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Current Research in Biology Education

Selected Papers from the ERIDOB Community

• Konstantinos Korfiatis   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0297-6499 0 ,
• Marcus Grace   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1949-1765 1

Department of Education, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

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School of Education, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

• Combines high-quality papers from the ERIDOB 2020 conference
• Brings together current and innovative orientations in biology education
• Presents papers written by leading international researchers in biology education research

Part of the book series: Contributions from Biology Education Research (CBER)

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Table of contents (23 chapters)

Front matter, socioscientific issues, nature of science and scientific thinking, the relevancy of science education to public engagement with science.

• Ayelet Baram-Tsabari

Engaging in Argumentation as Critical Evaluation of the Anti-vaccination Movement

• Blanca Puig, Noa Ageitos

Theory of Planned Behavior in the Context of Stem Cell Donation

• Julia Holzer, Doris Elster

Prior Knowledge, Epistemic Beliefs and Socio-scientific Topic Context as Predictors of the Diversity of Arguments on Socio-scientific Issues

• Andreani Baytelman, Kalypso Iordanou, Costas P. Constantinou

Toward a Questionnaire to Assess Biology Student Teachers’ Knowledge of the Nature of Scientific Inquiry (NOSI)

• Corinne Charlotte Wacker, Marius Barth, Christoph Stahl, Kirsten Schlüter

Introducing Primary School Students to Aspects of the Nature of Scientific Knowledge

• Marida Ergazaki, Aggeliki Laourdeki

Teaching and Learning in Biology

Digital narratives for biology learning.

• María Napal Fraile, Isabel Zudaire Ripa, Irantzu Uriz Doray, Lander Calvelhe

Digital First? Effects of Digital and Analogue Learning Tools on the Plant Knowledge Acquisition of Future Biology Teachers

• Lars Emmerichs, Meike Mohneke, Sandra Hofhues, Kirsten Schlüter

Comparing Inquiry-Based Learning and Interactive Lectures While Teaching Physiology to Undergraduate Students

• Yvette Samaha, Assaad Yammine

Train the Trainer in the Jigsaw Puzzle of Biology Education: Effects of Mentor Training on Teaching Quality

• Emanuel Nestler, Carolin Retzlaff-Fürst, Jorge Groß

The Assessment of an Educational Proposal to Address the Relationship Between Genetic Information and Protein Synthesis

• Patricia Esteve-Guirao, Isabel Banos-González, Magdalena Valverde

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Teaching Intervention in a Marine Biology Course: The Case of Greek Vocational Students

• Athanasios Mogias, Eleftheria Peskelidou, Theodora Boubonari

Promoting Students’ Understanding of Gene-Environment Interaction in Genetics Education

• Johannes Zang, Marcus Hammann

Students’ Conceptions as a Neglected Perspective in Trainee Teachers’ Biology Lesson Plans

• Leroy Großmann, Dirk Krüger

Perceptions of Biology and Biology Education

Students’ opinions about interdisciplinary lessons.

• Annkathrin Wenzel, Norbert Grotjohann

Correlation Between the Popularity and Difficulty of Secondary School Biology and Perceived Importance of Knowledge Acquired for Personal Wellbeing

• Vida Lang, Andrej Šorgo

This book is a collection of full papers based on the peer-reviewed submissions accepted for the ERIDOB 2020 conference (which was cancelled due to COVID-19). ERIDOB brings together researchers in Biology Education from around the world to share and discuss their research work and results. It is the only major international conference on biology education research, and all the papers therefore are written by international researchers from across Europe (and beyond), which present the findings from a range of contemporary biology education research projects. They are all entirely new papers describing new research in the field. The papers are peer-reviewed by experienced international researchers selected by the ERIDOB Academic Committee. The papers reflect the ERIDOB conference strands by covering topics on:

• Socioscientific issues, Nature of Science and scientific thinking
• Teaching and learning in biology
• Perceptions of biology and biology education
• Textbook analysis
• Outdoor and environmental education 
• Biology didactics
• Biology education
• Biology education research
• Environmental education
• Health education
• Practical work and field work
• Research methods and theoretical issues
• Scientific thinking, nature of science and argumentation
• Social, cultural, and gender issues
• Students’ conceptions and conceptual change
• Students’ interest and motivation
• Students’ values, attitudes and decision-making
• Teaching strategies and teaching environments
• Teaching and learning with educational technology

Konstantinos Korfiatis

Marcus Grace

Book Title : Current Research in Biology Education

Book Subtitle : Selected Papers from the ERIDOB Community

Editors : Konstantinos Korfiatis, Marcus Grace

Series Title : Contributions from Biology Education Research

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89480-1

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Education , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-030-89479-5 Published: 17 March 2022

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-89482-5 Published: 18 March 2023

eBook ISBN : 978-3-030-89480-1 Published: 16 March 2022

Series ISSN : 2662-2319

Series E-ISSN : 2662-2327

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XVIII, 313

Number of Illustrations : 1 b/w illustrations

Topics : Science Education , Teaching and Teacher Education , Education, general , Study and Learning Skills , Life Sciences, general

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Contributions from Biology Education Research

Contributions from Biology Education Research (CBER) is the international book series of the European Researchers in Didactics of Biology (ERIDOB). The series includes edited collections of state-of-the-art papers presented at the ERIDOB international conferences, and monographs or edited collections of chapters by leading international scholars of the domain. The aim of the series is to shed light on global issues and trends in the teaching and learning of biology by gathering cutting edge research findings, theoretical views, and implications or concrete suggestions for everyday school practice regarding biology. The books may serve as resources for (a) getting informed about the most recent findings of biology education research to possibly integrate them in new personal research, and (b) studying about the teaching and learning of biology as a pre-service or in-service biology teacher. So, the main audiences for the series range from senior to early career biology education researchers and pre-or in-service biology teachers

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This study aims to investigate the trend of biological education research (BER) from 2000 to 2017 in the thesis of pre-service biology teachers. This study conducted a series of content analyses of the thesis from two universities. A total 1347 thesis were analyzed in terms of sample, method, design, elements and topics and subject matter. It was found that junior and senior high school were the most popular research sample trends. This study was also found that quantitive, research and development or/and educational design research became the trend of the method most chosen and conducted by preservice biology teachers. This findings were also indicated that descriptive, experimental, and 4-D were design trends chosen by preservice biology teachers. This study was also found that cognitive and media of learning were the research elements are the most chosen and conducted by preservice biology teachers. The next findings showed that system and cell was the most popular of biology top...

American Biology Teacher

Michael J Reiss , William McComas

An international group of biology education researchers offer their views on areas of scholarship that might positively impact our understanding of teaching and learning in biology and potentially inform practices in biology and life science instruction. This article contains a series of essays on topics that include a framework for biology education research, considerations in the preparation of biology teachers, increasing accessibility to biology for all learners, the role and challenges of language in biology teaching, sociocultural issues in biology instruction, and assisting students in coping with scientific innovations. These contributions are framed by a discussion of the value of defining several potential " grand challenges " in biology education.

Mustafa SOZBILIR

This paper provides a descriptive content analysis of biology education research papers published in eight major academic journals indexed in Social Science Citation Index [SSCI] of Thomson Reuters® from 1997 to 2014. Total of 1376 biology education research [BER] papers were examined. The findings indicated that most of the papers were published in the JBE and IJSE, and frequently studied topics were environment and ecology, genetics and biotechnology, and animal form and function. The findings were also indicated that learning, teaching and attitudes was in the forefront as the frequently investigated subject matters, undergraduate and secondary school students were mostly preferred as sample group and sample size mostly varies between 31-100 and 101-300. In addition, it was found out that interactive qualitative research designs were mostly preferred. Besides, that single data collection tool was generally used and this data collection tool included questionnaires, interviews and documents. Finally, frequency/percentage tables, central tendency measures, statistical analysis such as t-test and ANOVA/ANCOVA and content analysis were commonly used as data analysis.

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The third edition of the ASE's Teaching Secondary Biology sets out a vision for teaching and learning biology. Learning biology is not about learning the contents of a textbook. It is about conceptual learning, learning what it means to do biology and learning what it means to be a biologist. Our hope is that Teaching Secondary Biology helps teachers of biology to achieve these aims. The author team with whom we worked kept in mind a secondary teacher confronted with the task of teaching a specific topic, for example photosynthesis or evolution, and the preparation they would need to undertake. This article provides an overview of the book, which has sister volumes in chemistry and physics, and discusses ways in which teaching biology has much in common with teaching the other sciences, but is distinctive too. Teaching secondary biology Reiss and Winterbottom

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• Published: 02 December 2019

Biology education research: building integrative frameworks for teaching and learning about living systems

• Ross H. Nehm   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5029-740X 1  

Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research volume  1 , Article number:  15 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

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This critical review examines the challenges and opportunities facing the field of Biology Education Research (BER). Ongoing disciplinary fragmentation is identified as a force working in opposition to the development of unifying conceptual frameworks for living systems and for understanding student thinking about living systems. A review of Concept Inventory (CI) research is used to illustrate how the absence of conceptual frameworks can complicate attempts to uncover student thinking about living systems and efforts to guide biology instruction. The review identifies possible starting points for the development of integrative cognitive and disciplinary frameworks for BER. First, relevant insights from developmental and cognitive psychology are reviewed and their connections are drawn to biology education. Second, prior theoretical work by biologists is highlighted as a starting point for re-integrating biology using discipline-focused frameworks. Specifically, three interdependent disciplinary themes are proposed as central to making sense of disciplinary core ideas: unity and diversity; randomness, probability, and contingency; and scale, hierarchy, and emergence. Overall, the review emphasizes that cognitive and conceptual grounding will help to foster much needed epistemic stability and guide the development of integrative empirical research agendas for BER.

Introduction

Many policy documents emphasize that student understanding of living systems requires the integration of concepts that span levels of biological organization, encompass the tree of life, and cross different fields of study (AAAS, 2011 ; NRC, 2009 ; NSF, 2019 ). Yet the institutional, disciplinary, and curricular structuring of the life sciences often works in opposition to these pursuits. More so than in physics and chemistry, “biology” encompasses an expansive array of disciplines, each of which is often housed in a different academic department (e.g., microbiology, botany, genetics). These disciplines often organize into different academic societies, communicate through different journals, embrace different methodological frameworks, and gather at separate scientific conferences. Such fragmentation is evident at many universities, which lack “biology” departments altogether, and may instead be organized by taxonomy (e.g., botany, zoology, microbiology departments), concept (e.g., genetics, ecology, evolution departments), unit or scale (e.g., cell biology, biochemistry). There is no organizational blueprint characteristic of biology departments in the United States, for example. Given that most universities have not identified a singular solution for structuring the life sciences, it is unsurprising that diverse structures also characterize biology education research. Disciplinary (and corresponding educational) fragmentation works against attempts at fostering an integrative understanding of living systems for students, which is arguably a foundational goal of biology education.

In this critical review I examine some of the conceptual challenges facing the field of Biology Education Research (BER). These challenges reflect the substantial disciplinary fragmentation of BER, but they also highlight opportunities for advancing student understanding of living systems. I focus on the conceptual foundations of the discipline because they are a unique feature of biology education and have received substantially less attention than education practices (e.g., active learning, course-based research experiences, inclusive pedagogies). I begin by documenting the disciplinary fragmentation of the biological sciences and the corresponding heterogeneity and conceptual fragmentation of BER efforts. A consequence of such compartmentalization has been the lack of attention to the development and testing of unifying conceptual frameworks for (i) living systems and (ii) student thinking about living systems (in contrast to individual concepts, such as mutation, heredity, or genetic drift). This finding aligns with prior reviews that have also noted limited empirical-theoretical coordination within BER. The lack of attention to unifying frameworks for both biology and BER has consequences for biology education. A review of Concept Inventory (CI) research is used to illustrate how the absence of robust conceptual frameworks can complicate attempts to uncover student thinking about living systems and to guide biology instruction. The reviews of BER scholarship and CIs are used to motivate discussion of possible blueprints for BER-specific frameworks. First, findings from developmental and cognitive psychology are proposed as central to the development of cognitive frameworks. Second, possible disciplinary frameworks for BER are proposed after summarizing attempts by biologists to establish unifying themes for living systems that transcend individual subdisciplines. These themes include unity and diversity; randomness, probability, and contingency; and scale, hierarchy, and emergence. The review ends by emphasizing that the most significant opportunity for strengthening and unifying BER lies in the formulation of conceptual frameworks that account for how learners make sense of living systems as they progress through ontogeny and formal education. Such frameworks are much-needed tools for organizing and executing field-specific disciplinary research agendas.

The disciplinary structures of biology and biology education research

Many journals focus on BER and have grown out of the disciplinary structures and educational needs of academic departments; this history helps to make sense of the fragmented structure currently characterizing BER. Many biological disciplines have produced associated educational journals that serve as examples: Microbiology ( Journal of Biology and Microbiology Education ), Evolution (e.g., Evolution: Education and Outreach ), and Neuroscience (e.g., Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education ) (see Table  1 ). In many respects, this situation mirrors the explosion of discipline-specific journals in the life sciences.

Many of the research questions addressed within BER subdisciplines are an outgrowth of the educational contexts in which biological specialists have worked. The pressure to update curricula to reflect discipline-specific advances, for example, is a challenge inherent to all of the biological sciences (perhaps to a greater degree than in introductory physics and chemistry, where the content has remained relatively stable for the past century). Indeed, entirely new research areas (e.g., microbiomes, ancient DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid]) and methods (e.g., bioinformatics, CRISPR [clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats]) emerge with increasing tempo each decade. Keeping students up-to-date with discipline-specific understanding is an ongoing challenge that has spurred educational reform, innovation, and ongoing professional development within biological subdisciplines (e.g., physiology) and their associated journals.

