scholarly journals Different but Equal? How Nonmajors and Majors Approach and Learn Genetics

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer K. Knight ◽  
Michelle K. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Study Time ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
Nonscience Majors ◽  
Study Techniques ◽  
The University ◽  
Biology Majors

Introductory biology courses are frequently offered separately to biology majors and nonbiology majors, with the assumption that the two groups of students are different enough to merit different courses. To assess the evidence behind this assumption, we compared students in two different genetics classes at the University of Colorado–Boulder, one class for nonscience majors (nonmajors) and the other class for biology majors and students planning a biology-related career (majors), to see whether these two groups of students were fundamentally different in performance and attitudes. To measure content knowledge, we administered identical assessments to both groups of students during the semester: a validated pre- and postcontent assessment (Genetics Concept Assessment), ungraded quizzes after problem-solving sessions, and questions on each exam. We measured attitudes, study time, and study techniques through online surveys. Majors outperformed nonmajors on content assessments, finishing with significantly higher learning gains. Nonmajors and majors also differed in their motivation, interest, study time, and expert-level of beliefs. We suggest that focusing on the process of science and its connection to students' lives will better engage and motivate nonmajors while still helping them learn the fundamental concepts of genetics.

Examining the Contribution of a Professional Development Program to Elementary Classroom Teachers’ Content Knowledge and Student Achievement: The Case of Basketball

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Lambros Stefanou ◽  
Niki Tsangaridou ◽  
Charalambos Y. Charalambous ◽  
Leonidas Kyriakides
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Elementary Classroom ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Direct Measures

Purpose: Teacher content knowledge (CK) and its contribution to student achievement (SA) are understudied in physical education, especially concerning the examination of the effectiveness of professional development (PD) programs using direct measures of teachers’ CK and SA. To make progress in this research area, this study investigated the contribution of a content-focused PD program to teachers’ CK and SA in basketball, using direct measures thereof. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was utilized to examine the contribution of a PD program. The authors measured the CK of 52 elementary classroom teachers and their fifth or sixth grade students’ (n = 913) achievement in basketball before and after the PD program. The data were analyzed using unilevel and multilevel regression analyses. Results: Teachers who participated in the PD program exhibited higher learning gains in their CK; their students also exhibited higher learning gains. Discussion and Conclusion: The study findings suggest that PD programs focused on enhancing teachers’ CK might also support SA.

scholarly journals A comparison study of human examples vs. non-human examples in an evolution lesson leads to differential impacts on student learning experiences in an introductory biology course

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Z. Grunspan ◽  
Ryan D. P. Dunk ◽  
M. Elizabeth Barnes ◽  
Jason R. Wiles ◽  
Sara E. Brownell
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Teaching Evolution ◽  
Student Background ◽  
Content Relevance ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Perceived Relevance ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

Abstract Background Instructors can teach evolution using any number of species contexts. However, not all species contexts are equal, and taxa choice can alter both cognitive and affective elements of learning. This is particularly true when teaching evolution using human examples, a promising method for evolution instruction that nevertheless comes with unique challenges. In this study, we tested how an evolution lesson focused on a human example may impact students’ engagement, perceived content relevance, learning gains, and level of discomfort, when compared to the same lesson using a non-human mammal example. We use this isomorphic lesson and a pre-post study design administered in a split-section introductory biology classroom to isolate the importance of the species context. Results For two of the four measurements of interest, the effect of using human examples could not be understood without accounting for student background. For learning gains, students with greater pre-class content knowledge benefited more from the human examples, while those with low levels of knowledge benefited from the non-human example. For perceived relevance, students who were more accepting of human evolution indicated greater content relevance from the human example. Regardless of condition, students with lower evolution acceptance reported greater levels of discomfort with the lesson. Conclusions Our results illustrate the complexities of using human examples to teach evolution. While these examples were beneficial for many students, they resulted in worse outcomes for students that were less accepting of evolution and those who entered the course with less content knowledge. These findings demonstrate the need to consider diverse student backgrounds when establishing best practices for using human examples to teach evolution.

The 1-MeV Electron Microscope Installation at the University of Colorado

1973 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 8-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mircea Fotino
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Developmental Biology ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
National Institutes Of Health ◽  
Experimental Program ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
The University ◽  
Research Resources

A new 1-MeV transmission electron microscope (Model JEM-1000) was installed at the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology of the University of Colorado in Boulder during the summer and fall of 1972 under the sponsorship of the Division of Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health. The installation was completed in October, 1972. It is installed primarily for the study of biological materials without many of the limitations hitherto unavoidable in standard transmission electron microscopy. Only the technical characteristics of the installation are briefly reviewed here. A more detailed discussion of the experimental program under way is being published elsewhere.

