Course-based research experiences (CREs) integrate authentic research into coursework. While the benefits of CREs are well documented at the undergraduate level, less is known about their impact at the graduate level. This study examined a CRE embedded in a graduate course offered in flipped and non-flipped formats. Through the CRE, students developed and applied environmental water quality research skills while investigating runoff contributions of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the Santa Monica Bay, California, USA. The CRE was assessed using a pre-post survey (N = 23) containing objective and subjective measures of student learning. Objective measures demonstrated gains in test performance (mean difference [MD = 0.48], P = 0.013). Subjective measures indicated increased confidence in research skills (MD = 0.32), understanding of environmental water quality (MD = 0.83, P = 0.002), engagement (MD = 0.25), and career interest and preparedness (MD = 0.20). Students in the flipped format exhibited greater objective and subjective gains than those in the non-flipped format. Men achieved larger objective gains, whereas women reported larger subjective gains, with the differences in subjective gains being statistically significant. First-generation and non-first-generation students accomplished comparable objective gains, although first-generation students experienced higher subjective gains. These findings support the integration of CREs into graduate courses and the evaluation of delivery formats. Results also suggest that connecting scientific inquiry to local manifestations of global environmental challenges can prepare, engage, and empower students as research partners.
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are widely recognized as a high-impact practice in biology education, yet most existing CURE frameworks treat the research organism as an interchangeable teaching prop rather than a genuine scientific contribution. We argue that place-based, community-embedded CUREs-in which students isolate, characterize, and publicly deploy a locally meaningful wild organism-constitute a qualitatively distinct model warranting broader adoption. As proof of concept, we present the Declaration of Fermentation project at Indiana University Bloomington: graduate researchers isolated a wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain from the bark of a campus landmark tree, confirmed its wild provenance by whole-genome sequencing and phylogenomics, and partnered with local craft breweries to produce a colonial-era inspired ale released publicly for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Volunteer sensory panels at two independent public tasting events (combined n = 33-34 per attribute) confirmed a fruity-funky profile consistent with wild-strain fermentation, with no significant differences between events (Mann-Whitney U, Benjamini-Hochberg-corrected P > 0.05 for all 11 attributes). We describe three design principles-genomically confirmed strain identity, mandatory community partnership, and place-based historical narrative-that distinguish this model from prior wild yeast brewing CUREs, discuss how these principles generalize to other institutions and fermentation vehicles, and identify the next steps for formal learning assessment. Complete implementation protocols are provided as supplemental Appendices 1-6, and the bioinformatics pipeline is freely available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20679384.
Popular culture is increasingly used in biology education, but its value is often explained primarily through a narrow account of engagement: learners recognize a reference, enjoy the activity, and participate more readily. This Perspective argues that game studies offer biology education research (BER) a vocabulary for examining the deeper mechanisms that can make such engagement educationally meaningful, including fan expertise, fictional world knowledge, affect, and identity. I use the Pokémon Fossil Museum at Chicago's Field Museum as a generative case, informed by a reflective visit rather than a study of visitor outcomes. Four lenses-transmedia learning, worldbuilding and procedural systems, affect and reflective nostalgia, and epistemic role-taking-make visible how the exhibit organized movement between Pokémon and paleontology. Its design maintained clear boundaries between fictional and scientific claims, paired imagined organisms with real fossils, surfaced tensions such as Pokémon "evolution" versus biological evolution, and invited visitors into paleontological practices. From this case, I propose six iterative design moves for game-informed biology education: orient, differentiate, bridge, disrupt, enact, and extend. I also propose a learner pathway for translating cultural recognition into biological reasoning through comparison, explanation, evidence evaluation, critique, and application. Engagement is an entry point, not the endpoint. By studying how knowledge developed through play can be reorganized through disciplinary evidence and practice, BER can better understand authentic engagement in biology learning, including contexts beyond games or Pokémon.
Large-enrollment microbiology courses often leave little time for the guided practice students need to reconstruct complex biological processes. This Tips and Tools article describes a scalable guided completion workflow developed in a 285-student General Microbiology course. Instructors convert process diagrams into partially completed worksheets, provide answer keys for immediate self-check, and embed short document-camera walkthroughs into unit review videos. Students first attempt the worksheet from memory, use course materials to complete remaining gaps, check their work, and then revisit the process through instructor-modeled reasoning. A DNA replication worksheet illustrates how the approach supports learning of sequence, directionality, enzyme function, and mechanistic consequence. The workflow uses familiar instructional tools but organizes them into a reusable bridge between lecture, independent study, and assessment. This article describes implementation only and does not report student outcome data.