A second feature of the fragmented nature of biology education is the seemingly unique learning challenges that have been identified within each disciplinary context (e.g., microbiology, evolution, genetics). The challenge of addressing the student misconception that bacteria are primarily pathogenic, for example, is of particular concern within microbiology; developing approaches to tackle goal-driven reasoning about evolutionary change is central to evolution education; and helping students recognize the genetic similarity of eye cells and liver cells is foundational to genetics and genomics. Many educational efforts in biology education have arisen from attempts to tackle domain-specific learning challenges, including the development of tools for diagnosing topic-specific misunderstandings (see Student Thinking about Living Systems, below). Perhaps as a consequence of disciplinary isolation, markedly less work in BER has sought to identify common threads in the fabric of student confusion and to weave them into unified models of biological reasoning that are capable of explaining seemingly disparate educational challenges (although see Coley & Tanner, 2012 ; Opfer et al., 2012 , for cognition-based examples of such efforts).

The fragmentation of BER efforts and journals could be viewed as an historically contingent outcome of the disciplinary structure of the biological sciences and the unique challenges that characterize them. But a less myopic view might reveal cross-cutting commonalities across disciplines (see below). Indeed, recent efforts in the United States and elsewhere have attempted to reform the biology curriculum and highlight cross-cutting concepts that undergird many different subdisciplines (e.g., Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education , AAAS, 2011 ). Efforts have also been made to bring different biology education communities together under new organizational arrangements (e.g., SABER: Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research; ERIDOB: European Researchers In the Didactics Of Biology). Following these biology-specific unification efforts, the National Research Council ( 2012 ) has also attempted to define and unite the efforts of chemistry, physics, and biology education researchers under the umbrella of “Discipline-Based Educational Research” (DBER). It is clear that the disciplinary structure of biology education, like that of other educational research disciplines, is in flux. Attempts to integrate pockets of disciplinary research activity is ongoing, and it is too soon to characterize the outcomes of these efforts. But disciplinary unification is often fostered by conceptual frameworks that encompass the needs and goals of stakeholders (Miller, 1978 ). Such work will be invaluable for guiding educational integration.

In summary, the range and diversity of BER journals and research efforts (Table 1 ) continue to mirror the tangled disciplinary and academic roots from which they grew. Unifying the paradigms and perspectives being generated from multiple BER journals and scientific societies is challenging, yet a worthy goal if true conceptual unification into a “BER community” (or an even larger “DBER community”) is to be achieved. In the following sections, some cross-cutting themes from this expansive body of work are identified, reviewed, and critiqued. Much like BER itself, there are many alternative frameworks that could effectively characterize this evolving area of scholarship. But a persistent question that emerges from a review of this fractured body of work is whether there are sufficient conceptual and theoretical frameworks capable of supporting the challenge of disciplinary unification (and corresponding educational unification).

Conceptual and theoretical frameworks for biology education research

Theory building linked to causal explanation is a central goal of scientific and social-science research, although the two fields often differ in the number of theories used to explain particular phenomena. In both realms “… research emanates from the researcher’s implicit or explicit theory of the phenomenon under investigation” (Rocco & Plakhotnik, 2009 , p. 121). Therefore, clear specification of theoretical framing and grounding is essential to the research enterprise (Imenda, 2014 ). A question in need of attention is what conceptual or theoretical frameworks help to frame, ground, and unite BER as a standalone field of educational inquiry (cf. Nehm, 2014 )? Two of the more recent reviews of BER history and scholarship are notable in that they did not identify (or propose) discipline-specific educational frameworks (Dirks, 2011 ; deHaan, 2011 ). In her characterization of BER studies from 1990 to 2010, for example, Dirks ( 2011 ) identified three categories of scholarship: (1) student learning or performance, (2) student attitudes and beliefs, and (3) concept inventories and validated instruments. Within each category, Dirks examined the theoretical frameworks that were used to guide the empirical work that she reviewed. Few studies in these three categories linked empirical investigations to explicit theoretical frameworks. Instead, BER scholars framed their investigations in terms of ‘problem description.’ In cases where theoretical frameworks were hinted at, they were quite general (e.g., Bloom’s Taxonomy, Ausubel’s emphasis on prior knowledge and learning). The vast majority of studies in Dirks’s ( 2011 ) review lacked discipline-based educational framing and conceptual grounding, and no BER-specific theoretical frameworks were identified.

deHaan’s ( 2011 ) review of the history of BER also touched upon the theoretical frameworks that have been used to guide BER. Three frameworks--constructivism, conceptual change, and “others” (i.e., social interdependence and theories of intelligence)--were identified. It is notable that these frameworks did not originate within BER (they are frameworks developed in education and psychology) and they are not discipline-specific (i.e., educational frameworks unique to BER). Although not inherently problematic, one might expect (or indeed require) a discipline-focused educational enterprise to pursue and establish discipline-focused frameworks. If such frameworks are lacking, then the question arises as to what unifies and organizes the pursuits of affiliated scholars. A superficial, a-theoretical, and unsatisfying answer to this question could be that “BER focuses on biology education.” Overall, these reviews and a corresponding examination of studies from a variety of journals (Table 1 ) suggest that BER typically lacks discipline-specific conceptual or theoretical frameworks.

Although many BER studies lack explicit anchoring in conceptual or theoretical frameworks unique to living systems, some work has attempted to build such frameworks. Conceptual frameworks for the disciplinary core ideas of (i) information flow in living systems and (ii) evolutionary change illustrate how different concepts and empirical findings may be related to one another and integrated into a framework that explains, predicts, and guides research in biology education (Fig.  1 ). Shea et al. ( 2015 ), for example, elaborated on Stewart et al.’s ( 2005 ) genetics literacy model and presented a tripartite framework showing the interrelationships among content knowledge use, argumentation quality, and the role of item surface features in genetic reasoning (Fig. 1 a). This conceptual framework is biology-specific (i.e., addresses student reasoning about the disciplinary core idea of information flow at various scales) and applicable to most living systems (i.e., attends to phylogenetic diversity). The addition of argumentation to this model is valuable but not necessarily unique to this topic (argumentation is a practice central to all of science). This framework is a useful example because it (i) synthesizes prior empirical work, (ii) explains why student reasoning about information flow may fail to reach performance expectations, (iii) guides future research agendas and associated studies, (iv) applies broadly to living systems, and (v) motivates the development of particular curricular and pedagogical strategies.

Examples of conceptual frameworks developed for biology education research. a A three-part conceptual framework for genetics literacy encompassing situational features, content knowledge use, and argumentation quality (modified from Shea et al. 2015 ). b A conceptual framework for evolutionary reasoning encompassing long-term memory, problem-solving processes, and item features (similar to the situational features of Shea et al. 2015 ). Modified from Nehm ( 2018 )

The second conceptual framework focuses on student reasoning about evolutionary change (Fig. 1 b). Nehm ( 2018 ) presents a conceptual framework that integrates aspects of Information Processing Theory, empirical findings on novice-expert evolutionary reasoning, and student challenges with evolutionary mechanisms (Fig. 1 b; see also Ha & Nehm 2014 ; Nehm & Ha, 2011 , Nehm and Ridgway 2011 ). When encountering tasks (or situations) that prompt for explanations of evolutionary change, sensitivity to item features (e.g., familiar plant species that have or lack thorns) impacts internal problem representation, which in turn affects the recruitment of individual concepts and schemas from long-term memory into working memory. The utilization of different assemblages of cognitive resources is driven by the features of the living systems. Like Shea et al.’s ( 2015 ) conceptual framework, Nehm’s ( 2018 ) conceptual framework (i) integrates existing theory (i.e., information processing theory) with prior empirical work, (ii) accounts for why student reasoning about evolutionary change may fail to reach performance expectations, (iii) guides future research agendas, and (iv) motivates the development of curricular and pedagogical strategies to address particular cognitive bottlenecks noted in the framework. Both of these frameworks attend to fundamental features of living systems (i.e., information flow, evolution) that transcend individual cases and exemplars (i.e., they consider diversity as a core feature of biological reasoning). Although both examples are simple, they organize a range of concepts central to understanding disciplinary thinking.

In summary, many factors work to maintain division among life science subfields (e.g., separate departments, conferences, journals, language; Table 1 ), and few counteracting factors promote unification (e.g., curricular cohesion, conceptual frameworks). Fragmentation of BER is an inevitable result. Interestingly, life scientists have long been concerned with a parallel challenge: the lack of attention to theoretical grounding and conceptual unification. The next section briefly reviews prior attempts to promote the development of conceptual frameworks for the life sciences. Although these frameworks do not address educational research specifically, they identify unifying concepts and principles that are essential starting points for building more robust conceptual foundations and frameworks for BER.

Conceptual frameworks for biology and biology education research

The past 60 years included several formal attempts to generate a conceptual framework for living systems and articulate a corresponding vision for the life sciences (e.g., Gerard and Stephens 1958 ; Miller, 1978 ; AAAS, 2011 ; NSF, 2019 ). The importance of theoretical foundations for biology was raised by Weiss ( 1958 , p. 93): “… the question [is] whether present-day biology is paying too little attention to its conceptual foundations, and if so, why.” In the 1950’s, the Biology Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences invited eminent biologists (e.g., Rollin Hotchkiss, Ernst Mayr, Sewell Wright) to explore the conceptual foundations of the life sciences given apparent disciplinary fragmentation. The report that emerged from their discussions and deliberations (NRC, 1958 ) attempted to re-envision biology through a more theoretical lens and generate a conceptual and hierarchical reconceptualization of the study of life. Conceptually, it included the broad categories of “Methods,” “Disciplines,” and “Concepts.” Methods organized life science research by the approaches used to generate understanding (e.g., immune tests, breeding, staining, factor analysis). Disciplines (structure [architecture, spatial relations, negative entropy]), and “Concepts” (history [origin]). Each of these categories—Methods, Disciplines, and Concepts--were then uniquely characterized at different biological scales (i.e., molecule, organelle, cell, organ, individual, small group, species, community/ecosystem, and total biota).

Three salient features of this early work include: (1) acknowledging the importance of conceptual grounding for the life sciences in light of disciplinary fragmentation; (2) situating academic topics and disciplines (e.g., anatomy, microbiology, ecology) within a conceptual superstructure (i.e., Structure, Equilibrium, History) and (3) highlighting the centrality of scale when considering life science Concepts, Methods, and Disciplines.

The U.S. National Research Council report Concepts of Biology ( 1958 ), while concerned with conceptual and disciplinary unification, did not lose sight of inherent connections to educational pursuits and outcomes: “Any success in improving the intellectual ordering of our subject would contribute to improved public relations, to the recruitment of more superior students, and to a better internal structure which would favor better teaching and research and in turn attract more students and support” (Weiss, 1958 , p. 95). These and many other significant efforts (e.g., Miller, 1978 ) confirm that the struggle for conceptual and educational unification of the life sciences has been ongoing, and repeated calls for unity suggest that the successes of these early efforts have been limited.

Although the history of BER illuminates the deeper roots of disciplinary challenges (deHaan 2011 ), attention to recent progress should also be noted. The efforts to develop and deploy unified conceptual and curricular frameworks for biology education that mirror expert conceptualizations are ongoing (e.g., AAAS, 2011 ; NSF, 2019 ). In the United States, for example, the past two decades have witnessed substantial progress on how to structure and reform undergraduate and K-12 biology education. Emerging from interactions among many different stakeholders and scholars (see Brownell, Freeman, Wenderoth, & Crowe, 2014 , their Table 1 ) and mirroring curricular innovations by working groups of biologists (e.g., Klymkowsky, Rentsch, Begovic, & Cooper, 2016 ) arose Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (AAAS, 2011 ) and, later, the Next Generation Science Standards (NRC, 2013 ). Both initiatives have attempted to winnow down the expansive range of biological topics that students experience and reorganize them into a more cohesive conceptual and curricular framework (much like NRC 1958 and Miller 1978 ). This framework is notable in that it continues to move the life sciences away from historically-based disciplinary structures focused on taxon (e.g., microbiology, botany, zoology) and towards more theoretical, principle-based schemes (e.g., structure and function) that transcend individual biological scales.

For example, Vision and Change reorganized biological knowledge according to five core concepts (AAAS, 2011 , pp. 12–14): (1) Evolution (The diversity of life evolved over time by processes of mutation, selection, and genetic change); (2) Structure and Function (Basic units of structure define the function of all living things); (3) Information Flow, Exchange, and Storage (The growth and behavior of organisms are activated through the expression of genetic information in context); (4) Pathways and Transformations of Energy and Matter (Biological systems grow and change by processes based upon chemical transformation pathways and are governed by the laws of thermodynamics); and (5) Systems (Living systems are interconnected and interacting). Many of these ideas are in alignment with previous conceptual work by Gerard and Stephens ( 1958 ) and Miller ( 1978 ). Vision and Change , however, provides a very limited characterization of these core concepts and does not explicitly discuss their interrelationships across biological scales (e.g., gene, organism, species, ecosystem).

The BioCore Guide (Brownell et al., 2014 ) was developed to provide more fine-grained and longer-term guidance for conceptualizing and implementing the goals of Vision and Change . Specifically, principles and statements were derived for each of the five Vision and Change core concepts in order to structure undergraduate degree learning pathways (Brownell et al., 2014 ). Efforts have also been made to stimulate change within institutions. Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE Community, 2019 ), for example, has been developed to encourage adoption of these curricular innovations and self-reflection by life science departments.

Collectively, these conceptually-grounded curriculum frameworks (e.g., Vision and Change , BioCore) and associated reform efforts (PULSE) are important, new unifying forces counteracting the fragmented structure of the biological sciences. They also form necessary (but insufficient) substrates for constructing conceptual frameworks for BER. They are insufficient because, from an educational vantage point, identifying the concepts, schemas, and frameworks of a discipline is only one aspect of the challenge; these ideas must articulate in some way with how students think, reason, and learn about biological concepts and living systems. The next section reviews progress and limitations of biology educators’ attempts to understand student thinking about living systems in light of these disciplinary frameworks (e.g., NRC, 1958 ; Miller, 1978 ; AAAS, 2011 ).

Student thinking about living systems

Educational efforts to foster cognitive and practice-based competencies that align with disciplinary frameworks (such as Vision and Change ) must consider what is known about student thinking about living systems. It is therefore essential to consider how the BER community has approached this challenge, what they have learned, and what remains to be understood about living systems (e.g., NRC, 1958 ; Miller, 1978 ; AAAS, 2011 ).

