Students often struggle to transfer conceptual understanding from isolated instruction to a coherent mental model. This is especially true for the context of flight physics, fluid dynamics, or the concepts of aerodynamic lift, drag, stall, center of mass, and angle of attack. To elicit naïve concepts and expert models, we have developed a new, automatically scored multiple-choice test on introductory fluid dynamics. The Flight Physics Concept Inventory (FliP-CoIn) was developed for online or paper use as well as for pre-and/or post-evaluation. In its gamified form as a free-to-use Particify™ quiz, FliP-CoIn can also serve as a formative assessment and collaborative team-building event. Distractors are based on naïve student concepts
{"title":"The Flight Physics Concept Inventory: Reliably Evaluating Aerodynamic Lift, Drag and Associated (Naïve) Concepts of Flight in Class and In-Game","authors":"Florian Genz, André Bresges, Kathleen A. Falconer","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.27","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.27","url":null,"abstract":"Students often struggle to transfer conceptual understanding from isolated instruction to a coherent mental model. This is especially true for the context of flight physics, fluid dynamics, or the concepts of aerodynamic lift, drag, stall, center of mass, and angle of attack. To elicit naïve concepts and expert models, we have developed a new, automatically scored multiple-choice test on introductory fluid dynamics. The Flight Physics Concept Inventory (FliP-CoIn) was developed for online or paper use as well as for pre-and/or post-evaluation. In its gamified form as a free-to-use Particify™ quiz, FliP-CoIn can also serve as a formative assessment and collaborative team-building event. Distractors are based on naïve student concepts","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69329725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Students in non-majors’ biology courses may not choose careers that require biology content knowledge; however, all will encounter science in their lives. We redesigned a non-majors introductory biology course to support students in considering the importance of biology in their own lives. Our intent was to provide students with skills to engage in scientific reasoning, apply biological concepts
{"title":"Real World Scenarios in Non-Majors Biology","authors":"J. Sabel, Anna Bess Sorin","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.5","url":null,"abstract":"Students in non-majors’ biology courses may not choose careers that require biology content knowledge; however, all will encounter science in their lives. We redesigned a non-majors introductory biology course to support students in considering the importance of biology in their own lives. Our intent was to provide students with skills to engage in scientific reasoning, apply biological concepts","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69329996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are important regulators of drug efficacy and toxicity. Genetic variation in CYP isoforms can impact how well patients respond to medications or experience unwanted toxicities. PharmGKB is an online pharmacogenomics resource that collates the latest data and clinical guidelines on genetic variation and drug responses. The purpose of this lesson was to develop an interactive, case-based activity that demonstrated how pharmacogenetics can be used to influence the prescribing of medications. This lesson was provided to 71 students during a two-hour online interactive session. The lesson consisted of 1) a didactic lecture on pharmacogenetic principles, 2) an overview of the PharmGKB website by the instructor, and 3) patient cases that used the PharmGKB website to answer questions and make recommendations about drug therapy. Patient cases explored the impact of genetic variation in CYP enzymes on patients prescribed medications for different diseases including depression (citalopram, CYP2C19), pain (codeine, CYP2D6), organ transplantation (tacrolimus, CYP3A5), and viral infection (efavirenz, CYP2B6). Four additional cases are included in this lesson. Students reviewed the patient cases in small groups, used PharmGKB to answer questions and design treatment plans, and presented their recommendations to instructors and other students. Based on pre-/post-lesson assessment questions and student feedback, we conclude that an interactive, group-based activity can be used to teach basic principles of pharmacogenetics and connect students to online resources for drug dosing.
