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Teaching Materials and Online Resources
SUBJECT AREAS:
BIOLOGY
Biology Brought to Life: A Guide to Teaching Students to Think Like Scientists
Classroom activities, inquiry-based labs: These online book chapters offer ideas for cooperative exercises and inquiry-based labs that can be integrated into biology courses. Chapters include how-to instructions, rationale, and full-length labs with teacher guides.
BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium
This collection of computer tools allows students to pose their own problems, solve these problems through investigations of their own design, and persuade their peers that their conclusions are correct: the BioQUEST "3 P's."
Concept mapping tool (CTOOLS)
This web-based concept mapping tool provides students and faculty with a visual representation of principles and relationships among concepts. It includes computer-based scoring capabilities.
DNA from the Beginning
This technology-rich website includes concept lists, graphics, animations, and more for teaching about DNA.
DNA Interactive
This interactive website teaches students about the structure, function, and history of DNA through fascinating animations and problem-solving scenarios.
Frog Deformities
In this activity, students engage in experimental design and data analysis to understand complex interactions between environmental variables and frog populations.
Genetics Education Center
This website is designed for educators who are interested in human genetics and the human genome project. It includes links to lesson plans, the human genome project, networks, and programs.
Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT)
This online resource brings functional genomic methods into undergraduate curricula through student research, and is a collection of information and data for teaching genomics.
Guppy Simulation
In this computer-based activity, students build understanding of natural selection, sexual selection, and fitness.
Integrated Biological Science Courses Organized around Research Experience (IBSCORE)
This course uses a teamwork approach that involves all students in a classroom, promotes critical thinking, and teaches communication skills in science.
Introduction to Biological Inquiry and Analysis
In this course, students learn basic concepts in biology and engage in science as a process of active inquiry that serves as a framework for further study. The website includes 10 in-class assignments and an introduction to basic statistics.
LifeLines
This collection of online cases is designed by community college teachers, and is based on real-life scenarios.
Microbes Count!
This collection of multimedia resources, simulations, and tools is an interactive, open-ended forum for learning about microbiology.
Microbe Library
This searchable portal provides a peer-reviewed, web-based collection of resources about the microbial world, including visual images and animations, curriculum activities for both classroom and laboratory, and articles. The collection is linked directly to a recommended core curriculum for introductory microbiology education.
Problem-based Learning
This collection of problem-based learning (PBL) activities challenges students to work cooperatively in groups to solve real-world problems.
Teaching Case Database
This collection of online cases is designed for medical students at Harvard Medical School.
Teams and Streams
These labs provide a framework for teachers to move from traditional, confirmatory approaches to student-driven inquiry. Students post results on websites of their own design.
Workshop Biology
This program is designed to improve biology teaching for non-biology majors. The website includes many resources, including a downloadable, 230-page curriculum development handbook, and more.
CHEMISTRY
ChemLinks
This collection of modules is designed to enhance the appreciation and learning of chemistry.
Peer-led Team Learning
This website outlines strategies for teaching in a "workshop format" where teams of students are guided by a peer leader. This model provides an active learning experience for students, creates a leadership role for undergraduates, and engages faculty in a creative new dimension of instruction.
GENERAL SCIENCE
Calibrated Peer Review
This web-based program provides resources for implementing frequent writing assignments in large classes with limited instructional resources.
Just-in-time Teaching (JITT)
This program provides teacher resources and computer-based activities that use technology and problem-solving skills to improve learning. Students complete web-based assignments prior to class so the instructor can revise teaching "just in time."
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
This website offers instructions and rationale for case-based learning, and includes a collection of online cases for many science disciplines.
National Institute for Science Education
This institute provides literature about teaching and learning, strategies for improving science education, and assessment guides for teachers and students.
Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP)
This program offers pedagogical methods and classroom management techniques that include hands-on activities, simulations, questions, problem-solving scenarios, and hypothesis-driven labs.
PHYSICS
Activity-based Physics
This suite of textbooks, computer software, and other materials is based on physics education research. The activity-based materials help students learn difficult physics concepts.
Cooperative Group Problem Solving in Physics
This website contains information about how to implement cooperative group problem-solving into physics classrooms, as well as a downloadable lab manual.
Peer Instruction
This article suggests strategies that can be used to embellish lectures with activities where students teach each other, as well as rationale for these activities, and ConcepTest examples.
Physlets
This website and companion book contain physics problems with animated physics applets.
Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) Studio Project
These computer simulations are designed to help freshmen develop intuition about and conceptual models of physical phenomena. The tools are based on an active-learning approach that merges lecture, lab, and discussion sections. Course notes, graphics, and animations are available.
GENERAL TEACHING
The Active Learning Site
This comprehensive bibliography lists articles about active learning.
Center for Science and Math Teaching
This website provides references and software (microcomputer-based laboratory tools) that enable students to learn physical concepts.
Center for Teaching Effectiveness
This online, how-to guide offers advice for all aspects of developing a university course, including teaching strategies, references, media aids, advice about diversity, and more.
KnowledgeRoom Networks
This innovative website enhances classroom education by providing user-friendly, virtual space where students can research, explore, collaborate, and communicate.
ONLINE DATABASES
Biology Education Online (BEoN)
This is an online, peer-reviewed journal for K-16 educators in the life sciences.
BioScience Education Network (BEN)
This digital, searchable database of biology instructional materials and resources is designed to help undergraduate educators to improve their teaching through resources, collaboration, and network building.
The Learning Matrix
This site provides access to peer-reviewed digital resources that promote inquiry- and problem-based learning in college mathematics, science, and technology classes. Instructions are included for posting new instructional materials.
Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT)
This electronic database is a "free and open resource" of instructional materials, including peer reviews and comments. Instructions are included for posting new instructional materials.
National Science Digital Library
This digital library contains resource collections and services for science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology Education
This digital library offers access to online teaching and learning materials for students and teachers.
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY WEB SITES AND PUBLICATIONS
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Education homepage
American Association of Physics Teachers
Journals: Physics Teacher and American Journal of Physics
American Chemical Society
Education homepage
Journal of Chemistry Education
American Physical Society Education homepage
American Physiological Society Education homepage
American Society for Cell Biology
Online Journal: Cell Biology Education
American Society for Microbiology
Journals: Microbiology Education and ASM News
Association of College and University Biology Educators
Journal: Bioscene: Journal of College Biology Teaching
Ecological Society of America Education homepage
National Association of Biology Teachers
Journal: American Biology Teacher
National Association for Research in Science Teaching
Journal of Research in Science Teaching
National Science Teachers Association
Journal of College Science Teaching
Teaching Professor
Newsletter about teaching methods and research