The absence of robust conceptual and theoretical frameworks for the life sciences has not prevented teachers and educational researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds (e.g., microbiology, ecology) from identifying domain-specific learning challenges and misunderstandings (Driver et al. 1994 ; Pfundt & Duit, 1998 ; NRC, 2001 ). Hundreds of individual concepts (e.g., osmosis, recombination, genetic drift, trophic levels, global warming) are typically presented to students in textbooks and taught in classrooms (NRC, 1958 ). Biology teachers have correspondingly noticed, and biology researchers have empirically documented, an array of misunderstandings about these individual concepts and topics (for reviews, see Pfundt & Duit, 1998 ; Reiss and Kampourakis 2018 ). When attempting to solve biological problems, for example, many university students: convert matter into energy in biological systems; adopt use-and-disuse inheritance to explain changes in life over time; and account for differences between eye and liver cells as a result of DNA differences. Many of the same misunderstandings have been documented in young children (Driver, Squires, Rushworth, & Wood-Robinson, 1994 ; Pfundt & Duit, 1998 ).

The ubiquity and abundance of these non-normative conceptions and reasoning patterns has led biology educators in different subfields (see Table 1 ) to develop concept-specific assessment tools or instruments (so-called “Concept Inventories”) in order to document the ideas (both normative and non-normative) that students bring with them to biology classrooms (Table  2 ). For particular topics or concepts, researchers have consolidated studies of student misunderstandings by category (e.g., Driver et al., 1994 ; Pfundt & Duit, 1998 ), confirmed and refined descriptions of these misunderstandings using clinical interviews, and developed associated suites of assessment items relevant to a particular idea (i.e., concept, principle).

CIs typically contain items offering one normative scientific answer option along with a variety of commonly held misconception foils. These instruments are designed for instructors to uncover which non-normative ideas are most appealing to students and measure general levels of normative understanding. CIs have been developed for many topics in the biological subfields of cell biology, genetics, physiology, evolution, and ecology. The number of biology CIs continues to grow each year, providing valuable tools for uncovering student thinking about specific biological ideas (Table 2 ).

Biology CIs have advanced prior work on student misconceptions (Pfundt & Duit, 1998 ) by: (1) focusing attention on the core ideas of greatest importance to concept or topic learning (e.g., osmosis and diffusion), (2) attending to a broad range of common misunderstandings (previously identified in a variety of separate studies), (3) quantitatively documenting student understanding using large participant samples (in contrast to smaller-scale, qualitative studies); and (4) establishing more generalizable claims concerning students’ mastery of biology concepts (facilitated by easy administration and multiple-choice format). As noted by Dirks ( 2011 ), concept inventory development was an important advance for the BER community by helping biologists recognize the ubiquity of biology misunderstandings and learning difficulties throughout the educational hierarchy.

Given the importance of CI development to BER (Dirks, 2011 ; see above), a critical review of this work is in order. I identify six limitations in order to illustrate some of the remaining challenges to understanding student thinking about living systems. The first major limitation of BER CI development is that it continues to be largely descriptive, a-theoretical, and lacking in explicit grounding in cognitive or conceptual frameworks (BER-specific or otherwise) (e.g., NRC, 2001 ). I will illustrate the practical significance of frameworks for living systems and theoretical frameworks for measurement using the National Research Council’s ( 2001 ) “assessment triangle”. In brief, the assessment triangle encompasses the three most central and necessary features for embarking upon studies of student understanding (and CI development): cognition, observation, and interpretation (as well as interconnections thereof; see Fig. 1 ). Cognition refers to the relevant features and processes of the cognitive system that are used to frame and ground the development of assessment tasks. Observation refers to the tangible artifacts (e.g., verbal utterances, written text, diagrams) that are generated as a result of engaging with such tasks. Interpretation refers to the inferences drawn from analyses of the observations produced by the tasks.

All three corners of the assessment triangle are inextricably interrelated (Fig. 1 ). For example, interpretation relies on appropriate analyses of the observations , and the observations only have meaning when viewed in light of the cognitive models used to construct the assessment tasks. Misinterpretations and faulty inferences about student understanding may arise from implicit and unexamined (or false) assumptions at any corner of the triangle (e.g. inappropriate tasks, inappropriate analyses of observations, inappropriate theoretical grounding). The NRC assessment triangle identifies the central features involved in making inferences about student reasoning (e.g., reasoning about biological systems). Remarkably few biology CIs have attended to all of these central features.

The cognition corner of the NRC’s ( 2001 ) assessment triangle demands focused attention on what is known about how students conceptualize and process information in general and biological systems in particular. That is, theories of cognition and theories of biological reasoning should undergird and support claims about what CI tasks are seeking to capture. The majority of CIs examined lack grounding in well-established theories of cognition (e.g., information processing theory, situated cognition theory) or theories of biological thinking and reasoning (e.g., categorization of living vs. non-living; see below). As a result, the necessary features of assessment design (Fig.  2 ) are lacking; this generates an unstable base for task design, data interpretation, and claims about biological thinking (Opfer et al., 2012 ).

The NRC Assessment Triangle. Measurement and assessment of student understanding requires the integration of cognitive models, observations, and interpretations of observations in light of cognitive models. Models of thinking about living systems—the cognition corner—are therefore crucial to the development, application, and evaluation of assessments

A practical example may help to elucidate how the interplay among assessment triangle vertices impact claims drawn from CIs. Consider the role that the diversity of life might play in biological reasoning, for example. If the cognitive model (e.g., information processing theory) undergirding CI task design assumes that students will activate different ideas depending upon the taxon used in the assessment task (e.g., plant, non-human animal, human animal, fungus, bacteria), then multiple taxonomic contexts will be necessary in order to gather relevant observations and to draw robust inferences about how students think. If, on the other hand, the cognitive model assumes that students process information using abstractions of concepts, then attention to taxonomy in task design is unnecessary and most biological exemplars will suffice. The items that are developed and the corresponding scores that emerge from these two different cognitive perspectives are likely to be different. Cognition, observation, and interpretation (Fig. 2 ) emerge as necessary considerations in biology CI development, implementation, and score interpretations. Most CIs (Table 2 ) lack explicit alignment with the NRC’s ( 2001 ) assessment triangle, contain implicit or unexamined cognitive assumptions, and as a result may generate ambiguous or debatable claims about student thinking about living systems (and, ultimately, cloud the field’s attempt to make sense of how students think about living systems) (Tornabene, Lavington, & Nehm, 2018 ).

In addition to the lack of attention to theoretical grounding (i.e., NRC, 2001 ), a second limitation of CIs relates to their practical utility for biology education (Table  3 ). Given that hundreds of topics are typically included in textbooks and taught in biology classes (NRC, 1958 ), and dozens of CIs have now been developed (e.g., Table 2 ), the question arises as to what to do with them; what, in other words, is the broader aim of building this expansive test battery? Assessing all of the major domains for which CIs have been developed would require substantial amounts of time and effort. Devoting class time to all of the biological preconceptions and alternative conceptions uncovered by all of these instruments would require eliminating many other learning objectives or reorganizing biology instruction. The field has not developed practical strategies for aligning the numerous isolated insights generated from CIs with the practical realities of instruction, or the broader goals for BER.

One practical solution for making use of the broad array of CIs would be to develop and deploy Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs) capable of automatically diagnosing levels of conceptual understanding (as opposed to administering all assessment items from all of the CIs) and delivering personalized instructional resources aligned with documented learning difficulties. These digital tools could be provided as pre-class assignments or as supplemental resources. Another solution more closely tied with the focus of this critical review would be to identify learning challenges apparent across CIs (e.g., difficulties in reasoning about living systems) and to develop corresponding instructional materials to address these broader misunderstandings or promote cognitive coherence. This approach circles attention back to the question of how conceptual frameworks for biology and biology education could be leveraged to unify understanding of diverse misconceptions across subdisciplines (see Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks for Biology Education Research, above).

A third limitation of biology CIs relates to the design of assessment tasks and the inferences that are drawn from their scores. When employing open-ended assessment tasks and clinical interviews, some BER research has shown that a majority of students utilize mixtures of normative and non-normative ideas together in their biological explanations (Nehm & Schonfeld, 2008 , 2010 ). Most CI instrument items nevertheless continue to employ multiple-choice (MC) formats and only permit students to choose between a normative or a non-normative answer option. This format may, in turn, introduce noise into the measurement process and weaken validity inferences. Multiple-True-False (MTF) items are one solution to this problem. Using MTF formats, students are permitted to indicate whether they consider each answer option to be correct or incorrect, thereby breaking the task design constraint evident in either-or item options. This limitation is another example of how consideration of both cognition (i.e., mixed cognitive models exist) and task design (MC vs. MTF) work together to impact the quality and meaning of inferences about biological thinking drawn from CI scores (i.e., observations).

A fourth limitation of BER CIs concerns the authenticity of the assessment tasks themselves. Most CIs assess pieces of knowledge using MC items. It is not clear if students who are able to achieve high scores (i.e., select the constellation of normative answer options across multiple items) understand the concept as a whole (Nehm & Haertig, 2012 ). For example, just because students select the normative ideas of mutation , heritability , environmental change , and differential survival from a pool of normative and non-normative item options does not necessarily mean that they would assemble these ideas in a scientifically correct manner. A student could, for example, use the aforementioned ideas to build an explanation in which environmental change in a particular habitat causes heritable mutations which in turn help these organisms differentially survive . Thus, non-normative models may be assembled from normative “pieces.” This is another example of how inferences about students’ biological understandings are tied to assessment and cognitive frameworks.

One solution to this challenge is to utilize Ordered Multiple Choice (OMC) items. These items prompt students to choose from among explanatory responses integrating many normative and non-normative combinations (as opposed to asking students to select individual ideas or conceptual fragments). These explanatory models could be designed to mirror hypothesized levels of conceptual understanding or biological expertise (e.g., learning progressions). OMC items have the potential to capture more holistic and valid characterizations of student reasoning (see Todd et al., 2017 for an example from genetics).

A fifth limitation of biology CIs centers on the “interpretation” corner of the assessment triangle (Fig. 2 ); robust validation methods aligned with contemporary psychometric frameworks are often lacking in biology CI studies (Boone, Staver, & Yale, 2014 ; Neumann, Neumann, & Nehm, 2011 ; Sbeglia & Nehm, 2018 , 2019 ). Rasch Analysis and Item Response Theory (IRT) are slowly supplanting traditional Classical Test Theory (CTT) methods for biology CI validation. In addition to psychometric limitations, validation studies of many biology instruments remain restricted to singular educational settings or demographically-restrictive samples (Mead et al. 2019 ; Campbell & Nehm, 2013 ). These methodological choices introduce uncertainty about the generalizability of CI score inferences across demographic groups, educational institutions, and international boundaries. Particular care must be made when drawing inferences from CI scores to inform instructional decisions or evaluate learning efficacy given these limitations (Table 3 ).

The sixth and final limitation of extant biology CIs returns to the topic of discipline-based conceptual frameworks. Few if any of the biology CIs and assessment instruments have been designed to target foundational disciplinary themes identified over the past 60 years (e.g., reasoning across biological scales) or the disciplinary formulations advanced in Vision and Change (AAAS, 2011 ). BER assessment tools remain aligned to concepts or topics characteristic of a particular subdiscipline, biological scale, or taxon (e.g., human animals). Despite significant progress in documenting concept understanding (and misunderstanding), biology educators have directed much less attention to assessing the foundational features of living systems that are most closely tied to disciplinary frameworks (i.e., NRC, 1958 ; Miller, 1978 ; AAAS, 2011 ). That is, analogous to many biology curricula, BER CI work has assembled a valuable but disarticulated jumble of information (in this case, lists of student learning difficulties) lacking deep structure or coherence.

In summary, a critical review of BER efforts to understand student thinking about living systems has revealed significant progress and significant limitations. Significant progress has been made in: identifying a range of important topics and concepts relevant to disciplinary core ideas; developing instruments that measure many of the learning difficulties uncovered in prior work (Table 2 ); and documenting widespread patterns of limited content mastery and numerous misunderstandings. Significant limitations have also been identified (Table 3 ). Many of the biology assessment tools lack: explicit grounding in psychometric and cognitive theory; task authenticity mirroring biological practice and reasoning; robust validation methods aligned with contemporary psychometric frameworks; robust inferences drawn from cognitively-aligned tasks; and implementation guidelines aligned with the practical realities of concept coverage in textbooks and classrooms. Collectively, much is now known about a scattered array of topics and concepts within biological subdisciplines; few if any tools are available for studying foundational and cross-disciplinary features of living systems identified by biologists over the past 60 years (e.g., identifying emergent properties across biological scales; considering stochasticity and determinism in biological causation; predicting biological outcomes using systems thinking; NRC, 1958 ; Miller, 1978 ; AAAS, 2011 ). BER requires discipline-specific frameworks that illuminate biological reasoning. Cognitive perspectives will be foundational to developing these frameworks.

What cognitive frameworks could guide BER?

A productive trend in BER involves efforts to link cognitive perspectives developed in other fields (e.g., education, psychology) with discipline-specific challenges characteristic of teaching and learning about living systems (Inagaki and Hatano, 1991 ; Kelemen and Rosset 2009 ). The fields of cognitive and developmental psychology serve as essential resources for understanding the roots of student reasoning about living systems. Developmental psychologists have generated many crucial insights into the foundations of human reasoning about living systems, including animacy, life, death, illness, growth, inheritance, and biological change (e.g., Opfer and Gelman 2010 ; Table  4 ). In particular, studies of human thinking have explored (1) whether ontogenetic development is characterized by reformulations of mental frameworks about living systems or by more continuous and less structured change, and (2) whether these early frameworks impact adult reasoning about living systems.

One of the more illuminating and well-studied examples of the linkages between cognitive and disciplinary frameworks concerns human thinking about plants (Opfer and Gelman 2010 ). Some psychologists consider the origins of biological thought to first emerge as young children ponder the question of what is alive and what is not (Goldberg & Thompson-Schill, 2009 ). For example, it is well established that young children initially conceptualize and classify plants as non-living entities. As cognitive development proceeds, plants are reclassified into an expanded category of “living” (e.g., plants + animals). An important question is whether early reasoning about biological categories and phenomena plays a significant role in later learning difficulties--including those documented in university undergraduates.

Plants provide a useful example for drawing possible connections among cognitive development, biological reasoning, and discipline-based conceptual frameworks. Plants comprise a central branch on the tree of life and are essential for human existence (i.e., sources of matter and energy). Yet, plants have posed significant challenges for life science educators (Wandersee & Schussler, 1999 ). These challenges range from students’ lack of perception of plants altogether (coined “plant blindness”) to fundamental misconceptions about how plants reproduce, transform matter and energy, and impact the chemical composition of the atmosphere (Wandersee & Schussler, 1999 ). The early reformulations of biological categories in young children--such as the reorganization of plants into the category of “living things”--appear to persist into adulthood.

A study by Goldberg and Thompson-Schill ( 2009 , p. 6) compared reasoning about plants relative to other living (e.g., animal) and non-living (e.g., rock) entities in undergraduates and biology professors. Under time pressure, it took biology professors significantly longer to recognize plants as living things (compared to animals and non-living entities). Goldberg and Thompson-Schill noted that “[t] he same items and features that cause confusions in young children also appear to cause underlying classification difficulties in university biology professors.” This case is not unique. Children’s reasoning about other biological phenomena, such as teleo-functional biases, also display continuities with adult thinking about evolutionary change (e.g., Kelemen and DiYanni, 2005 ). Work in cognitive and developmental psychology indicate that young children’s early formulations about living systems might not be “re-written”, but instead persist into adulthood, require active suppression, and impact later learning. Ongoing research in cognitive and developmental psychology has great potential for enriching our understanding of thinking in young adults, and for providing deeper insights into the causes of entrenched biology misunderstandings that often appear resistant to concerted educational efforts.

Studies at the other extreme--expert biologists--also have great potential for informing the development of unifying cognitive frameworks for BER. Comparative studies of experts and novices in different subject areas have been central to understanding domain-general and domain-specific features of problem representation and problem-solving performance for nearly a century (reviewed in Novick and Bassok, 2012 ). Novice-expert comparisons have seen comparatively little use in BER, although some notable exceptions include studies in genetics (Smith, 1983 ), evolution (Nehm & Ridgway, 2011 ), and genetically-modified organisms (Potter et al. 2017 ). These studies offer a range of insights into how novices and experts conceptualize problems, plan solutions, and utilize concepts and frameworks in problem-solving tasks. These insights could be leveraged to help elucidate expert frameworks of biological systems, as well as to identify conceptual, procedural, and epistemic barriers in novice reasoning. In a study of evolution, for example, novices performed poorly on problem-solving tasks not because of a lack of domain-specific knowledge, but because of the ways in which they used superficial task features (different organisms) to cognitively represent the problems at hand (i.e., in fundamentally different ways than the experts). Here the tension in student thinking about the unity and diversity of living systems is revealed—which is also a disciplinary idea unique to BER (Dobzhansky, 1973 ). Helping students perceive unity across the diversity of life emerges as a crucial (but often neglected) instructional goal. Comparing expert and novice problem-solving approaches could reveal unknown barriers to biology learning and illuminate potential features of a theoretical conceptualization of BER. These frameworks become central to the “cognition” corner of the assessment triangle (NRC, 2001 ) and efforts to design CIs and measure educational impact.

In addition to tracing the origination, persistence, and modification of cognitive structures about living systems through ontogeny and expertise, it is useful to ask whether the disciplinary organization of the biological sciences and associated degree programs, curricula, and textbook organizations (cf. Nehm et al., 2009 ) contribute to students’ fragmented models of living systems (e.g., Botany courses and textbooks focus on plants; Microbiology courses and textbooks focus on bacteria; Zoology courses and textbooks focus on animals). Few biologists would doubt that taxon-specific learning outcomes are essential for understanding the unique aspects of particular living systems. But an unanswered question is whether an effective balance between diversity and unity been achieved, or whether the scales have been tipped towards a focus on diversity-grounded learning (and corresponding cognitive fragmentation in biology students). It is notable that most biology textbook chapters, courses, and degree programs maintain organizational structures at odds with most conceptual reformulations of the life sciences (e.g., NRC, 1958 ; Miller, 1978 ; AAAS, 2011 ). Resolving these contradictions may help to conceptualize a more unified and principled framework for BER.

In summary, one of the most underdeveloped areas of BER concerns the formulation of conceptual and theoretical frameworks that account for how learners make sense of the similarities and differences within and across living systems as they progress through ontogeny and educational experiences. Cognitive and developmental psychology provide rich but largely untapped resources for enriching cognitively-grounded frameworks. In addition to studies of biological reasoning in young children, studies of expert thinking also offer considerable promise for uncovering barriers to expert-like conceptualizations of living systems. Collaborations with cognitive and developmental psychologists, and greater application of expert-novice comparisons, will be essential to advancing the cognitive frameworks for assessment design, curriculum development, and BER research.

What disciplinary frameworks could guide BER?

Although frameworks and models from psychology will be invaluable for crafting cognitive frameworks for BER, there are unique features of living systems that must also be explicitly considered in light of more broadly applicable cognitive models. To foster disciplinary unification and more integrative models of BER, these features should (1) span different biological subdisciplines and (2) undergird broad learning challenges about core ideas about living systems. Three areas--unity and diversity; randomness, probability, and contingency; and scale, hierarchy, and emergence—are likely to be valuable ideas for the development of discipline-grounded conceptual frameworks for BER. Each is discussed in turn below (Fig. 3 ).

Integrating conceptual frameworks into BER: student reasoning about unity and diversity; scale, hierarchy, and emergence; and randomness, probability, and historical contingency. Note that all three ideas interact to generate understanding about living systems, including processes within them (e.g., information flow)

Unity and Diversity in biological reasoning

A foundational (yet undertheorized) disciplinary challenge inherent to BER concerns the development of conceptual models of student sensemaking about the similarities and differences within and across living systems (NRC 1958 ; Klymkowsky et al., 2016 ; Nehm, 2018 ; Nehm et al., 2012 ; Shea, Duncan, & Stephenson, 2015 ). A key argument often missed in Dobzhansky’s ( 1973 ) seminal paper expounding the importance of evolution to all of biology was “[t] he unity of life is no less remarkable than its diversity” (p. 127). Indeed, a core goal of all biological disciplines is to develop and deploy causal models that transcend particular scales, lineages, and phenomenologies. Biology educators have, for the most part, documented myriad student learning difficulties within disciplinary contexts (e.g., microbiology, heredity, evolution, ecology) that are likewise bound to particular scales, concepts, and taxonomic contexts. Much less work has explored reasoning across these areas and the extent to which conceptual unity is achieved as students progress through biology education (Garvin-Doxas & Klymkowsky, 2008 ).

A core need for BER is the development of explicit models of how student understanding of living systems changes in response to formal and informal educational experiences (e.g., exposure to household pets, gardens, books, zoos, digital media, formal schooling). Throughout ontogeny, learners experience a wide range of life forms and their associated phenomenologies (e.g., growth, function, behavior, death). As learners engage with the diversity of the living world, a foundational question for BER is whether students construct increasingly abstract models of living systems (i.e. conceptual unity) or whether their sense-making remains rooted in taxonomic contexts, experiential instances, and case examples (i.e. conceptual diversity; Fig.  4 ).

One example of unity and diversity in biological reasoning. Note that examples using a broader set of scales (e.g., ecosystem) could be utilized. a Within a biological scale (in this case, the scale of organism), reasoning about living systems lacks unification and is organized by taxonomic contexts, experiential instances, and case examples. b Within a biological scale (in this case, the scale of organism) reasoning about living systems is characterized by abstract models transcending organismal type or lineage (i.e. conceptual unity). c Among biological scales (in this case, molecule, cell, organism), reasoning about living systems lacks unification and is organized by macroscopic (organismal), microscopic (cellular), and molecular (biochemical) levels of biological organization. d Among biological scales (in this case, molecule, cell, organism), reasoning about living systems at is characterized by abstract models linking biological scales (i.e. conceptual unity)

The limited body of work exploring student reasoning about the unity and diversity of living systems has uncovered different findings. In some cases, research suggests that in older children and young adults, reasoning about living systems may remain highly fragmented and taxon-specific at particular scales (Fig. 4 a; e.g., Freidenreich et al. 2011 ; Kargbo et al., 1980 ; Nehm & Ha, 2011 ). In other cases, research has shown that student reasoning may develop into unified problem-solving heuristics within a biological scale (Fig. 4 b; e.g., Schmiemann et al., 2017 ). Much less work has explored student reasoning about biological phenomena across biological scales (Fig. 4 c, d). Work in genetics education suggests that crossing these ontological levels or scales is inherently challenging for students (Freidenreich et al. 2011 ; Kargbo et al., 1980 ; Nehm & Ha, 2011 ; Nehm, 2018 ). For example, students may develop conceptual understanding within a biological level (Fig. 4 c) but be unable to conceptually link processes as they unfold over multiple scales (e.g., molecular, cellular, organismal; Fig. 4 d). Given that unity and diversity are foundational features of living systems, the development of conceptual and theoretical frameworks guiding empirical studies about student thinking about living systems is long overdue. Such frameworks could be used to synthesize past work, connect researchers from different life science sub-disciplines, and establish a unifying research agenda for BER.

Randomness, probability, and contingency

Many students and teachers have a tacit awareness that biology is different from the physical sciences. Yet, explicit frameworks illuminating these conceptual similarities and differences are often lacking in biology education (Klymkowsky et al., 2016 ). The behavior of biological systems is complex for many reasons, although the simultaneous operation of numerous causes each of which produces weak effects is an important one (Lewontin, 2000 ). Biological systems are also impacted by multiple probabilistic interactions with and among scales (e.g., molecular, cell, organismal, ecological) (Garvin-Doxas & Klymkowsky, 2008 ). For these reasons, biological patterns and processes are characterized by “...a plurality of causal factors, combined with probabilism in the chain of events …” across scales (Mayr, 1997 , p. 68). This messy situation often stands in sharp relief to student learning experiences in physics and chemistry, where fewer causes with stronger effects and more deterministic outcomes are encountered (Lewontin, 2000 ). Given the special properties of biological systems (at least in terms of the topics explored by students), a BER research program exploring how students make sense of randomness, probability, and determinism across lineages and biological scales emerges as an essential consideration (Garvin-Doxas & Klymkowsky, 2008 ).

Student learning difficulties with randomness and probability in biology are well established (Garvin-Doxas & Klymkowsky, 2008 ). Large numbers of university undergraduates previously exposed to natural selection falsely consider it to be a “random” process (Beggrow and Nehm, 2012 ); genetic drift misconceptions--many of which are closely tied to ideas of chance--are abundant (Price et al. 2014 ); and reasoning about osmosis and diffusion, which require thinking about probability at molecular scales, remains challenging for students at advanced levels of biology education (Garvin-Doxas & Klymkowsky, 2008 ). Many fundamental but very basic biological phenomena (i.e. in terms of the number of interacting causes within and among levels of organization) pose substantial challenges. But much like the discipline-specific documentation of other learning challenges, difficulties with randomness and probability are often discussed in the context of specific biological concepts (e.g., Punnett squares, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium) rather than as unifying features of biological systems. What is currently lacking in BER is an organizing framework that cuts across instances (e.g., diffusion, meiosis, selection, drift) and guides systematic review and synthesis of different biology learning challenges relating to randomness and probability.

Student learning difficulties may be traced to many causes, which raises the question of whether there is empirical evidence that probabilistic reasoning is responsible for the aforementioned learning difficulties. Recent work by Fiedler et al. ( 2019 ) has quantified the contribution of probabilistic reasoning to biology understanding. In a large sample of university biology students, Fiedler et al. ( 2019 ) demonstrated that statistical reasoning (in the contexts of mathematics and evolution) displayed significant and strong associations with knowledge of evolution. Although this result is perhaps unsurprising given previous work (Garvin-Doxas & Klymkowsky, 2008 ), it is notable that statistical reasoning was also found to have significant and strong associations with the acceptance of evolution. Fiedler et al. ( 2019 ) affirm the significant role of probabilistic thinking in biological reasoning, and open the door to empirical explorations of many other topics in the life sciences. Although Fiedler et al. ( 2019 ) do not propose a framework for conceptualizing randomness and probability in the life sciences, they do argue that statistical reasoning is a core feature of reasoning about living systems (as opposed to an ancillary tool for studying living systems). This perspective reformulates the role of statistics in biological competence. Clearly, the development of a conceptual framework focusing on randomness, probability, and contingency could offer great potential for uniting research efforts across biological subdisciplines (e.g., molecular biology, genetics, evolution).

Scale, hierarchy, and emergence

The hierarchical structure of life, and its corresponding biological scales (e.g., cell, tissue, organ, organism, population, species, ecosystem) are repeatedly acknowledged as important considerations about biological systems in nearly every textbook and classroom. Although most (if not all) biology education programs draw student attention to the concepts of scale and hierarchy, they rarely explore how scale and hierarchy elucidate and problematize the functioning of biological systems. For example, an understanding of the interdependence of patterns and processes across scales (e.g., upward and downward causation) as well as the emergence of novel properties at higher levels (e.g., the whole is more than the sum of its parts), is necessary for making sense of nearly all of the core ideas unifying the life sciences (e.g., information flow, matter and energy transformation, evolution). Yet, a review of the literature reveals that an explicit curriculum for helping students engage in the meaning of this hierarchical arrangement appears lacking.

Extending discussions of the unity and diversity of life (see Fig. 4 , above), reasoning about living systems may also display unity or diversity across hierarchical levels. For example, reasoning about living systems may lack unification, and knowledge structures or mental models may be organized by macroscopic (organismal), microscopic (cellular), and molecular (biochemical) levels of biological organization (Fig. 4 c). In such cases, knowledge structures and reasoning are bound to particular scales or levels , and conceptual linkages among these scales (e.g., upward and downward causation, emergent properties) may be lacking. Alternatively, reasoning about living systems may be characterized by abstract models unifying biological scales (i.e. conceptual unity) (Fig. 4 d). In such cases, knowledge structures and mental models transcend scale and utilize level-specific understanding. The main point is that hierarchical scale is an important aspect of biological reasoning that may facilitate or constrain student understanding. The principles of scale, hierarchy, and emergence are central to biological reasoning, yet BER lacks a robust conceptualization of these concepts and their role in student understanding of living systems. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks for scale, hierarchy, and emergence could help to guide systematic review and synthesis of different biology learning challenges and guide research efforts in BER.

In summary, this critical review, as well as prior reviews of BER, have found few discipline-specific conceptual or theoretical frameworks for the field (Dirks, 2011 ; deHaan, 2011 ). The fragmented disciplinary history and structure of the life sciences (see above) has been a concern noted by eminent biologists and professional organizations for at least 60 years (e.g., NRC, 1958 ). Despite progress in conceptual unification in the biological sciences, the BER community to a significant degree remains compartmentalized along historical, institutional, and disciplinary boundaries (e.g., microbiology, biochemistry, evolution). Efforts by BER researchers to understand and measure student understanding of living systems have likewise progressed along disciplinary themes, concepts, and topics.

Many core features of living systems offer opportunities for crafting discipline-specific educational frameworks for BER. Given the fragmentation of the life sciences and BER, it is presumptuous and unrealistic for any single scholar or subfield to impose such a framework. Three interconnected themes--unity and diversity; randomness, probability, and contingency; and scale, hierarchy, and emergence—have been identified in prior synthesis efforts and offered as potential starting points for a cross-disciplinary discussion of possible field-specific frameworks. Such frameworks are critical to the epistemic foundations of BER. They have immense potential for enriching a wide array of research efforts spanning different subfields, organizing the growing list of student learning difficulties, and building casual frameworks capable of grounding empirical research agendas.

Limitations

This critical review has identified significant opportunities and challenges for BER. The most pressing opportunity noted throughout this review is the development of discipline-specific conceptual and theoretical frameworks. The absence of explicit disciplinary frameworks raises questions about disciplinary identity (e.g., “What is BER?”) and encourages superficial and dissatisfying answers (e.g., “BER studies biology education”). The perspective advanced in this review is that the absence of cognitive and disciplinary frameworks generates epistemic instability (e.g., a-theoretical empiricism) and clouds our ability to rigorously understand student thinking about living systems. There are, however, alternative perspectives on the significance of discipline-specific frameworks for BER; two are discussed below.

First, if BER-affiliated scholars were to ignore or abandon the National Research Council’s ( 2013 ) conceptualization and definition of BER (and the broader topic of DBER), then biology-related educational research efforts could easily be subsumed within the field of Science Education (cf. Nehm, 2014 ). In this case, discipline-focused theoretical frameworks become less of a concern because frameworks from science education could guide epistemic aims and corresponding research agendas. Attention to the unique aspects of biological concepts (e.g., inheritance, photosynthesis, phylogenetics) would fade (but not disappear) and educational frameworks (e.g., socio-cognitive theory, constructivism) would come into sharper focus. This alternative conceptualization foregrounds educational frameworks and backgrounds disciplinary frameworks. The rationale for BER as a standalone field consequently weakens, along with arguments concerning the critical nature of discipline-focused conceptual frameworks.

A second perspective concerns the necessity of conceptual and theoretical frameworks for BER (and perhaps other scholarly efforts) altogether. Theory building linked to causal explanation is widely-recognized as a central goal of scientific and social-science research (cf. Brigandt, 2016 ; Rocco & Plakhotnik, 2009 ). Some BER scholars, however, do not appear to consider such frameworks as central epistemic features of their work (as indicated by much of the work reviewed here). Indeed, there are numerous examples of implicit or a-theoretical hypothesis testing in the BER journals listed in Table 1 . This stance minimizes the importance of conceptual or theoretical frameworks in scholarly work, and in so doing eliminates the central concern advanced in this review.

One final and significant limitation of this critical review is that it has adopted a Western, and largely American, perspective. Many of the conclusions drawn are unlikely to generalize to other nations or cultures. It is well known that the structure of biology education research differs around the world (e.g., Indonesia, China, Korea, Germany). Studies of biology learning may be situated within university education departments or biology departments (or combinations thereof). Teacher training in biology may be housed in colleges exclusively devoted to biology education, or departments focusing on general biology education (e.g., medicine, conservation).

International comparison studies (e.g., Ha, Wei, Wang, Hou, & Nehm, 2019 ; Rachmatullah, Nehm, Ha, & Roshayanti, 2018 ) are likely to offer rich insights into the relationships between biology education research agendas, institutional contexts, and the conceptual and theoretical frameworks used to make sense of student thinking about living systems. Indeed, what are the affordances and constraints of different institutional and epistemic arrangements to knowledge discovery in biology education? Collectively, how could these alternative arrangements enhance our ability to foster deeper understanding of the living world? Further reviews from a broader array of stakeholders will enhance our collective understanding of BER around the world.

This critical review examined the challenges and opportunities facing the field of Biology Education Research (BER). Ongoing fragmentation of the biological sciences was identified as a force working in opposition to the development of (i) unifying conceptual frameworks for living systems and (ii) unifying frameworks for understanding student thinking about living systems. Institutional, disciplinary, and conceptual fragmentation of the life sciences aligns with the finding that BER generally lacks unique, unifying, and discipline-focused conceptual or theoretical frameworks. Biology concept inventory research was used to illustrate the central role that conceptual frameworks (both cognitive and disciplinary) play in making sense of student thinking about living systems. Relevant insights from developmental and cognitive psychology were reviewed as potential starting points for building more robust cognitive frameworks, and prior theoretical work by biologists was leveraged to generate possible starting points for discipline-focused frameworks. Three interconnected themes--unity and diversity; randomness, probability, and contingency; and scale, hierarchy, and emergence—were identified as central to thinking about living systems and were linked to ongoing BER research efforts. The review emphasized that the development of conceptual frameworks that account for how learners make sense of similarities and differences within and across living systems as they progress through ontogeny and formal education will help to foster epistemic stability and disciplinary unification for BER.

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Abbreviations

Biology Education Research

Computer Adaptive Test

Concept Inventory

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats

Classical Test Theory

Discipline-Based Education Research

Deoxyribonucleic Acid

European Researchers In the Didaktics of Biology

Item Response Theory

Multiple True False

National Research Council

Ordered Multiple Choice

Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education

Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research

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Biology Education Research: Lessons and Future Directions

• Susan R. Singer
• Natalie R. Nielsen
• Heidi A. Schweingruber

*Department of Biology, Carleton College, Northfield, MN 55057

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Address correspondence to: Natalie R. Nielsen ( E-mail Address: [email protected] ).

National Research Council, Washington, DC 20001

Biologists have long been concerned about the quality of undergraduate biology education. Indeed, some biology education journals, such as the American Biology Teacher , have been in existence since the 1930s. Early contributors to these journals addressed broad questions about science learning, such as whether collaborative or individual learning was more effective and the value of conceptualization over memorization. Over time, however, biology faculty members have begun to study increasingly sophisticated questions about teaching and learning in the discipline. These scholars, often called biology education researchers, are part of a growing field of inquiry called discipline-based education research (DBER).

DBER investigates both fundamental and applied aspects of teaching and learning in a given discipline; our emphasis here is on several science disciplines and engineering. The distinguishing feature of DBER is deep disciplinary knowledge of what constitutes expertise and expert-like understanding in a discipline. This knowledge has the potential to guide research focused on the most important concepts in a discipline and offers a framework for interpreting findings about students’ learning and understanding in that discipline. While DBER investigates teaching and learning in a given discipline, it is informed by and complementary to general research on human learning and cognition and can build on findings from K–12 science education research.

In this essay, we draw on the NRC report to highlight some of the insights that DBER in general and BER in particular have provided into effective instructional practices and undergraduate learning, and to point to some directions for the future. The views in this essay are ours as editors of the report and do not represent the official views of the Committee on the Status, Contributions, and Future Directions of Discipline-Based Education Research; the NRC; or the National Science Foundation (NSF).

CHALLENGES TO UNDERGRADUATE LEARNING IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

DBER and related research on teaching and learning have illuminated several challenges undergraduate students face in learning science and engineering. Indeed, “these challenges can pose serious barriers to learning and acquiring expertise in a discipline, and they have significant implications for instruction, especially if instructors are not aware of them” ( NRC, 2012 , p. 191).

One major challenge is accurate conceptual understanding. In every discipline, students have incorrect ideas and beliefs about concepts fundamental to the discipline. They particularly struggle with the unseen and with very small or very large spatial and temporal scales, such as those involved in understanding the interaction of subatomic particles or natural selection. As an example, many students believe the mass of a tree trunk comes from the soil, rather than the CO 2 in the air, because they have difficulty believing that air has mass ( Koba and Tweed, 2009 ).

Students’ incorrect knowledge poses a challenge to learning, because it comes in many forms, ranging from a single idea to a flawed mental model that is based on incorrect understandings of several interrelated concepts ( Chi, 2008 ). It is less complicated to identify and address incorrect understandings of single ideas (e.g., all blood vessels have valves) than flawed mental models (e.g., the human circulatory system is a single loop rather than a double loop). Still, given that our goal is to help students progress toward more expert-like understandings, it is important for instructors to be aware of the misunderstandings that stand in the way of that goal and to have strategies for addressing those misunderstandings.

Understanding and using representations such as equations, graphs, models, simulations, and diagrams pose another major challenge for undergraduate students. Developing expertise in a discipline includes becoming familiar with representations unique to that discipline, such as evolutionary trees in biology, depictions of molecular structures in chemistry, and topographic maps in the geosciences. Experts in a discipline (here, professors) have long since mastered these representations and might no longer remember a time when these equations and images were new and confusing. However, in every discipline of science and engineering, students have difficulty understanding, interpreting, and creating representations that are unique and central to a given domain.

SOME INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING LEARNING AND CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING

DBER has shown that specific instructional strategies can improve students’ learning and understanding. For example, the use of “bridging analogies” can help students bring incorrect beliefs more in line with accepted scientific explanations in physics ( Brown and Clement, 1989 ). With bridging analogies, instructors provide a series of links between a student's correct understanding and the situation about which he or she harbors an erroneous understanding. Another approach, interactive lecture demonstrations—in which students predict the result of a demonstration, discuss their predictions with their peers, watch the demonstration, and compare their predictions with the actual result—have been shown to improve students’ conceptual understanding in chemistry and physics ( Sokoloff and Thornton, 1997 ).

Explicitly point out the relationship among different displays of the same information to help students see the similarities.

Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different representations for different purposes.

Provide extensive opportunities for students to practice creating and interpreting diagrams of the desired type.

More generally, DBER and related research provide compelling evidence that student-centered instructional strategies can positively influence students’ learning, achievement and knowledge retention, as compared with traditional instructional methods, such as lecture. These strategies include asking questions during lecture and having students work in groups to solve problems, make predictions, and explain their thinking to one another. As noted in the NRC report on DBER, the point is not to abandon lecture entirely, but to use a range of carefully chosen instructional approaches that can include lecture. When lectures are used, they should be designed with attention to how best they can support students’ learning.

Despite compelling evidence for the effectiveness of student-centered approaches such as interactive lectures and collaborative activities, these practices still are not widespread among science and engineering faculty. In fact, science and engineering faculty are more likely than faculty in other disciplines to rely on lecture ( Jaschik, 2012 ). Considering the many factors that influence decisions about instructional practices, it is not hard to understand why many faculty members hesitate to embrace more interactive classroom approaches. Even those who are interested in adopting research-based instructional methods might find challenges in departments and institutions that do not provide the needed supports for faculty to change their practices, from students who are resistant to change, and in reward systems that do not prioritize teaching. Still, with support from colleagues, professional societies, and others, many faculty members have overcome these and other challenges to transform their instructional practices.

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF BER

What role has BER played in identifying students’ challenges in learning biology and in helping to promote the use of research-based practices among biology faculty members? Most BER since the mid-1990s has focused on identifying students’ conceptual understandings, developing concept inventories that measure students’ understanding of a given concept, and studying the effectiveness of different types of instructional approaches that promote greater student engagement ( Dirks, 2011 ). BER scholars use a variety of methods to study these problems. Depending on the questions being examined, these methods range from interview studies or classroom observations with a few or perhaps dozens of students, to quantitative comparisons of learning gains made with different instructional approaches across many courses or institutions. Much of this research focuses on students in the first 2 years of their undergraduate careers, typically in classroom settings in the context of large, introductory courses—the setting that provides the greatest challenge for generating engagement.

As the examples in the preceding sections illustrate, research in BER has produced some important insights into learning and, in some cases, guidance for improving teaching. A notable case of the latter comes from evolutionary biology, a field in which cognitive scientist Laura Novick and biologist Kefyn Catley have conducted extensive research about how students understand evolutionary relationships when different types of evolutionary tree representations are used ( Catley and Novick, 2008 ; Novick et al ., 2010 ). Their research shows that the form of representation that is most commonly used in undergraduate biology texts leads to the least understanding of this important evolutionary concept. As a result of their research, almost all introductory biology texts have now been changed to more effectively support undergraduate learning of evolutionary relationships, impacting the learning of hundreds of thousands of students each year.

These contributions notwithstanding, many opportunities exist to enhance the value of BER, and of DBER more generally. For example, despite the importance of fieldwork to biology, comparatively little BER has been conducted in the field. Other emerging areas of research in DBER—and in BER by extension—include longitudinal studies, studies that examine similarities and differences among different student groups, research related to the affective domain and the transfer of learning, and the development of assessments to measure student learning. According to the NRC's 2012 report on DBER, a specific challenge for BER scholars is to “identify instructional approaches that can help overcome the math phobia of many biology students and introduce more quantitative skills into the introductory curriculum, as computational biology and other mathematical approaches become more central to the field of biology” ( NRC, 2003 ).

As BER grows, clarity about supporting BER scholars versus implementing BER findings to improve undergraduate biology education will be helpful. Regarding the support of BER scholars, the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) provides a venue for BER scholars to share their research and support the development of early-career BER scholars. Several life sciences professional societies, including the American Society for Cell Biology, the American Society for Microbiology, and the Society for Neuroscience, already offer professional development opportunities for faculty members to consider how to integrate BER findings into their teaching; others could use these models to do the same.

Findings from BER studies are increasingly accessible to those who are interested in using them to inform their teaching, as well as to those who might be interested in pursuing BER research programs. BER scholars publish their research on teaching and learning in a wide variety of journals. In a review of the BER literature from 1990–2010, Clarissa Dirks (2011) identified ∼200 empirical studies on college students’ learning, performance or attitudes. Although these articles appeared in more than 100 different journals, most were published in just four: the Journal of Research in Science Teaching , the Journal of College Science Teaching , Advances in Physiology Education , and CBE—Life Sciences Education ( LSE ). The past decade has seen a particularly rapid increase in the number of BER articles, especially in LSE .

Regarding the implementation of BER findings to improve undergraduate biology teaching, efforts are under way in several disciplines to help increase current and future faculty members’ use of research-based practices. In biology, two notable examples are the National Academies Summer Institute for Undergraduate Education in Biology and the NSF-sponsored Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST) program. The Summer Institute works with teams of university faculty, emphasizing the application of teaching approaches based on education research, or “scientific teaching.” FIRST supports postdoctoral students interested in strengthening their teaching approaches. Although participants of the Summer Institute workshops reported substantial increases in their use of research-based instructional strategies over time ( Pfund et al ., 2009 ), an analysis of videotaped lessons from participants of the Summer Institute and the FIRST Program yielded mixed results concerning changes in practices ( Ebert-May et al ., 2011 ). It is important to note that alumni of the Summer Institute frequently reported that it took three or more years of experimentation before they could effectively implement learner-centered strategies ( Pfund et al ., 2009 ). As the NRC's 2012 report concludes, “These results suggest that measuring the influence of DBER and related research on teaching requires a nuanced, longitudinal model of individual behavior rather than a traditional ‘cause and effect’ model using a workshop or other delivery mechanism as the intervention” (p. 173).

Individual scholars in the BER community can promote the acceptance and use of DBER findings to improve undergraduate biology learning in two significant ways. One way is to enhance the quality of BER. As with any field, DBER has strengths and limitations. The greatest strength of DBER is the contribution of deep disciplinary knowledge to questions of teaching and learning in a discipline. In all disciplines, DBER could be enhanced by linking to other bodies of relevant research (including DBER in other disciplines), being explicitly grounded in theories of teaching and learning, using standardized measures for assessing learning gains and student attitudes, and conducting research on a larger scale than a single classroom and over longer periods of time than a single course. To link to other bodies of research, BER scholars could ask their DBER colleagues in physics, chemistry, and the geosciences to review draft manuscripts. SABER could help by establishing mechanisms to connect BER scholars to DBER studies in other disciplines; examples exist in engineering and the geosciences. And journal editors and reviewers could encourage the authors of BER articles to include citations of similar work in related fields.

BER scholars also can help to promote change at the departmental and institutional levels without assuming responsibility for sweeping reforms. Relatively straightforward strategies include disseminating key findings to colleagues or getting together on campus to discuss and strategize possible changes. BER scholars seeking a more active role in promoting institutional change might also help department chairs understand how to evaluate the research of BER faculty.

Given the unusually large number of diverse life sciences professional societies, the emerging coherence and focus of the biology undergraduate community on BER and improving learning in biology is notable. The growing body of BER literature and the professionalization of the field in the context of SABER in less than half a decade are cause for celebration. The American Association for the Advancement of Science Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology ( http://visionandchange.org ) efforts and the associated Vision and Change Leadership Fellows program ( www.pulsecommunity.org ) to drive department-level change in biology education emphasize implementation of widespread adoption of BER findings. The trajectory is promising.

1 To download a free PDF version of the report, visit www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13362 .

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Teacher Education Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Navigating the Unfamiliar: The Lived Experience of Elementary School Teachers as They Navigate the Use of New Literacies During a Global Pandemic , Sydney Boyer

Critical Engagements with Award Winning Picturebooks: My Journey in Creating a More Equitable Classroom Library , Carrie Elizabeth Crowe

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Crossing the Threshold: Factors That Influence the Beliefs of First Year Teachers Regarding Reform-Based Mathematics Instruction , Quinn H. Braden

Mediation in a Science Classroom , David Ray Davis

Tensions and Pitfalls in the Depiction of Multiracial Characters in Children's Picture Books: A Critical Content Analysis , Melody Green

Physical Place and Online Space: Permeability, Embodiment, and Gender in Two Online, Synchronous Critical Multicultural Teacher Education Courses , Elizabeth Finlayson Harris

Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Unit That Utilizes Effective History Teaching Practices , Haley Holland

Teachers' Values for the Reduction of Teacher Attrition in Utah Public Schools , Forrest Jensen

The Racial Reckoning of a Chinese American Teacher During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Alicia Luong

Creating an Instrument to Explore the Self-Efficacy of Writing Instructors to Teach Apprehensive Writers , Kathleen Marie Romrell

Teacher Judgment Accuracy of Student Perceptions of Closeness and Conflict in Teacher-Student Relationships , Collin Seastrand

The Effects of Relatedness Support on Motivational Profiles in Rural vs. Urban Physical Education Students , Corbin D. Stringam

Bittersweet Experiences for Brazilian Newcomers: Positive Interactions, Microaggressions, and Isolation in English-Only and Dual Language Bilingual Education Programs , Rose Renee Whitney

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Relationship Between the Use of Curriculum Materials and Inquiry-Based Pedagogy , Laura Jo Elzinga

Something Happened: Exploring Student Religious Experiences Through the Eyes of Their Teacher , Jason Bird Pearson

Developing a Professional Early Childhood Educator Identity: The Experiences of Three Teachers , Amy Shakespeare White

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Damsel in Distress or Princess in Power? Traditional Masculinity and Femininity in Young Adult Novelizations of Cinderella and the Effects on Agency , Rylee Carling

Teacher Lore Concerning Teaching English Language Learners in Urban Schools: A Reciprocal Determinist Analysis , Helen Clare Colby

The Emergence of Teacher Self in the Elementary Classroom , Chelsea Cole

Exploring Teacher Beliefs of Adolescent Developmental Needs Through Positive Student Comments of their Teachers , Elizabeth Bowers Hinchcliff

Teaching Second-Grade Students to Write Expository Text , Angenette Cox Imbler

Exploring Dialogue Journals as a Context for Connecting with and Supporting the Emotional Lives of Fourth Graders , Samantha Simone Johnson

The Effect of Ethnic Identity on Motivation to bePhysically Active in Schools in Hawai’i , Nathan A. K. Kahaiali'i

Ninth-Grade Students' Motivation for Reading and Course Choice , McKenna Lyn Simmons

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Uncovering One Teacher's Knowledge of Arts Integration for Developing English Learners' Reading Comprehension: A Self-Study , Tina RaLinn McCulloch

A Content Analysis of Scientific Practices in a Fourth-Grade Commercial Literacy Program , Hailey A. Oswald

Reading Fluency and GoNoodle© Brain Breaks Among Elementary-Aged Children , Hannah Jeanne Wold

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Friendship and Language: How Kindergarteners Talk About Making Friends in a Two-Way Immersion School , Sionelle Nicole Beller

Lunchtime Experiences and Students' Sense of Belonging in Middle School , Anna Elisabeth Hinton

Perceptions of School Uniforms in Relation to Socioeconomic Statuses , Aaron B. Jones

The Operationalization of the Theoretical Antecedents of Collective Teacher Efficacy , Kathryn A. Larsen

Teacher Experiences in Highly Impacted Schools That Produce Happiness , Brittany Nicole Lund

Identifying Elements of Voice and Fostering Voice Development in First-Grade Science Writing , McKenna Lucille Maguet

Promoting Pleasure in Reading Through Sustained Silent Reading: A Self-Study of Teacher Practices , Kimberly Turley McKell

Sixth-Grade Elementary and Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Middle School Teachers' Knowledge and Beliefs About Science Literacy , Melissa P. Mendenhall

Building Procedural Fluency from Conceptual Understanding in Equivalence of Fractions: A Content Analysis of a Textbook Series , Mark S. Nance

Ethnic Identity and School Belonging Among Pacific Islander High School Students , Mari N. Oto

Self-Study of a Teacher's Practices of and Experience with Emotion Regulation , Lauren Elyse Paravato

Cultural Connections in the Classroom and Pacific Islander Students Value of Reading , Lyndsai K. Sylva

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Parent Perception of Systemic Success in Physical Education: A Study of Advocacy in Action , Rachel Valletta Griffiths

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Student Self-Assessment: Teachers' Definitions, Reasons, and Beliefs , Christopher Daren Andrews

What is Being Said about Historical Literacy in Literacy and Social Studies Journals: A Content Analysis , Kiera Beddes

A High School Biology Teacher's Development Through a New Teaching Assignment Coupled with Teacher-Led Professional Development , Lorien Young Francis

Emotions in Teaching: Self-Compassion , Stacey Freeman

Physical Activity Rates and Motivational Profiles of Adolescents While Keeping a Daily Leisure-Time Physical Activity Record , Matthew Osden Fullmer

Distraction, Enjoyment, and Motivation During an Indoor Cycling Unit of High School Physical Education , Kelsey Higginson

A Look at the Reliability of an Early Childhood Expository Comprehension Measure , Alta Adamma McDonald

Invisible Students: A Case Study of Friendless Students During the First Year of Junior High , Rachel E. Neeley

Picture Books as Mentor Texts for 10th-Grade Struggling Writers , David Willett Premont

Effects of Fourth- and First-Grade Cross-Age Tutoring on Mathematics Anxiety , Camille Margarett Rougeau

An Analysis of Support for Elementary Engineering Education Offered in the Science Teacher Journal Science and Children , Tawnicia Meservy Stocking

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Dyad Reading Experiences of Second-Grade English Learners with Fiction and Nonfiction Texts , Michelle Lynn Klvacek

Orchestrating Mathematical Discussions: A Novice Teacher's Implementation of Five Practices to Develop Discourse Orchestration in a Sixth-Grade Classroom , Jeffrey Stephen Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Parent Reasons for Enrollment at One Dual-Language Chinese Immersion Elementary School Program , Aaron W. Andersen

Effects of Teacher-to-Student Relatedness on Adolescent Male Motivation in Weight-Training Classes , Zack E. Beddoes

The Effects of Music on Physical Activity Rates of Junior High Physical Education Students , Lindsey Kaye Benham

What Matters Most? The Everyday Priorities of Teachers of English Language Learners , Johanna Boone

PE Central: A Possible Online Professional Development Tool , Amber M. Hall

Determining the Reliability of an Early Expository Comprehension Assessment , Tammie Harding

The Relationship Between Health-Related Fitness Knowledge, Perceived Competence, Self-Determination, and Physical Activity Behaviors of High School Students , Elizabeth Bailey Haslem

Supporting Ongoing Language and Literacy Development of Adolescent English Language Learners , Jason T. Jay

Components of Effective Writing Content Conferences in a Sixth-Grade Classroom , Paul Ricks

Online Student Discussions in a Blended Learning Classroom: Reconciling Conflicts Between a Flipped Instruction Model and Reform-Based Mathematics , Lewis L. Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

An Investigation of the Effects of Integrating Science and Engineering Content and Pedagogy in an Elementary School Classroom , Katie Nicole Barth

Alignment Between Secondary Biology Textbooks and Standards for Teaching English Learners: A Content Analysis , Joseph H. Hanks

Content Analysis of New Teacher Induction and Mentoring Documents in Five Partnership Districts: Reflections and Acknowledgments of Complexity , Carol S. Larsen

Stories of Success: Three Latino Students Talk About School , Carol Ann Litster

Effects of Fourth- and Second-Grade Cross-Age Tutoring on Spelling Accuracy and Writing Fluency , Rebekkah J. Mitchell

The United States Growth over 16 Years of Student Correct Responses on the TIMSS: Are We Really That Far Behind? , Jacob Michael Zonts

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

A Content Analysis of Family Structure in Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1930 -- 2010 , Shannon Marie Despain

A Content Analysis of Inquiry in Third Grade Science Textbooks , Rebecca Adams Lewis

Science Self-Efficacy and School Transitions: Elementary School to Middle School and Middle School to High School , Brandi Lue Lofgran

Balancing Support and Challenge within the Mentoring Relationship , Tiffanie Joy Miley

Explicitly Teaching Multiple Modes of Representation in Science Discourse: The Impact on Middle School Science Student Learning , Ryan Nixon

Navigating the Changing Face of Beginning Reading Instruction: Am I Right Back Where I Started? , DeAnna M. Perry

Teacher Definitions of Integration in Primary Grades , Jeanne Sperry Prestwich

Effective Professional Development: A Study of a Teacher-Initiated, Interdisciplinary Professional Learning Community , Mary Ann Quantz

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

An Examination of the Effects of Using Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy to Teach Tier 3 Students to Read Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) Words , Esther Marshall

Two Marginalized Adolescents Using the Internet to Complete an Inquiry Project , Jennifer Thomas

Describing the Reading Motivation of Four Second-Grade Students with Varying Abilities. , Kathy Jane White

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Establishing Reliability of Reading Comprehension Ratings of Fifth-Grade Students' Oral Retellings , Laura Elizabeth Bernfeld

The Nature of Classroom Instruction and Physical Environments That Support Elementary Writing , Monica Thomas Billen

Understanding the Tensions That Exist Between Two Co-Teachers Education Classroom Using Positioning , Garth Gagnier

A Challenging and Rewarding Process: Implementing Critical Literacy Instruction in a Middle School Classroom , Amy Michelle Geilman

The Nature of Transfer from the Concepts and Vocabulary Taught in a Character Education Unit to Students Classroom Discourse , Marianne E. Gill

Mathematics Vocabulary and English Learners: A Study of Students' Mathematical Thinking , Hilary Hart

Adolescent Literate Identity Online: Individuals and the Discourse of a Class Wiki , Amanda J. McCollum

The Stories of Three High School English Teachers Involved in a Collaborative Study Group , Marjoire Ralph

Narrating the Literate Identities of Five Ninth Grade Boys on the School Landscape , Mary Frances Rice

Comparing the Pedagogical Thinking of More Successful and Less Successful Adult ESL Instructors Using Stimulated Recall , Jason Paul Roberts

Elements of Professional Development That Influenced Change in Elementary Teachers' Writing Instruction , Jill Brown Shumway

Identifying Social Studies Content Embedded inElementary Basal Readers , Wendy Taylor Workman

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Examining the Effects of Explicit Teaching of Context Clues in Content Area Texts , Jessie Ruth Jensen

Using Web-Based Tools to Mentor Novice Teachers in Literacy Instruction , Teresa Moore Jordan

A Closer Look at One Elementary School's Use of Informational Text in Classroom Instruction , Marjean Sorensen

Deepening Understanding of Science Content Through Text Structure Instruction , Karen Thomas

An Investigation of the Support for Literacy Instruction in Elementary Mathematics Textbooks , Wendy Ann Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Becoming a Teacher Educator: A Self-Study of Learning and Discovery as a Mentor Teacher , Julie Anne Castro

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Molecular and Cellular Biology Masters Theses Collection

Theses from 2024 2024.

The Impact of a Non-ionic Adjuvant to the Persistence of Pesticides on Produce Surfaces , Daniel Barnes, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Investigating the Role of Got2 in Murine Organogenesis and Placenta Development , Olivia Macrorie, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Chromatin Accessibility Impacts Knockout of Mt-Bell4 Transcription Factor , Thomas Redden, Molecular & Cellular Biology

UNDERSTANDING THE FUNCTIONAL IMPACT OF DISEASE-ASSOCIATED PHOSPHORYLATION SITES ON THE NEURODEGENERATIVE PROTEIN TAU , Navya T. Sebastian, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2023 2023

Elucidating the Priming Mechanism of ClpXP Protease by Single-Domain Response Regulator CpdR in Caulobacter crescentus , Kimberly E. Barker, Molecular & Cellular Biology

The Discovery of a Novel Bacteria from a Large Co-assembly of Metagenomes , Matthew Finkelberg, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Investigating Diterpene Biosynthesis in Medicago Truncatula , Sungwoo Hwang, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Combining Simulation and the MspA Nanopore to Study p53 Dynamics and Interactions , Samantha A. Schultz, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Caulobacter ClpXP Adaptor PopA’s Domain Interactions in the Adaptor Hierarchy of CtrA Degradation , Thomas P. Scudder, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Climate Change, Giant Viruses and Their Putative Hosts , Sarah K. Tucker, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2022 2022

Changes in Gene Expression From Long-Term Warming Revealed Using Metatranscriptome Mapping to FAC-Sorted Bacteria , Christopher A. Colvin, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Determining CaMKII Variant Activities and Their Roles in Human Disease , Matthew J. Dunn, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Developmental Exposures to PFAS Mixtures Impair Elongation of the Exocrine Pancreas in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) , Emily M. Formato, Molecular & Cellular Biology

A Metatranscriptomic Analysis of the Long-Term Effects of Warming on the Harvard Forest Soil Microbiome , Brooke A. Linnehan, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Characterization of the Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase Family in the Fusarium oxysporum Species Complex , Daniel Norment, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2021 2021

Exploring Knockdown Phenotypes and Interactions between ATAD3 Proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana , Eli S. Gordon, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Development of a Site-Specific Labeling Assay to Study the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Type III Secretion Translocon in Native Membranes , Kyle A. Mahan, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Liposomal Nanoparticles Target TLR7/8-SHP2 to Repolarize Macrophages to Aid in Cancer Immunotherapy , Vaishali Malik, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Hsp70 Phosphorylation: A Case Study of Serine Residues 385 and 400 , Sashrika Saini, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Activation of Nrf2 at Critical Windows of Development Alters Protein S-Glutathionylation in the Zebrafish Embryo (Danio rerio) , Emily G. Severance, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Utilizing Fluorescence Microscopy to Characterize the Subcellular Distribution of the Novel Protein Acheron , Varun Sheel, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2020 2020

The Association Between Sperm DNA Methylation and Sperm Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number , Emily Houle, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Gene Expression Regulation in the Mouse Liver by Mechanistic Target Of Rapamycin Complexes I and II , Anthony Poluyanoff, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Sperm Mitochondrial DNA Biomarkers as a Measure of Male Fecundity and Overall Sperm Quality , Allyson Rosati, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Exploration of the Association between Muscle Volume and Bone Geometry Reveals Surprising Relationship at the Genetic Level , Prakrit Subba, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2019 2019

Studies on the Interaction and Organization of Bacterial Proteins on Membranes , Mariana Brena, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Investigating The Role Of LBH During Early Embryonic Development In Xenopus Laevis , Emma Weir, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2018 2018

Exploring the Influence of PKC-theta Phosphorylation on Notch1 Activation and T Helper Cell Differentiation , Grace Trombley, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2017 2017

Partial Craniofacial Cartilage Rescue in ace/fgf8 Mutants from Compensatory Signaling From the Ventricle of Danio Rerio , Douglas A. Calenda II, Molecular & Cellular Biology

THE FAR C-TERMINUS OF TPX2 CONTRIBUTES TO SPINDLE MORPHOGENESIS , Brett Estes, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Characterization of Calcium Homeostasis Parameters in TRPV3 and CaV3.2 Double Null Mice , Aujan Mehregan, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Microtransplantation of Rat Brain Neurolemma into Xenopus Laevis Oocytes to Study the Effect of Environmental Toxicants on Endogenous Voltage-Sensitive Ion Channels , Edwin Murenzi, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Regulation of Katanin Activity on Microtubules , Madison A. Tyler, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2016 2016

The Role of MicroRNAs in Regulating the Translatability and Stability of Target Messenger RNAs During the Atrophy and Programmed Cell Death of the Intersegmental Muscles of the Tobacco Hawkmoth Manduca sexta. , Elizabeth Chan, Molecular & Cellular Biology

An in Vivo Study of Cortical Dynein Dynamics and its Contribution to Microtubule Sliding in the Midzone , Heather M. Jordan, Molecular & Cellular Biology

A Genetic Analysis of Cichlid Scale Morphology , Kenta C. Kawasaki, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Modulation of Notch in an Animal Model of Multiple Sclerosis , Manit Nikhil Munshi, Molecular & Cellular Biology

One-Carbon Metabolism Related B-Vitamins Alter The Expression Of MicroRNAS And Target Genes Within The Wnt Signaling Pathway In Mouse Colonic Epithelium , Riccardo Racicot, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Characterizing the Inhibition of Katanin Using Tubulin Carboxy-Terminal Tail Constructs , Corey E. Reed, Molecular & Cellular Biology

The Identification of Notch1 Functional Domains Responsible for its Physical Interaction with PKCθ , Wesley D. Rossiter, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Dynamics of Microtubule Networks with Antiparallel Crosslinkers , Kasimira T. Stanhope, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Modifications of Myofilament Structure and Function During Global Myocardial Ischemia , Mike K. Woodward, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2015 2015

Regulation of Jak1 and Jak2 Synthesis through Non-Classical Progestin Receptors , Hillary Adams, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Antineoplastic Effects of Rhodiola Crenulata on B16-F10 Melanoma , Maxine Dudek, Molecular & Cellular Biology

RNAi Validation of Resistance Genes and Their Interactions in the Highly DDT-Resistant 91-R Strain of Drosophila Melanogaster , Kyle Gellatly, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Characterization of Protein-Protein Interactions for Therapeutic Drug Design Utilizing Mass Spectrometry , Alex J. Johnson, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Promoting Extracellular Matrix Crosslinking in Synthetic Hydrogels , Marcos M. Manganare, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Characterization of the Reconstituted and Native Pseudomonas aeruginosa Type III Secretion System Translocon , Kathryn R. Monopoli, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Thermocycle-regulated WALL REGULATOR INTERACTING bHLH Encodes a Protein That Interacts with Secondary-Cell-Wall-Associated Transcription Factors , Ian P. Whitney, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2014 2014

Engineering Camelina sativa for Biofuel Production via increasing oil yield and tolerance to abiotic stresses , Kenny Ablordeppey, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Designing a Pore-Forming Toxin Cytolysin A (ClyA) Specific to Target Cancer Cells , Alzira Rocheteau Avelino, Molecular & Cellular Biology

The Role of the Novel Lupus Antigen, Acheron, in Moderating Life and Death Decisions , Ankur Sheel, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Expression and Purification of Human Lysosomal β-galactosidase from Pichia Pastoris , Sarah E. Tarullo, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Properties of Potential Substrates of a Cyanobacterial Small Heat Shock Protein , Yichen Zhang, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2013 2013

Characterizing the Heavy Metal Chelator, Tpen, as a Ca2+ Tool in the Mammalian Oocyte , Robert A. Agreda Mccaughin, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Sustainable Biofuels Production Through Understanding Fundamental Bacterial Pathways Involved in Biomass Degradation and Sugar Utilization , James CM Hayes, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Stiffness and Modulus and Independent Controllers of Breast Cancer Metastasis , Dannielle Ryman, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2012 2012

The Pyrethroid Deltamethrin, Which Causes Choreoathetosis with Salivation (CS-Syndrome), Enhances Calcium Ion Influx via Phosphorylated CaV2.2 expresssed in Xenopus laevis oocytes , Anna-maria Alves, Molecular & Cellular Biology

A Test of the Hypothesis That Environmental Chemicals Interfere With Thyroid Hormone Action in Human Placenta , Katherine Geromini, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Analyzing the Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Male-Female Interactions in Arabidopsis thaliana. , Eric A. Johnson, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Rhythmic Growth And Vascular Development In Brachypodium Distachyon , Dominick A. Matos, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Polymer Prodrug Conjugation to Tumor Homing Mesenchymal Stem Cells , Nick Panzarino, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Investigation of Differential Vector Competence of Bartonella quintana in Human Head and Body Lice , Domenic j. Previte, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Downregulation of Cinnamyl Alcohol Dehydrogenase or Caffeic Acid O-Methyltransferase Leads to Improved Biological Conversion Efficiency in Brachypodium distachyon , Gina M. Trabucco, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2011 2011

Evolutionary Relationship of the ampC Resistance Gene In E. cloacae , Shanika S. Collins, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Sex Difference in Calbindin Cell Number in the Mouse Preoptic Area: Effects of Neonatal Estradiol and Bax Gene Deletion , Richard F. Gilmore III, Molecular & Cellular Biology

In Vivo Investigations of Polymer Conjugates as Therapeutics , Elizabeth M. Henchey, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Examination of Sexually Dimorphic Cell Death in the Pubertal Mouse Brain , Amanda Holley, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Human Niemann-Pick Type C2 Disease Protein Expression, Purification and Crystallization , Yurie T. Kim, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Revealing the Localization of the Class I Formin Family in the Moss Physcomitrella patens Using Gene Targeting Strategies , Kelli Pattavina, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Connecting Motors and Membranes: A Quantitative Investigation of Dynein Pathway Components and in vitro Characterization of the Num1 Coiled Coil Domain , Bryan J. St. Germain, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2010 2010

The Protective Effects A Full-term Pregnancy Plays Against Mammary Carcinoma , Matthew p. Carter, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Analysis Of An Actin Binding Guanine Exchange Factor, Gef8, And Actin Depolymerizing Factor In Arabidopsis Thaliana. , Aleksey Chudnovskiy, Molecular & Cellular Biology

The Role of Ykl-40, a Secreted Heparin-Binding Glycoprotein, in Tumor Angiogenesis, Metastasis, and Progression: a Potential Therapeutic Target , Michael Faibish, Molecular & Cellular Biology

In Vivo Visualization of Hedgehog Signaling in Zebrafish , Christopher J. Ferreira, Molecular & Cellular Biology

An In Vivo Study of the Mammalian Mitotic Kinesin Eg5 , Alyssa D. Gable, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Identification of Dynein Binding Sites in Budding Yeast Pac1/LIS1 , Christopher W. Meaden, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Functional Characterization of Arabidopsis Formin Homologues Afh1, Afh5, Afh6, Afh7 and Afh8 , Shahriar Niroomand, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Regulation of Crbp1 In Mammary Epithelial Cells , Stacy L. Pease, Molecular & Cellular Biology

In Vivo Labeling Of A Model β-Clam Protein With A Fluorescent Amino Acid , Mangayarkarasi Periasamy, Molecular & Cellular Biology

In Vivo Characterization of Interactions Among Dynein Complex Components at Microtubule Plus Ends , Karen M. Plevock, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Anti-Diabetic Potentials of Phenolic Enriched Chilean Potato and Select Herbs of Apiaceae and Lamiaceae Families , Fahad Saleem, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Interconversion of the Specificities of Human Lysosomal Enzymes , Ivan B. Tomasic, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Deletions of Fstl3 and/or Fst Isoforms 303 and 315 Results in Hepatic Steatosis , Nathan A. Ungerleider, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2009 2009

A New Laser Pointer Driven Optical Microheater for Precise Local Heat Shock , Mike Placinta, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2008 2008

Cysteine Dioxygenase: The Importance of Key Residues and Insight into the Mechanism of the Metal Center , Jonathan H. Leung, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Invertebrate Phenology and Prey Selection of Three Sympatric Species of Salmonids; Implications for Individual Fish Growth , Jeffrey V. Ojala, Wildlife & Fisheries Conservation

Paralemmin Splice Variants and mRNA and Protein Expression in Breast Cancer , Casey M. Turk, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Stability of the frog motor nerve terminal: roles of perisynaptic Schwann cells and muscle fibers , Ling Xin, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Theses from 2007 2007

Antioxidant Response Mechanism in Apples during Post-Harvest Storage and Implications for Human Health Benefits , Ishan Adyanthaya, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Progress Towards A Model Flavoenzyme System , Kevin M. Bardon, Molecular & Cellular Biology

The effect of Rhodiola crenulata on a highly metastatic murine mammary carcinoma , Jessica L. Doerner, Molecular & Cellular Biology

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BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES MAJOR

Senior thesis examples.

