the visual culture of science. Having written a variety of scholarly articles about the history of embryology, Hopwood is no stranger to Haeckel's intriguing story, and Haeckel's Embryos presents a culmination (but not simply a repeat) of his previous publications.\u0000\u0000Hopwood provides the context for us to understand how Haeckel designed his drawings to mediate between a general …","PeriodicalId":50960,"journal":{"name":"American Biology Teacher","volume":"SE-5 1","pages":"710-711"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84632078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As another school year begins, we often reflect on what we teach and why we teach it. Students are eager to engage in learning, but they often find the typical content irrelevant. Even skilled instructors with buoyant enthusiasm may fail to inspire them. However, students respond to authentic challenges. They readily invest effort in learning about real, substantive issues related to personal and public decision-making, often characterized as central to scientific literacy. Such cases typically revolve around understanding not just scientific concepts, but how science works. They are gateways into learning about the nature of science, or NOS. First, survey the news. What is going on that matters to a better society, to our daily lives, and to students? Here is a sample list of topics rich with NOS potential from just one week (from the March 29 issue of Science magazine):
{"title":"Making Biology Meaningful: Nature of Science Matters","authors":"Allchin Douglas","doi":"10.1525/ABT.2015.77.7.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/ABT.2015.77.7.1","url":null,"abstract":"As another school year begins, we often reflect on what we teach and why we teach it. Students are eager to engage in learning, but they often find the typical content irrelevant. Even skilled instructors with buoyant enthusiasm may fail to inspire them. However, students respond to authentic challenges. They readily invest effort in learning about real, substantive issues related to personal and public decision-making, often characterized as central to scientific literacy. Such cases typically revolve around understanding not just scientific concepts, but how science works. They are gateways into learning about the nature of science, or NOS.\u0000\u0000First, survey the news. What is going on that matters to a better society, to our daily lives, and to students? Here is a sample list of topics rich with NOS potential from just one week (from the March 29 issue of Science magazine):","PeriodicalId":50960,"journal":{"name":"American Biology Teacher","volume":"59 1","pages":"481-482"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79090396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-09-01DOI: 10.1525/abt.2015.77.7.12b
K. Pedretti
How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained . By Kathy Wollard. 2014. Workman. (ISBN 978-0-7611-7978-8). 406 pp. Paperback. $16.95 Did you ever wonder how birds sleep? Or why we have eyebrows? Or why, when someone in the room yawns, pretty soon everyone is yawning? This new book by Kathy Wollard is aimed at the inquisitive late elementary and middle school population of kids. It’s a great book to both incite curiosity and answer those reoccurring science questions. What is the back story on this creatively titled book? The questions in the book were asked by real kids in Newsday’s “How Come?” column. In 1993, the first How Come? book was published; …
{"title":"Review: How Come? Every Kid's Science Questions Explained by Kathy Wollard","authors":"K. Pedretti","doi":"10.1525/abt.2015.77.7.12b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2015.77.7.12b","url":null,"abstract":"How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained . By Kathy Wollard. 2014. Workman. (ISBN 978-0-7611-7978-8). 406 pp. Paperback. $16.95\u0000\u0000\u0000\u0000Did you ever wonder how birds sleep? Or why we have eyebrows? Or why, when someone in the room yawns, pretty soon everyone is yawning? This new book by Kathy Wollard is aimed at the inquisitive late elementary and middle school population of kids. It’s a great book to both incite curiosity and answer those reoccurring science questions.\u0000\u0000What is the back story on this creatively titled book? The questions in the book were asked by real kids in Newsday’s “How Come?” column. In 1993, the first How Come? book was published; …","PeriodicalId":50960,"journal":{"name":"American Biology Teacher","volume":"90 1","pages":"555-555"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78410153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-09-01DOI: 10.1525/ABT.2015.77.7.12
Paul J. Narguizian
The Way of Science: Finding Truth and Meaning in a Scientific Worldview . By Dennis R. Trumble. 2013. Prometheus Books. (ISBN 9781616147563). 346 pp. Paperback. $20.00. I recently attended a conference in Washington, D.C., where scientists and theologians from around the country got together to discuss the importance of understanding the science of nature through the nature of science (i.e., the processes and mechanisms of science). At a time of critical scientific and human challenges such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, human overpopulation, massive habitat destruction, and the loss of biodiversity, along with constant misinformation in the mass and social media (e.g., alien encounters and chemtrails), The Way of Science: Finding Truth and Meaning in a Scientific Worldview provides a much needed counteractive, and reason to hope for the future. Recent polling data indicate that just over 50% of Americans believe in special creation, and of those polled, about 40% believe that humans lived during the same time as dinosaurs. Although most people appreciate science on a technological level (e.g., the benefits of modern …
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E. Baumgartner, Lindsay M. Biga, Karen E. Bledsoe, James Dawson, Julie Grammer, A. Howard, Jeffrey Snyder
Quantitative literacy is essential to biological literacy (and is one of the core concepts in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action; [AAAS 2009][1]). Building quantitative literacy is a challenging endeavor for biology instructors. Integrating mathematical skills into biological investigations can help build quantitative literacy. In our plankton population laboratory sequence, students test hypotheses about the influence of abiotic factors on phytoplankton populations by sampling experimental and control flasks over multiple weeks. Students track and predict changes in planktonic populations by incorporating weekly sample estimates into population growth equations. We have refined the laboratory protocols on the basis of student commentary and instructor observations. Students have reviewed the lab positively, and approximately one-quarter of them reported building their math skills by participating in the lab. [1]: #ref-1
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I would like to offer my thanks to those individuals listed below for their thoughtful reviews of manuscripts submitted to the American Biology Teacher in 2014. My first year as editor of ABT has been both rewarding and pleasant because of the excellent work of our reviewers and because of the gracious responses from our authors and thanks to the amazing team behind the scenes that has produced a first rate and highly respected journal. It has been my sincere pleasure to work with our managing editor Mark Penrose and copyeditor Richard Earles this year supported by the design team including Michelle Finney who does a brilliant job on our covers along with Assistant Editor Kathy Westrich who is both a reviewer but is also in charge of ABT cover art. This year we have expanded our range of commentators and in addition to publishing the thoughts of the NABT president, we regularly invite additional experts to offer their views on important topics in biology and biology education. These invited commentaries now join the wonderful pieces written …
{"title":"Thank You, ABT Reviewers","authors":"W. McComas","doi":"10.1525/abt.2015.77.2.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2015.77.2.2","url":null,"abstract":"I would like to offer my thanks to those individuals listed below for their thoughtful reviews of manuscripts submitted to the American Biology Teacher in 2014. My first year as editor of ABT has been both rewarding and pleasant because of the excellent work of our reviewers and because of the gracious responses from our authors and thanks to the amazing team behind the scenes that has produced a first rate and highly respected journal.\u0000\u0000It has been my sincere pleasure to work with our managing editor Mark Penrose and copyeditor Richard Earles this year supported by the design team including Michelle Finney who does a brilliant job on our covers along with Assistant Editor Kathy Westrich who is both a reviewer but is also in charge of ABT cover art. This year we have expanded our range of commentators and in addition to publishing the thoughts of the NABT president, we regularly invite additional experts to offer their views on important topics in biology and biology education. These invited commentaries now join the wonderful pieces written …","PeriodicalId":50960,"journal":{"name":"American Biology Teacher","volume":"12 1","pages":"91-91"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75350617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marilyn vos Savant writes a weekly column called “Ask Marilyn” for Parade magazine. In her column of August 18, 2013, she proposed the following problem. Five cats are in a sack: two are tabbies and three are calicos. You let one cat out of the bag, but it runs up a tree before you get a chance to see its color. Then you purposely let out another cat and observe it to be a tabby. What is the probability that the cat in the tree is also a tabby? Marilyn’s answer is 1 chance in 4. Many readers wrote to Marilyn, arguing that the correct answer should be 2 out of 5 and that observing the one tabby does …
{"title":"Biostatistics in the Popular Press","authors":"W. Stansfield, Matthew A. Carlton","doi":"10.1525/ABT.2014.76.7.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/ABT.2014.76.7.2","url":null,"abstract":"Marilyn vos Savant writes a weekly column called “Ask Marilyn” for Parade magazine. In her column of August 18, 2013, she proposed the following problem. Five cats are in a sack: two are tabbies and three are calicos. You let one cat out of the bag, but it runs up a tree before you get a chance to see its color. Then you purposely let out another cat and observe it to be a tabby. What is the probability that the cat in the tree is also a tabby? Marilyn’s answer is 1 chance in 4.\u0000\u0000Many readers wrote to Marilyn, arguing that the correct answer should be 2 out of 5 and that observing the one tabby does …","PeriodicalId":50960,"journal":{"name":"American Biology Teacher","volume":"106 1","pages":"429-430"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2014-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88068801","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-01-01DOI: 10.1525/ABT.2014.76.1.10
Rachel K Thiet
The Mystery Soil Lab, a playful, inquiry-based laboratory project, is designed to develop students’ skills of inquiry, soil analysis, and synthesis of foundational concepts in soil science and soil ecology. Student groups are given the charge to explore and identify a “Mystery Soil” collected from a unique landscape within a 10-mile radius of our university by determining its soil formation and development history, associated plant community, and official taxonomic designation. Student groups have 4 consecutive weeks to conduct the lab assignment using observation and laboratory techniques. After 4 weeks, students present their findings by describing their process of inquiry, soil analysis results, and the conceptual reasoning behind their hypotheses using key course concepts. This project enhances students’ abilities to conduct iterative science using the scientific method, improves foundational knowledge of soil properties and processes, and builds students’ skills and confidence for a subsequent, independent soil ecology research project later in the semester.