{"title":"Engaging Students in Pharmacogenetics: Patient Case Studies Using the PharmGKB Website.","authors":"Andrea M Mosquera, Lauren M Aleksunes","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.10","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are important regulators of drug efficacy and toxicity. Genetic variation in <i>CYP</i> isoforms can impact how well patients respond to medications or experience unwanted toxicities. PharmGKB is an online pharmacogenomics resource that collates the latest data and clinical guidelines on genetic variation and drug responses. The purpose of this lesson was to develop an interactive, case-based activity that demonstrated how pharmacogenetics can be used to influence the prescribing of medications. This lesson was provided to 71 students during a two-hour online interactive session. The lesson consisted of 1) a didactic lecture on pharmacogenetic principles, 2) an overview of the PharmGKB website by the instructor, and 3) patient cases that used the PharmGKB website to answer questions and make recommendations about drug therapy. Patient cases explored the impact of genetic variation in CYP enzymes on patients prescribed medications for different diseases including depression (citalopram, CYP2C19), pain (codeine, CYP2D6), organ transplantation (tacrolimus, CYP3A5), and viral infection (efavirenz, CYP2B6). Four additional cases are included in this lesson. Students reviewed the patient cases in small groups, used PharmGKB to answer questions and design treatment plans, and presented their recommendations to instructors and other students. Based on pre-/post-lesson assessment questions and student feedback, we conclude that an interactive, group-based activity can be used to teach basic principles of pharmacogenetics and connect students to online resources for drug dosing.</p>","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"10 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10357923/pdf/nihms-1888552.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9855105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Contagious diseases are unavoidable realities of life. Thus, understanding pathogens and their respective diseases is important in many biological subfields including evolution, ecology, health sciences, microbiology
{"title":"Defining and Understanding Pathogenic Disease: An Engaging Activity That Connects Students’ Lived Experiences With Their Academic Studies","authors":"Peggy L Brady","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.18","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.18","url":null,"abstract":"Contagious diseases are unavoidable realities of life. Thus, understanding pathogens and their respective diseases is important in many biological subfields including evolution, ecology, health sciences, microbiology","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69329575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There is a growing need for the development and communication of cell culture-based laboratory activities specifically designed for undergraduate students. This multi-week laboratory activity allows students to take part in the planning, experimentation, data analysis
{"title":"Fatty Acid Induction of Lipid Droplets in Cancer Cells","authors":"Jacob J. Adler","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.19","url":null,"abstract":"There is a growing need for the development and communication of cell culture-based laboratory activities specifically designed for undergraduate students. This multi-week laboratory activity allows students to take part in the planning, experimentation, data analysis","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69329586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kelly M. Schmid, Jennifer Avena, L. Hobbie, Pam Kalas, Tamara L Kelly, Amy L. Klocko, Iglika V. Pavlova, G. Radick, Lauren Edris Snow, Michelle K. Smith
Historically, undergraduate genetics courses have disproportionately focused on the impact of genes on phenotypes, rather than multifactorial concepts which consider how a combination of genes, the environment, and gene-by-environment interactions impacts traits. Updating the curriculum to include multifactorial concepts is important to align course materials to current understanding of genetics, and potentially reduce deterministic thinking, which is the belief that traits are solely controlled by genes. Currently there are few resources to help undergraduate biology instructors incorporate multifactorial concepts into their genetics courses, so we designed this lesson that centers on familiar, real-world examples. During this lesson, students learn how to distinguish between genetic and environmental sources of variation, and examine and interpret examples of how phenotypic variation can result from a combination of gene and environmental variation and interactions. This lesson, which is designed for both in-person and online classrooms, engages students in small group and large group discussion, figure interpretation, and provides questions that can be used for both formative and summative assessments. Results from assessment questions suggest that students found working through models depicting the interactions between genotypes and environments beneficial for their understanding of these complex topics.