Graduating seniors in Biological Sciences have the option of submitting a senior thesis for consideration for Honors and Research Prizes .  Below are some examples of particularly outstanding theses from recent years (pdf):

Sledd Thesis

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > Molecular Biosciences > Theses and Dissertations

Molecular Biosciences Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Exploring strain variation and bacteriophage predation in the gut microbiome of Ciona robusta , Celine Grace F. Atkinson

Distinct Nrf2 Signaling Thresholds Mediate Lung Tumor Initiation and Progression , Janine M. DeBlasi

Thermodynamic frustration of TAD2 and PRR contribute to autoinhibition of p53 , Emily Gregory

Utilization of Detonation Nanodiamonds: Nanocarrier for Gene Therapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer , Allan E. Gutierrez

Role of HLA-DRB1 Fucosylation in Anti-Melanoma Immunity , Daniel K. Lester

Targeting BET Proteins Downregulates miR-33a To Promote Synergy with PIM Inhibitors in CMML , Christopher T. Letson

Regulated Intramembrane Proteolysis by M82 Peptidases: The Role of PrsS in the Staphylococcus aureus Stress Response , Baylie M. Schott

Histone Deacetylase 8 is a Novel Therapeutic Target for Mantle Cell Lymphoma and Preserves Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxic Function , January M. Watters

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Regulation of the Heat Shock Response via Lysine Acetyltransferase CBP-1 and in Neurodegenerative Disease in Caenorhabditis elegans , Lindsey N. Barrett

Determining the Role of Dendritic Cells During Response to Treatment with Paclitaxel/Anti-TIM-3 , Alycia Gardner

Cell-free DNA Methylation Signatures in Cancer Detection and Classification , Jinyong Huang

The Role Of Eicosanoid Metabolism in Mammalian Wound Healing and Inflammation , Kenneth D. Maus

A Holistic Investigation of Acidosis in Breast Cancer , Bryce Ordway

Characterizing the Impact of Postharvest Temperature Stress on Polyphenol Profiles of Red and White-Fruited Strawberry Cultivars , Alyssa N. Smith

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Multifaceted Approach to Understanding Acinetobacter baumannii Biofilm Formation and Drug Resistance , Jessie L. Allen

Cellular And Molecular Alterations Associated with Ovarian and Renal Cancer Pathophysiology , Ravneet Kaur Chhabra

Ecology and diversity of boletes of the southeastern United States , Arian Farid

CircREV1 Expression in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer , Meagan P. Horton

Microbial Dark Matter: Culturing the Uncultured in Search of Novel Chemotaxonomy , Sarah J. Kennedy

The Multifaceted Role of CCAR-1 in the Alternative Splicing and Germline Regulation in Caenorhabditis elegans , Doreen Ikhuva Lugano

Unraveling the Role of Novel G5 Peptidase Family Proteins in Virulence and Cell Envelope Biogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus , Stephanie M. Marroquin

Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Element Binding Protein 2 Alternative Splicing Regulates HIF1α During Chronic Hypoxia , Emily M. Mayo

Transcriptomic and Functional Investigation of Bacterial Biofilm Formation , Brooke R. Nemec

A Functional Characterization of the Omega (ω) subunit of RNA Polymerase in Staphylococcus aureus , Shrushti B. Patil

The Role Of Cpeb2 Alternative Splicing In TNBC Metastasis , Shaun C. Stevens

Screening Next-generation Fluorine-19 Probe and Preparation of Yeast-derived G Proteins for GPCR Conformation and Dynamics Study , Wenjie Zhao

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Understanding the Role of Cereblon in Hematopoiesis Through Structural and Functional Analyses , Afua Adutwumwa Akuffo

To Mid-cell and Beyond: Characterizing the Roles of GpsB and YpsA in Cell Division Regulation in Gram-positive Bacteria , Robert S. Brzozowski

Spatiotemporal Changes of Microbial Community Assemblages and Functions in the Subsurface , Madison C. Davis

New Mechanisms That Regulate DNA Double-Strand Break-Induced Gene Silencing and Genome Integrity , Dante Francis DeAscanis

Regulation of the Heat Shock Response and HSF-1 Nuclear Stress Bodies in C. elegans , Andrew Deonarine

New Mechanisms that Control FACT Histone Chaperone and Transcription-mediated Genome Stability , Angelo Vincenzo de Vivo Diaz

Targeting the ESKAPE Pathogens by Botanical and Microbial Approaches , Emily Dilandro

Succession in native groundwater microbial communities in response to effluent wastewater , Chelsea M. Dinon

Role of ceramide-1 phosphate in regulation of sphingolipid and eicosanoid metabolism in lung epithelial cells , Brittany A. Dudley

Allosteric Control of Proteins: New Methods and Mechanisms , Nalvi Duro

Microbial Community Structures in Three Bahamian Blue Holes , Meghan J. Gordon

A Novel Intramolecular Interaction in P53 , Fan He

The Impact of Myeloid-Mediated Co-Stimulation and Immunosuppression on the Anti-Tumor Efficacy of Adoptive T cell Therapy , Pasquale Patrick Innamarato

Investigating Mechanisms of Immune Suppression Secondary to an Inflammatory Microenvironment , Wendy Michelle Kandell

Posttranslational Modification and Protein Disorder Regulate Protein-Protein Interactions and DNA Binding Specificity of p53 , Robin Levy

Mechanistic and Translational Studies on Skeletal Malignancies , Jeremy McGuire

Novel Long Non-Coding RNA CDLINC Promotes NSCLC Progression , Christina J. Moss

Genome Maintenance Roles of Polycomb Transcriptional Repressors BMI1 and RNF2 , Anthony Richard Sanchez IV

The Ecology and Conservation of an Urban Karst Subterranean Estuary , Robert J. Scharping

Biological and Proteomic Characterization of Cornus officinalis on Human 1.1B4 Pancreatic β Cells: Exploring Use for T1D Interventional Application , Arielle E. Tawfik

Evaluation of Aging and Genetic Mutation Variants on Tauopathy , Amber M. Tetlow

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Investigating the Proteinaceous Regulome of the Acinetobacter baumannii , Leila G. Casella

Functional Characterization of the Ovarian Tumor Domain Deubiquitinating Enzyme 6B , Jasmin M. D'Andrea

Integrated Molecular Characterization of Lung Adenocarcinoma with Implications for Immunotherapy , Nicholas T. Gimbrone

The Role of Secreted Proteases in Regulating Disease Progression in Staphylococcus aureus , Brittney D. Gimza

Advanced Proteomic and Epigenetic Characterization of Ethanol-Induced Microglial Activation , Jennifer Guergues Guergues

Understanding immunometabolic and suppressive factors that impact cancer development , Rebecca Swearingen Hesterberg

Biochemical and Proteomic Approaches to Determine the Impact Level of Each Step of the Supply Chain on Tomato Fruit Quality , Robert T. Madden

Enhancing Immunotherapeutic Interventions for Treatment of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia , Kamira K. Maharaj

Characterization of the Autophagic-Iron Axis in the Pathophysiology of Endometriosis and Epithelial Ovarian Cancers , Stephanie Rockfield

Understanding the Influence of the Cancer Microenvironment on Metabolism and Metastasis , Shonagh Russell

Modeling of Interaction of Ions with Ether- and Ester-linked Phospholipids , Matthew W. Saunders

Novel Insights into the Multifaceted Roles of BLM in the Maintenance of Genome Stability , Vivek M. Shastri

Conserved glycine residues control transient helicity and disorder in the cold regulated protein, Cor15a , Oluwakemi Sowemimo

A Novel Cytokine Response Modulatory Function of MEK Inhibitors Mediates Therapeutic Efficacy , Mengyu Xie

Novel Strategies on Characterizing Biologically Specific Protein-protein Interaction Networks , Bi Zhao

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Characterization of the Transcriptional Elongation Factor ELL3 in B cells and Its Role in B-cell Lymphoma Proliferation and Survival , Lou-Ella M.m. Alexander

Identification of Regulatory miRNAs Associated with Ethanol-Induced Microglial Activation Using Integrated Proteomic and Transcriptomic Approaches , Brandi Jo Cook

Molecular Phylogenetics of Floridian Boletes , Arian Farid

MYC Distant Enhancers Underlie Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility at the 8q24.21 Locus , Anxhela Gjyshi Gustafson

Quantitative Proteomics to Support Translational Cancer Research , Melissa Hoffman

A Systems Chemical Biology Approach for Dissecting Differential Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Clinical Kinase Inhibitors in Lung Cancer , Natalia Junqueira Sumi

Investigating the Roles of Fucosylation and Calcium Signaling in Melanoma Invasion , Tyler S. Keeley

Synthesis, Oxidation, and Distribution of Polyphenols in Strawberry Fruit During Cold Storage , Katrina E. Kelly

Investigation of Alcohol-Induced Changes in Hepatic Histone Modifications Using Mass Spectrometry Based Proteomics , Crystina Leah Kriss

Off-Target Based Drug Repurposing Using Systems Pharmacology , Brent M. Kuenzi

Investigation of Anemarrhena asphodeloides and its Constituent Timosaponin-AIII as Novel, Naturally Derived Adjunctive Therapeutics for the Treatment of Advanced Pancreatic Cancer , Catherine B. MarElia

The Role of Phosphohistidine Phosphatase 1 in Ethanol-induced Liver Injury , Daniel Richard Martin

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Changing the Pathobiological Paradigm in Myelodysplastic Syndromes: The NLRP3 Inflammasome Drives the MDS Phenotype , Ashley Basiorka

Modeling of Dynamic Allostery in Proteins Enabled by Machine Learning , Mohsen Botlani-Esfahani

Uncovering Transcriptional Activators and Targets of HSF-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans , Jessica Brunquell

The Role of Sgs1 and Exo1 in the Maintenance of Genome Stability. , Lillian Campos-Doerfler

Mechanisms of IKBKE Activation in Cancer , Sridevi Challa

Discovering Antibacterial and Anti-Resistance Agents Targeting Multi-Drug Resistant ESKAPE Pathogens , Renee Fleeman

Functional Roles of Matrix Metalloproteinases in Bone Metastatic Prostate Cancer , Jeremy S. Frieling

Disorder Levels of c-Myb Transactivation Domain Regulate its Binding Affinity to the KIX Domain of CREB Binding Protein , Anusha Poosapati

Role of Heat Shock Transcription Factor 1 in Ovarian Cancer Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Drug Sensitivity , Chase David Powell

Cell Division Regulation in Staphylococcus aureus , Catherine M. Spanoudis

A Novel Approach to the Discovery of Natural Products From Actinobacteria , Rahmy Tawfik

Non-classical regulators in Staphylococcus aureus , Andy Weiss

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

In Vitro and In Vivo Antioxidant Capacity of Synthetic and Natural Polyphenolic Compounds Identified from Strawberry and Fruit Juices , Marvin Abountiolas

Quantitative Proteomic Investigation of Disease Models of Type 2 Diabetes , Mark Gabriel Athanason

CMG Helicase Assembly and Activation: Regulation by c-Myc through Chromatin Decondensation and Novel Therapeutic Avenues for Cancer Treatment , Victoria Bryant

Computational Modeling of Allosteric Stimulation of Nipah Virus Host Binding Protein , Priyanka Dutta

Cell Cycle Arrest by TGFß1 is Dependent on the Inhibition of CMG Helicase Assembly and Activation , Brook Samuel Nepon-Sixt

Gene Expression Profiling and the Role of HSF1 in Ovarian Cancer in 3D Spheroid Models , Trillitye Paullin

VDR-RIPK1 Interaction and its Implications in Cell Death and Cancer Intervention , Waise Quarni

Regulation of nAChRs and Stemness by Nicotine and E-cigarettes in NSCLC , Courtney Schaal

Targeting Histone Deacetylases in Melanoma and T-cells to Improve Cancer Immunotherapy , Andressa Sodre De Castro Laino

Nonreplicative DNA Helicases Involved in Maintaining Genome Stability , Salahuddin Syed

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Functional Analysis of the Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility Locus at 9p22.2 Reveals a Transcription Regulatory Network Mediated by BNC2 in Ovarian Cells , Melissa Buckley

Exploring the Pathogenic and Drug Resistance Mechanisms of Staphylococcus aureus , Whittney Burda

Regulation and Targeting of the FANCD2 Activation in DNA Repair , Valentina Celeste Caceres

Mass Spectrometry-Based Investigation of APP-Dependent Mechanisms in Neurodegeneration , Dale Chaput

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Ericson takes Grand Prize at 13th Three-Minute Thesis competition

Hannah Ericson, a doctoral candidate in Genetics, is the Grand Prize Winner at this year’s University of Georgia Three Minute Thesis (3MT ® ) Competition for her presentation titled “Catalyzing Change: What Helps Department Heads Be Successful?”

A Ph.D. candidate studying biology education in the Genetics department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Hannah works with Dr. Tessa Andrews studying teaching evaluations at UGA :

To promote the use of evidence-based teaching practices, teaching evaluation needs to support, recognize, and incentivize their use. Teaching evaluation is inadequate in this regard at many institutions, relying solely on student surveys instead of multiple sources of evidence. Hannah’s research focuses on the changes to teaching evaluation that are occurring at UGA, as well as factors influencing these shifts in different STEM departments. Hannah is passionate about the use of evidence-based teaching practices, to provide the best possible experience for STEM students.  Originally from Illinois, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Iowa. While there, her research centered around using fruit flies as a model to study epilepsy. She also helped in the description of a new species of parasitic wasp.

Congratulations to Ericson and all the participants for their successful [and succinct!] presentations! Very well done these outstanding graduate students.

Image: (l to r) Viviana Bravo, People’s Choice Winner; Jordan Parker, Runner-Up Winner;  Hannah Ericson, Grand Prize Winner

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