{"title":"Students Dig Deep in the Mystery Investigation Soil Lab","authors":"Rachel K Thiet","doi":"10.1525/ABT.2014.76.1.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/ABT.2014.76.1.10","url":null,"abstract":"The Mystery Soil Lab, a playful, inquiry-based laboratory project, is designed to develop students’ skills of inquiry, soil analysis, and synthesis of foundational concepts in soil science and soil ecology. Student groups are given the charge to explore and identify a “Mystery Soil” collected from a unique landscape within a 10-mile radius of our university by determining its soil formation and development history, associated plant community, and official taxonomic designation. Student groups have 4 consecutive weeks to conduct the lab assignment using observation and laboratory techniques. After 4 weeks, students present their findings by describing their process of inquiry, soil analysis results, and the conceptual reasoning behind their hypotheses using key course concepts. This project enhances students’ abilities to conduct iterative science using the scientific method, improves foundational knowledge of soil properties and processes, and builds students’ skills and confidence for a subsequent, independent soil ecology research project later in the semester.","PeriodicalId":50960,"journal":{"name":"American Biology Teacher","volume":"116 1","pages":"47-52"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76882171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
With conference quickly approaching, I asked myself the question “Is NABT one of the top three professional organizations I belong to?” I believe this is a question that all of us need to ask ourselves and be able to answer with a resounding yes. For me personally, the answer is yes and I started thinking about all the personal and professional benefits that belonging to the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) provides me. There are many benefits for belonging to NABT and the following are some of the benefits I receive from being an active member. In each publication of The American Biology Teacher , there are many articles of interest and teaching ideas that stimulate my thinking. There are reviews written of books, products, and pieces of technology that benefit my students and me as a teacher. At the NABT Conference, I greatly enjoy attending sessions because I discover many new ideas or I see a new twist with an old idea or activity that enhances my students’ learning experience. I find visiting with and attending exhibitor sessions is beneficial because I become aware of new products that may help my teaching and I find it helpful to establish relationships with the exhibitors so …
{"title":"Making a Commitment to NABT","authors":"M. Little","doi":"10.1525/ABT.2013.75.9.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/ABT.2013.75.9.1","url":null,"abstract":"With conference quickly approaching, I asked myself the question “Is NABT one of the top three professional organizations I belong to?” I believe this is a question that all of us need to ask ourselves and be able to answer with a resounding yes. For me personally, the answer is yes and I started thinking about all the personal and professional benefits that belonging to the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) provides me. There are many benefits for belonging to NABT and the following are some of the benefits I receive from being an active member. In each publication of The American Biology Teacher , there are many articles of interest and teaching ideas that stimulate my thinking. There are reviews written of books, products, and pieces of technology that benefit my students and me as a teacher. At the NABT Conference, I greatly enjoy attending sessions because I discover many new ideas or I see a new twist with an old idea or activity that enhances my students’ learning experience. I find visiting with and attending exhibitor sessions is beneficial because I become aware of new products that may help my teaching and I find it helpful to establish relationships with the exhibitors so …","PeriodicalId":50960,"journal":{"name":"American Biology Teacher","volume":"17 1","pages":"608-608"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2013-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75270584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}