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools are an increasingly common resource used in the classroom and writing process. The landscape of available GenAI tools is rapidly evolving, so having a systematic and straightforward way to evaluate new tools for incorporation into the classroom is key. For example, in science writing education, GenAI tools can be used as a supplement to instructor feedback on student writing, allowing an additional opportunity for critique and revision by the student. Here, we describe a rubric we developed to enable instructors to assess differences between feedback provided by GenAI models based on five key areas: (i) accuracy, (ii) constructiveness, (iii) clarity and readability, (iv) recognition of strengths, and (v) original text. We show data comparing the feedback provided by multiple GenAI models on student work based on course guidelines. This rubric can serve as a resource for other instructors interested in evaluating various GenAI models for use as scientific writing feedback supplements in their own classrooms.
ABSTRACT The experiences of marginalized students in higher education are often examined through a single-identity lens, overlooking how other identities can jointly shape their college experiences. In particular, little is known about how holding an additional marginalized identity affects the experiences of students with disabilities in STEM. We surveyed 947 undergraduates (379 with disabilities) at 85 institutions across the United States to (i) identify marginalized identities that are highly represented among students with disabilities and (ii) examine whether holding an additional marginalized identity corresponds to distinct experiences among students with disabilities. We found that LGBTQ+, nonbinary, and white students were overrepresented among students with disabilities relative to students without disabilities, with 50% of students with disabilities identifying as LGBTQ+. LGBTQ+ students with disabilities reported significantly more negative academic and social experiences than non-LGBTQ+ students with disabilities. These findings highlight some of the heterogeneity that exists in the experiences of students with disabilities, underscore the need to address the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ students with disabilities, and suggest that some patterns previously attributed to disability alone could be partly explained by the experiences of LGBTQ+ students.
This study examines how three large language models (LLMs), ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, assign grades to undergraduate-level essays in a biology course using a standardized rubric. Each LLM evaluated a data set of 200 essays under two prompting conditions: zero-shot (uncalibrated) and few-shot (calibrated using a small set of exemplar essays). LLM-assigned scores were directly compared with instructor-assigned scores, showing only moderate alignment with instructor grading, with variability observed across models and prompting strategies. Differences in grading behavior were also evident with different items on the rubric, with higher alignment for structural writing components and lower alignment for content- and reasoning-based criteria. Additionally, LLMs showed greater agreement with instructor scores than with one another, indicating substantial inter-model variability under identical grading conditions. These findings suggest that LLM grading outputs vary meaningfully across models, prompting strategies, and rubric components. In this context, LLMs may be best understood as tools that can support specific aspects of structured grading rather than as interchangeable evaluators.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed various industries, and education is no exception. This paper details how AI can be utilized to support the development of an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure learning activity for pre-health students. With ChatGPT assistance, we identified and implemented the open-source platform Twine to create a branching, scenario-based activity focused on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), allowing students to engage with clinical decision-making and apply course concepts. Additionally, ChatGPT's natural language processing capabilities allowed educators to create a script-based learning experience informed by prior student feedback, providing students with immediate, targeted feedback and support. This study describes how AI was used to develop a novel learning activity that encourages student engagement and application of course concepts. Students who piloted this activity in an upper-division course reported the activity to be an effective and engaging learning experience that helped them apply course content to real-life scenarios. Importantly, the use of AI helped streamline the development of this activity, lowering barriers to creating complex educational activities that may otherwise be difficult to implement. Here, we demonstrate how AI can be leveraged to support the development of interactive, scenario-based learning activities and provide practical guidance for instructors.
As generative AI becomes a standard fixture in graduate education, the pedagogical challenge has shifted from detection to integration. This article describes a curriculum intervention developed for Anatomy of Scientific Error, a graduate-level course on scientific error analysis in interdisciplinary research practice and communication at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. To inform the curriculum design, we first administered a needs-assessment survey to the cohort. Results revealed a critical trust gap: while students utilized generative artificial intelligence extensively for efficiency, they expressed anxiety regarding hallucinations and a lack of verification skills. While the course integrated multiple AI-related tasks, this paper focuses on a specific assignment titled "Truth, Tone, and Trust." Situated in the sixth week of the curriculum, this assignment represented a deliberate design pivot away from standard text-based prompts toward a multimodal, high-engagement activity. Students were tasked with improving three flawed, AI-generated variations of a recent real-world press release regarding the R21 malaria vaccine, using track changes to correct errors, and recording a video defense of their editorial decisions. This approach shifts the focus from regulating AI to stewarding knowledge, ensuring that efficiency does not come at the cost of critical thinking.
