Sample Lessons
Below is a sample of lessons and approaches I have used when teaching undergraduate courses. More information is available upon request.
Syllabus and Welcome Page
The syllabus and LMS welcome page often create a student's first impression of a course, setting the tone for what they should expect in terms of structure, workload, and classroom climate. Because of this, I have designed my syllabus and welcome page to be inviting and engaging, aiming to excite students about the course and engage them even before they begin the curriculum. Below is the syllabus for my Bio 100 course for non-majors, along with an image of the welcome page they will encounter upon entering the course LMS site. When embedded in the LMS, the welcome page is clickable, enabling students to access various course information and pages.
Non-majors LMS welcome page
When embedded in the LMS site, the welcome page is clickable, enabling students to access various course information and pages.
Teaching Aids
In many of my lessons, I utilize teaching aids to make material more accessible and relatable to students. Below are some examples I have used. The first set of images illustrates the use of a Hoberman sphere and a baseball to demonstrate the effect of temperature on enzyme flexibility and its ability to bind to substrates. Additionally, I use a lung model made from a two-liter soda bottle, balloons, and a straw to demonstrate air movement due to Boyle's law. Finally, I use pool noodles to demonstrate mitosis and meiosis in my introductory biology classes.
Temperature and enzyme flexibility:
Enzymes in hot temperatures become more flexible.
Enzymes in cold temperatures become more rigid.
A baseball is used to demonstrate the substrate. When the sphere is in a middle state, the ball can be held with the sphere demonstrating the state of the enzyme at peak enzyme activity.
Lung model to demonstrate Boyle's Law:
Pool noodles used to demonstrate meiosis and mitosis:
Adapting In-Person Lessons for the Online Modality: The Carbon Cycle
I love using the Colorado Plateau Carbon Cycle Activity, developed by a group of biologists at Northern Arizona University, to teach students about the carbon cycle. The activity, which can be found here, is a role-playing game that asks students to become a carbon atom and move through the environment. They trace their pathway and note how long they spend in each of the carbon reservoirs, eventually drawing a carbon cycle.
Then, I ask students to compare their carbon cycle to their classmates' and to the carbon cycles from their textbook. This activity helps them better understand the carbon cycle and also facilitates discussions about the use and limitations of models in biology.
I wanted to use this activity with my online class as well, so I utilized the original activity cards and art to create an interactive website for students. This website is used as part of an online, guided lecture. Students learn about the carbon cycle, participate in the activity via the website, and then use a discussion board to share their carbon cycles. This facilitates a discussion about similarities and differences, along with a broader discussion about models.
Learning Objectives:
Understand how a carbon atom cycles through an ecosystem
Determine which reservoirs a carbon atom encounters most often and least often
Determine which reservoirs contain the most carbon
Determine how long a carbon atom spends in a given reservoir
Determine how long it take to reach each reservoir via the carbon cycle
Lesson Material:
Activity website with instructions
Natural Selection Lesson: Bug Natural Selection Model
In this activity, students use a model of natural selection acting on a population of bugs. The lesson uses the NetLogo model to help students test the three requirements for natural selection by manipulating them within the model. Using NetLogo also exposes students to an open source modeling software used by biologists.
Learning Objectives:
Describe Darwin’s theories and explain how heritable variations and limits on reproductive success lead to differential reproduction (natural selection).
Propose explanations for the rise of adaptations that are consistent with evolution by natural selection.
Compare and contrast Lamarck’s hypothesis of evolution by inheritance of acquired characteristics and Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
Lesson Material:
Nest-Site Selection in Honeybees
Developing the ability to use the scientific method to understand animal behavior was a key component of any animal behavior course. The animal behavior course I taught enrolled 170 students and did not have a lab component. To provide students with practical experience, I used agent-based models that allowed them to practice creating hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting data, and interpreting results in a lecture setting. One example was a honeybee nest-site selection model, which I used to teach students about group decision-making and social behavior. This model was based on well-documented honeybee nest-site selection behavior and was developed by my colleague Ted Pavlic and me.
I later modified this model and activity to focus on practicing the scientific process for introductory biology students with little knowledge of animal behavior. I used the activity on the first day of class to engage them in the course and review the scientific process.
Learning Objectives:
Compare and contrast the costs and benefits of group living
Ability to develop a hypothesis/prediction and design an experiment
Interpret data to explain group-decision making of social animals
Population Growth using the Logistic Growth Model
This activity was used in an introductory biology class and was adapted from Trenckman et al., 2017. The students were already familiar with exponential growth models and were introduced to logistic growth using this activity. The lesson was designed to help students become more comfortable with quantitative methods along with learning the concepts.
Learning Objectives:
Define and describe the following terms: population density, carrying capacity (K)
Explain what factors can cause populations to reach their carrying capacity, K and connect this idea to population growth (S curves)
Predict population size using logistic growth models (Nt = N1 + rN1 [(K - N1)/ K])
Visually represent how populations change over time by constructing graphs
Lesson Material: