Can Computer Animations Affect College Biology Students' Conceptions about Diffusion & Osmosis?

2001 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Sanger ◽  
Dorothy M. Brecheisen ◽  
Brian M. Hynek
Author(s):  
Suhang Jiang ◽  
Adrienne E. Williams ◽  
Mark Warschauer ◽  
Wenliang He ◽  
Diane K. O'Dowd

<p>There is concern that online education may widen the achievement gap between students from different socioeconomic classes. The recent discussion of integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) into formal higher education has added fuel to this debate. In this study, factors influencing enrollment and completion in a pre-college preparatory MOOC were explored. University of California at Irvine (UCI) students of all preparation levels, defined by math Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score, were invited to take a Bio Prep MOOC to help them prepare for introductory biology. Students with math SAT below 550 were offered the explicit incentive of an early change to the biology major upon successful completion of the MOOC and two additional onsite courses. Our results demonstrate that, among course registrants, a higher percentage of UCI students (&gt;60%) completed the course than non-UCI registrants from the general population (&lt;9%). Female UCI students had a greater likelihood of enrolling in the MOOC, but were not different from male students in terms of performance. University students entering with low preparation outperformed students entering who already had the credentials to become biology majors. These findings suggest that MOOCs can reach students, even those entering college with less preparation, before they enter university and have the potential to prepare them for challenging science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses.</p>


1998 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 448-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick G. Guilfoile ◽  
Stephen Plum

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Borgerding ◽  
Hasan Deniz ◽  
Elizabeth Shevock Anderson

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. ar18 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Elizabeth Barnes ◽  
Sara E. Brownell

Evolution is a core concept of biology, and yet many college biology students do not accept evolution because of their religious beliefs. However, we do not currently know how instructors perceive their role in helping students accept evolution or how they address the perceived conflict between religion and evolution when they teach evolution. This study explores instructor practices and beliefs related to mitigating students’ perceived conflict between religion and evolution. Interviews with 32 instructors revealed that many instructors do not believe it is their goal to help students accept evolution and that most instructors do not address the perceived conflict between religion and evolution. Instructors cited many barriers to discussing religion in the context of evolution in their classes, most notably the instructors’ own personal beliefs that religion and evolution may be incompatible. These data are exploratory and are intended to stimulate a series of questions about how we as college biology instructors teach evolution.


2010 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 499-500
Author(s):  
Amy Morris

Many biology students are drawn to medically oriented topics. This lab activity engages students with medical interests in botany. I find that students are interested in how plants can have medical applications, for example in pharmaceuticals. Several volatile oils of plants, such as thyme, oregano, tea tree, and black pepper oils, have been found to have antibacterial, antifungal, or antiviral properties. To further their interest in the plant kingdom, teachers can have students test a variety of essential oils for effectiveness as antibiotics. This activity requires only minimal microbiology technique and is appropriate for high school through introductory college biology and botany courses.


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