Molecular cloning is a fundamental technique in life science research. However, learning to perform traditional restriction-ligation-based methods is time-consuming and prone to failure, discouraging new students. Here, we describe a compact, two- to three-session undergraduate practical class using In vivo Assembly, a simple, homology-based method that takes advantage of the native recombination machinery of Escherichia coli. Students swap a green fluorescent protein coding sequence with a red fluorescent protein coding sequence in a bacterial expression vector using PCR-amplified DNA fragments with short homology arms, followed by DpnI restriction enzyme digestion to remove template DNA, and then bacterial transformation. Success is directly visible by red versus green fluorescent bacterial colonies, providing rapid feedback and high student engagement. This low-cost protocol introduces key cloning concepts (PCR, homology design, template removal, bacterial transformation, and recombination) with reduced hands-on time and fewer failure points than classic approaches, making it ideal for effective teaching in resource-limited settings.
One doesn't always equate a professional scientific society with sharing, caring, and fun, but in this age of public distrust, public engagement with science and active student learning are ways to regain trust. ASM holds a leadership position in promoting and recognizing the value of education in the future of our profession and is there to support your educational journey. From K12 outreach and public engagement, to professional development, to presenting and publishing scholarship of teaching and learning, ASM has been at the forefront of biology education. Under the leadership of visionary directors such as Amy Chang and now Irene Hulede, ASM Education is a model for how education and outreach should be woven throughout professional societies.
Biology educators increasingly teach in classrooms shaped by digital devices, projected media, bright artificial lighting, dense visual displays, and frequent movement between lecture, laboratory, and online learning tasks. These conditions are often treated as background features rather than as factors that may affect attention, engagement, and cognitive access. Cognitive load theory has helped educators analyze how instructional design can support or overload working memory; however, science educators have fewer practical frameworks for examining the combined sensory, physical, and technological demands of the learning environment. This Perspective uses the term environmental load to describe task-irrelevant cognitive demand produced by the physical, sensory, spatial, and technological conditions of biology learning environments, including lighting, noise, temperature, visual clutter, screen exposure, device interruptions, room arrangement, and limited opportunities for movement. The article situates this concept within prior work on cognitive load, student engagement, classroom design, lighting, and educational technology. It then argues that environmental load is particularly relevant in biology and laboratory learning because students must coordinate terminology, diagrams, models, procedures, safety expectations, and abstract systems while managing the physical space around them. Practical next steps include classroom environment audits, intentional screen breaks, reduced visual complexity during cognitively demanding tasks, research on sensory conditions in science classrooms, and professional development that treats cognitive access as both an instructional and environmental concern.
Identifying an unknown bacterial isolate is a core exercise in many undergraduate microbiology courses, but students often struggle to organize observations, select appropriate follow-up tests, and interpret results in a logical sequence. To support this process, I developed the MicroID Lab Guide, a free, open-source progressive web application that guides students through a four-phase bacterial identification workflow. The application supports initial observations, automated routing through an identification flowchart, biochemical test selection and interpretation, and final organism identification with an automated confidence check. As students enter results, a rule-based decision engine updates the list of candidate organisms and flags inconsistencies between observed and expected results. The tool also includes a searchable reference library of 67 laboratory techniques, media, and biochemical tests to provide students with on-demand procedural and interpretive support. MicroID Lab Guide runs entirely in the browser; requires no server, user accounts, or data collection; and can be used as a static web application. Importantly, the application was designed for instructor customization: organism profiles, biochemical test definitions, flowchart logic, and export templates are stored in editable source files. This article describes the design, classroom use, customization, and AI-assisted development of MicroID Lab Guide as a flexible, zero-cost model for building course-specific digital tools in undergraduate microbiology laboratories.
