BASIC CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Cbe-life Sciences Education, 2005

Cell Biology Education calls attention each quarter to several Web sites of educational interest to the biology community. The journal does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information at any of the listed sites. If you want to comment on the selections or suggest future inclusions, please send a message to E-mail: [email protected]. The sites listed below were last accessed on February 21, 2005.

2015

Web sites of educational interest to the life science community. The journal does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information at any of the listed sites. If you want to comment on the selections or suggest future inclusions, please send a message to

Bioscience, 1990

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American Biology Teacher, 1987

Robert Blystone earned his B.S. in biological sciences, Univ. of Texas at El Paso, 1965; M.A. in zoology, Univ. of Texas at Austin, 1968; and the Ph.D. in zoology, University of Texas at Austin, 1971. He has been at Trinity University since 1971 and was named Professor of Biology in 1984. In 1986 he was named a Piper Professor in recognition of his teaching excellence and work with undergraduate students. He divides his time on science education projects involving the study of textbooks and on the study of the development of the lung at or near the time of birth. He serves on committees for the American Society for Cell Biology, AAAS, and AIBS, NSTA, and the Electron Microscopy Society of America. College introductory biology textbooks have changed considerably over the last thirty years. In physical terms, popular textbooks of yesteryear such as Villee (1950) and Weisz (1954) averaged about 640 pages in length and weighed about 1.8 kg per book.

To help students develop successful strategies for learning how to learn and communicate complex information in cell biology, we developed a quarter-long cell biology class based on team projects. Each team researches a particular human disease and presents information about the cellular structure or process affected by the disease, the cellular and molecular biology of the disease, and recent research focused on understanding the cellular mechanisms of the disease process. To support effective teamwork and to help students develop collaboration skills useful for their future careers, we provide training in working in small groups. A final poster presentation, held in a public forum, summarizes what students have learned throughout the quarter. Although student satisfaction with the course is similar to that of standard lecture-based classes, a project-based class offers unique benefits to both the student and the instructor.

BioScience, 1988

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Cell Biology Education, 2005

Information literacy skills are critically important for the undergraduate biology student. The ability to find, understand, evaluate, and use information, whether from the scientific literature or from Web resources, is essential for a good understanding of a topic and for the conduct of research. A project in which students receive information literacy instruction and then proceed to select, update, and write about a current research topic in an upper-level cell biology course is described. Students research the chosen topic using paper and electronic resources, generate a list of relevant articles, prepare abstracts based on papers read, and, finally, prepare a ''state-of-theart'' paper on the topic. This approach, which extends over most of one semester, has resulted in a number of well-researched and well-written papers that incorporate some of the latest research in cell biology. The steps in this project have also led to students who are prepared to address future projects on new and complex topics. The project is part of an undergraduate course in cell biology, but parts of the assignments can be modified to fit a variety of subject areas and levels.

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2020

Teaching the processes of transcription and translation is challenging due to the intangibility of these concepts and a lack of instructional, laboratory-based, active learning modules. Harnessing the genetic code in vitro with cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) provides an open platform that allows for the direct manipulation of reaction conditions and biological machinery to enable inquiry-based learning. Here, we report our efforts to transform the research-based CFPS biotechnology into a hands-on module called the "Genetic Code Kit" for implementation into teaching laboratories. The Genetic Code Kit includes all reagents necessary for CFPS, as well as a laboratory manual, student worksheet, and augmented reality activity. This module allows students to actively explore transcription and translation while gaining exposure to an emerging research technology. In our testing of this module, undergraduate students who used the Genetic Code Kit in a teaching laboratory showed significant score increases on transcription and translation questions in a post-lab questionnaire compared with students who did not participate in the activity. Students also demonstrated an increase in self-reported confidence in laboratory methods and comfort with CFPS, indicating that this module helps prepare students for careers in laboratory research. Importantly, the Genetic Code Kit can accommodate a variety of learning objectives beyond transcription and translation and enables hypothesis-driven science. This opens the possibility of developing Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) based on the Genetic Code Kit, as well as supporting next-generation science standards in 8-12th grade science courses. Keywords: biochemical education, learn by doing, cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS), in vitro transcription and translation, synthetic biology (synbio), central dogma of molecular biology (CDMB), chemical education and teaching, augmented reality (AR) Abbreviations: CFPS, cell-free protein synthesis; CUREs, course-based undergraduate research experiences; sfGFP, superfolder green fluorescent protein.