{"title":"Honoring the Complexity of Genetics: Exploring the Role of Genes and the Environment Using Real World Examples","authors":"Kelly M. Schmid, Jennifer Avena, L. Hobbie, Pam Kalas, Tamara L Kelly, Amy L. Klocko, Iglika V. Pavlova, G. Radick, Lauren Edris Snow, Michelle K. Smith","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.2","url":null,"abstract":"Historically, undergraduate genetics courses have disproportionately focused on the impact of genes on phenotypes, rather than multifactorial concepts which consider how a combination of genes, the environment, and gene-by-environment interactions impacts traits. Updating the curriculum to include multifactorial concepts is important to align course materials to current understanding of genetics, and potentially reduce deterministic thinking, which is the belief that traits are solely controlled by genes. Currently there are few resources to help undergraduate biology instructors incorporate multifactorial concepts into their genetics courses, so we designed this lesson that centers on familiar, real-world examples. During this lesson, students learn how to distinguish between genetic and environmental sources of variation, and examine and interpret examples of how phenotypic variation can result from a combination of gene and environmental variation and interactions. This lesson, which is designed for both in-person and online classrooms, engages students in small group and large group discussion, figure interpretation, and provides questions that can be used for both formative and summative assessments. Results from assessment questions suggest that students found working through models depicting the interactions between genotypes and environments beneficial for their understanding of these complex topics.","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69329593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The ability to estimate physical quantities is a useful skill that can help develop critical thinking and scientific literacy. This lesson provides an accessible way to teach students how to estimate physical quantities by focusing on three key aspects: making assumptions based on previous experiences, explicitly converting units, and communicating the solution clearly. Students are first taught how to perform each of these three steps through a problem-based interactive learning cycle led by the instructor before performing further estimates in groups during a minimally structured investigation. Because this lesson is lean on physics content, it can be used in a variety of classes and is ideal as an early-term laboratory activity. Students engage with the activity by investigating spaces, planning an approach to a solution, and ultimately presenting that solution to one another.
{"title":"Learning How to Make “Good Enough” Estimations","authors":"Jon D. H. Gaffney","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.23","url":null,"abstract":"The ability to estimate physical quantities is a useful skill that can help develop critical thinking and scientific literacy. This lesson provides an accessible way to teach students how to estimate physical quantities by focusing on three key aspects: making assumptions based on previous experiences, explicitly converting units, and communicating the solution clearly. Students are first taught how to perform each of these three steps through a problem-based interactive learning cycle led by the instructor before performing further estimates in groups during a minimally structured investigation. Because this lesson is lean on physics content, it can be used in a variety of classes and is ideal as an early-term laboratory activity. Students engage with the activity by investigating spaces, planning an approach to a solution, and ultimately presenting that solution to one another.","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69329663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The photoelectric effect is one of the fundamental experiments that established the basis of quantum mechanics. Students studying this experiment in modern physics courses struggle to understand what it actually measured and why it is significant. This lesson is built around the PhET interactive simulation of this experiment. The activity involves the use of this open-source online simulation to carry out simulated experiments exploring the emission of electrons from metal surfaces when light is shone on them, and to compare those results with the predictions of the classical theory of light and its interactions with matter. This shows why Einstein’s quantum interpretation is needed to explain the observed behavior. Students complete a worksheet that guides them through the simulated experiment and comparison of observations with predictions of the classical theory of light and matter interactions. Then they are given the quantum interpretation, including exploring analogies to help develop their understanding. This presentation is supported by having students answer and discuss a set of questions in small groups. This lesson has achieved greatly improved student mastery of this fundamental experiment and how it shaped physics.