Muddiest Point prompts can reveal what students do not yet understand, but in large microbiology courses, the volume of responses can make timely feedback difficult. This Tips and Tools article describes a scalable workflow for transforming end-of-unit notecard responses into a targeted review resource. Student submissions were grouped into recurring themes, prioritized by frequency and instructional importance, and used to create an instructor-generated, chaptered review video with accompanying worksheet prompts. The central innovation is the aggregation of many individual uncertainties into one reusable feedback artifact that preserves instructor voice while reducing the need for repeated individual explanations. Students could watch the full review or navigate directly to difficult concepts, and pause-and-predict prompts, live sketching, and worksheet fill-ins supported active use of the video. The article provides implementation guidance; accessibility considerations; adaptations for lecture, laboratory, hybrid, or online contexts; and options for low-overhead evaluation. The workflow offers a practical approach for sustaining formative feedback in high-enrollment courses using common instructional tools.
Hands-on lab components are an integral part of biological science courses at the college level, as they develop students' technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and critical-thinking skills. During the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors were required to devise strategies for providing hands-on lab experiences through remote instruction. This study reports the successful implementation of hands-on lab activities using at-home custom Carolina lab kits along with McGraw-Hill Connect Virtual Biology (MHCVB) Labs. A total of 220 students from 10 sections of microbiology courses were selected for MHCVB or without MHCVB. As part of the Fall 2020 course, three sections (66 students) were instructed to perform labs at home using lab videos. MHCVB Labs were used along with instructor demonstrations during the Spring 2021 semester. Students assessed their knowledge through pre- and post-quizzes and lab skills through lab reports. No significant differences were observed in student performance on pre-lab quizzes, post-lab quizzes, or laboratory reports between the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters. In contrast, significant improvements were observed in hands-on technical skills during Spring 2021. Evaluation of student images showed that streak-plate proficiency increased from 57.7 ± 2.5 to 80.1 ± 7.6 (P < 0.05). Similar improvements were observed in simple staining (57.3 ± 11.6 to 74.4 ± 6.4; P < 0.01) and Gram staining (55.0 ± 8.7 to 80.1 ± 6.4; P < 0.001). Student proficiency was assessed by normalizing total scores to a 100-point scale, enabling direct comparisons between groups. These results demonstrate that integration of virtual laboratory simulations enhances hands-on microbiology skill development in remote laboratory courses and supports blended laboratory models across instructional modalities.
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) widen access to authentic research by embedding open-ended investigations into undergraduate curricula. Here, we describe a semester-long CURE in cancer biology that integrates molecular biology techniques, data analysis, and structured scientific writing within an upper-level undergraduate course. Students engaged in the study of HPV-associated cervical carcinogenesis by investigating the role of a candidate gene using siRNA-mediated knockdown and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis in cervical cancer cell lines. The primary aims of the course were to increase students' conceptual understanding of molecular oncology and to develop proficiency in experimental design, primary literature interpretation, data analysis, and scientific communication. Analytical rubrics for laboratory performance, written reports, posters, and oral presentations were used to evaluate student learning, along with a post-course survey measuring perceived learning gains and research self-efficacy. All students successfully completed the experimental workflow and demonstrated increased confidence in molecular techniques, data analysis, and interpretation of scientific data. A distinctive feature of this CURE was the integration of structured scientific writing, which led to student co-authorship of a peer-reviewed review article, reinforcing the linkage between laboratory research and scholarly dissemination. Although implemented with a small cohort, this pilot study provides a scalable and adaptable model for incorporating clinically relevant research and scientific communication into undergraduate science education.
Undergraduate science courses are in urgent need of increased retention and recruitment of underrepresented minority (URM) college students. There is a significant gap in current approaches to curricular design and their efficacy for URM student retention. To address this, we propose increased incorporation of culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE) methodology in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula design. We identify well-documented and effective strategies, emphasizing practices that value students' prior knowledge and relate course content to students' lived experiences. Unlike prior applications of the CRSE conceptual framework that have focused on implementation, here we address curricula design. We present several examples, including the design of a new undergraduate course titled "Intersections Between Race, Biology, and Technology: More Than Skin Deep" that we created in 2024 at Medgar Evers College, an urban Predominantly Black Institution. This course addresses misconceptions about the intersections of race, genetic variation, and artificial intelligence. CRSE develops students' STEM identity through engagement with real-world issues, such as racialized health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Embedding CRSE practices into its design additionally aims to reduce individual instructor's cognitive burden for CRSE implementation. Application of CRSE practices in college-level science courses offers actionable ways to improve relevance and engagement. We propose that educators approach collegiate course design more intentionally to ensure that CRSE practices are encoded within syllabi in order to maximize the positive impact on URM recruitment and retention in STEM fields.