Discourse Mapping

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna BOEHNERT
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Politics ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Mapping Method ◽  
Science And Technology Policy ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Environmental Sciences ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
The University

This workshop will create a space for discussion on environmental politics and its impact on design for sustainable transitions. It will help participants identify different sustainability discourses; create a space for reflection on how these discourses influence design practice; and consider the environmental and social implications of different discourses. The workshop will do this work by encouraging knowledge sharing, reflection and interpretative mapping in a participatory space where individuals will create their own discourse maps. This work is informed by my research “Mapping Climate Communication” conducted at the Centre for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR) in the Cooperative Institute for Environmental Sciences (CIRES), the University of Colorado, Boulder. With this research project I developed a discourse mapping method based on the discourse analysis method of political scientists and sustainability scholars. Using my own work as an example, I will facilitate a process that will enable participants to create new discourse maps reflecting their own ideas and agendas.

John W. Boyer, The University of Chicago: A History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015), 676pp. ISBN: 9780226242514

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger L. Geiger
Keyword(s):  
Higher Learning ◽  
University Of Chicago ◽  
Democratic Institution ◽  
American Universities ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of The University ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Chicago Press

This chapter reviews the book The University of Chicago: A History (2015), by John W. Boyer. Founded in 1892, the University of Chicago is one of the world’s great institutions of higher learning. However, its past is also littered with myths, especially locally. Furthermore, the university has in significant ways been out of sync with the trends that have shaped other American universities. These issues and much else are examined by Boyer in the first modern history of the University of Chicago. Aside from rectifying myth, Boyer places the university in the broader history of American universities. He suggests that the early University of Chicago, in its combination of openness and quality, may have been the most democratic institution in American higher education. He also examines the reforms that overcame the chronic weaknesses that had plagued the university.

scholarly journals The WxChallenge: Forecasting Competition, Educational Tool, and Agent of Cultural Change

2013 ◽  
Vol 94 (10) ◽  
pp. 1501-1506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley G. Illston ◽  
Jeffrey B. Basara ◽  
Christopher Weiss ◽  
Mike Voss
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Educational Tool ◽  
Web Interfaces ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
University Of Oklahoma ◽  
The University

The WxChallenge, a project developed at the University of Oklahoma, brings a state-of-the-art, fun, and exciting forecast contest to participants at colleges and universities across North America. The challenge is to forecast the maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, and maximum wind speeds for select locations across the United States over a 24-h prediction period. The WxChallenge is open to all undergraduate and graduate students, as well as higher-education faculty, staff, and alumni. Through the use of World Wide Web interfaces accessible by personal computers, tablet computer, and smartphones, the WxChallenge provides a state-of-the-art portal to aid participants in submitting forecasts and alleviate many of the administrative issues (e.g., tracking and scoring) faced by local managers and professors. Since its inception in 2006, 110 universities have participated in the contest and it has been utilized as part of the curricula for 140 classroom courses at various institutions. The inherently challenging nature of the WxChallenge has encouraged its adoption as an educational tool. As its popularity has grown, professors have seen the utility of the Wx-Challenge as a teaching aid and it has become an instructional resource of many meteorological classes at institutions for higher learning. In addition to evidence of educational impacts, the competition has already begun to leave a cultural and social mark on the meteorological learning experience.

Some Thoughts on the Socratic Method

1984 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 6-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan M. Fishman
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Socratic Method ◽  
Teaching Techniques ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Question And Answer ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pedagogic Tool ◽  
The University

The Socratic method was the major pedagogic tool at the first great Western university, Plato's Academy, and continues to be respected, at least in theory, by teachers at our institutions of higher learning. Yet today many of Plato's heirs in the university community seem to hold several perhaps innocent but nonetheless serious misconceptions concerning the Socratic technique. As a political scientist interested in the history of political philosophy, I have developed some thoughts on this subject in response to repeated inquiries by colleagues and students alike.One popular inaccuracy describes the Socratic method as an openended question and answer process. Actually, the Socratic approach has a singular purpose, namely the search for truth, and it is this explicit goal rather than an informal procedure of give and take which distinguishes the Socratic method from other teaching techniques.

scholarly journals Assessing Genetic Variants in Matched Biocompartments From Patients With Serous Ovarian Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 153303382110279
Author(s):  
Brooke E. Sanders ◽  
Lisa Ku ◽  
Paul Walker ◽  
Benjamin G. Bitler
Keyword(s):  
Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Mutant Allele ◽  
Serous Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Brca Testing ◽  
Panel Testing ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
Gene Panel Testing ◽  
The University ◽  
Tumor Profiling

The clinical use of molecular tumor profiling (MTP) is expanding and there is an increasing use of MTP data to manage patient care. At the University of Colorado, 18 patients were diagnosed with primary serous ovarian cancer between 9/2015 and 6/2019 and consented for banking and analysis of tumor, ascites and plasma. All 18 patients had tumor and plasma samples that were sent for MTP, and 13 of 18 patients additionally had ascites collected and sent for MTP. 50-gene panel testing and BRCA testing were performed on primary tumor. BRCA genetic variants were more likely to be identified in plasma as compared to ascites or tumor, though not statistically significant ( P = 0.17). Co-occurring genetic variants between plasma and ascites were less common in comparison to co-occurring variants between tumor and plasma or tumor and ascites, though not statistically significant ( P = 0.68). Variants in KDR (VEGFR2) and TP53 were most likely to be conserved across all 3 biocompartments. Mutant allele frequencies (MAF) of individual genetic variants varied across biocompartments, though tended to be highest in the tumor, followed by ascites.

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