{"title":"Teaching the Photoelectric Effect Using an Open-Source Interactive Simulation","authors":"C. Wieman","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.34","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.34","url":null,"abstract":"The photoelectric effect is one of the fundamental experiments that established the basis of quantum mechanics. Students studying this experiment in modern physics courses struggle to understand what it actually measured and why it is significant. This lesson is built around the PhET interactive simulation of this experiment. The activity involves the use of this open-source online simulation to carry out simulated experiments exploring the emission of electrons from metal surfaces when light is shone on them, and to compare those results with the predictions of the classical theory of light and its interactions with matter. This shows why Einstein’s quantum interpretation is needed to explain the observed behavior. Students complete a worksheet that guides them through the simulated experiment and comparison of observations with predictions of the classical theory of light and matter interactions. Then they are given the quantum interpretation, including exploring analogies to help develop their understanding. This presentation is supported by having students answer and discuss a set of questions in small groups. This lesson has achieved greatly improved student mastery of this fundamental experiment and how it shaped physics.","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69329975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Evolutionary trees communicate both the diversity and unity of life, a central and important scientific concept, as highlighted by the Vision and Change undergraduate biology education movement. Evolutionary trees and cladograms are diagrams viewed by biologists as Rosetta Stone-like in how well they convey an enormous amount of information with clarity and precision. However, the majority of undergraduates in introductory biology courses find the non-linear diagram confusing and do not immediately understand the tree-thinking central to interpreting the evolutionary tree’s branching structure. Go Extinct! is an original board game featuring land vertebrates ( i
{"title":"Go Extinct! An Award-Winning Evolution Game That Teaches Tree-Thinking as Students Pursue the Winning Strategy","authors":"Ariel E. Marcy","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.9","url":null,"abstract":"Evolutionary trees communicate both the diversity and unity of life, a central and important scientific concept, as highlighted by the Vision and Change undergraduate biology education movement. Evolutionary trees and cladograms are diagrams viewed by biologists as Rosetta Stone-like in how well they convey an enormous amount of information with clarity and precision. However, the majority of undergraduates in introductory biology courses find the non-linear diagram confusing and do not immediately understand the tree-thinking central to interpreting the evolutionary tree’s branching structure. Go Extinct! is an original board game featuring land vertebrates ( i","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69330074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christina Makkar, Maria Dasios, Nicole Laliberté, Fiona Rawle
Learning from failure is critically important to the processes of scientific inquiry, discovery, and invention. However, students are not routinely taught how to reflect on, learn from, and ultimately embrace failure, and relatively few curricular examples and teaching tools exist for reflecting on failure and its relationship to discovery. In fact, many science textbooks are stories of past successes in science and often neglect the failures or missteps that led to major discoveries. Yet examples of failures, errors, setbacks, and accidents that led to innovation and discovery abound for use in instruction. Moreover, research suggests that students benefit when failure is openly discussed and reframed as integral to learning. We have curated a bank of examples as a teaching tool to encourage and guide discussions about learning from failure. We highlight systemic barriers to embracing failure and note resources (time, funding, security, cultural capital) that facilitate second chances; we cannot encourage students to embrace failure without acknowledging these needs. Nevertheless, reflecting on failure in science courses can hone the evaluative and creative capacities of students, aid in the development of procedural and metacognitive knowledge, and invite improvement in many science process skills including research, analysis, and experimental design and implementation. Importantly, reflecting on failure can also decrease stigma, promote resilience, and positively impact student wellbeing.
{"title":"Science “Fails”: A Bank of Historical Examples for Learning From Failure in Science","authors":"Christina Makkar, Maria Dasios, Nicole Laliberté, Fiona Rawle","doi":"10.24918/cs.2023.39","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2023.39","url":null,"abstract":"Learning from failure is critically important to the processes of scientific inquiry, discovery, and invention. However, students are not routinely taught how to reflect on, learn from, and ultimately embrace failure, and relatively few curricular examples and teaching tools exist for reflecting on failure and its relationship to discovery. In fact, many science textbooks are stories of past successes in science and often neglect the failures or missteps that led to major discoveries. Yet examples of failures, errors, setbacks, and accidents that led to innovation and discovery abound for use in instruction. Moreover, research suggests that students benefit when failure is openly discussed and reframed as integral to learning. We have curated a bank of examples as a teaching tool to encourage and guide discussions about learning from failure. We highlight systemic barriers to embracing failure and note resources (time, funding, security, cultural capital) that facilitate second chances; we cannot encourage students to embrace failure without acknowledging these needs. Nevertheless, reflecting on failure in science courses can hone the evaluative and creative capacities of students, aid in the development of procedural and metacognitive knowledge, and invite improvement in many science process skills including research, analysis, and experimental design and implementation. Importantly, reflecting on failure can also decrease stigma, promote resilience, and positively impact student wellbeing.","PeriodicalId":72713,"journal":{"name":"CourseSource","volume":"306 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134980927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}