A partnership between scientists, high school teachers, and their students provides authentic research experiences to help students understand the nature and processes of science. The Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP) engages students in a large-scale genomics research project using classroom-tested protocols that can help to find the function of a disabled gene in the widely studied plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we describe the framework of PREP in the classroom within the context of the National Science Education Standards.

Peer-assisted strategies foster learning in science courses. This article outlines a cross-year, peer-assisted learning program in a Human Anatomy and Physiology 1 course. The aim of this 2-year study was to implement the program and evaluate it on the basis of student performance and feedback. Former students were hired each year to lead optional discussion sessions. Student attendance was positively correlated with higher course averages and overall grade-point averages yet limited improvement in posttest scores. Students favorably evaluated the program and suggested improvements. Biology educators would benefit from a central interactive database devoted to peer-assisted learning in our discipline.

We discuss a pedagogical strategy to improve the writing of laboratory reports. Our multipronged approach gauges students' comprehension beforehand, rewards early success, and focuses feedback on the most serious writing issues. In preliminary studies, more students were able to achieve our threshold for success in our introductory courses, and students reported being more motivated to write well.

We present an activity that models the teaching of content knowledge that transfers to many areas of the life sciences and simultaneously targets growth in cognitive development. The activity provides students with concrete objects and thinking expenences that facilitate an understanding of how surface area, in the context of biological systems, is a critical and common factor in life-supporting functions. Alveolus structure and gas exchange in the lungs, nephron structure and water retention in the kidneys, villus structure and nutrient absorption in the small intestine, and root-hair structure and nutrient absorption in plants are all biological examples in which surface area plays a key role in living things. In addition, this activity incorporates components that engage students in thinking about proportional reasoning, as many students lack the proportional thinking skills needed to fully understand this structure/function relationship or to transfer the relationship to a new, but related, situation.

Paper punch-out dots soaked in isopropyl alcohol will move about randomly when placed flat on the surface of water, superficially resembling swimming movements of single-celled protists. This exercise is a hands-on and dynamic activity to generate discussion on the generally accepted characteristics of living things.

Podcasts (digital audio files) can be utilized creatively to supplement class-room learning. They can be both easily created by instructors and conveniently accessed by students. Students are very receptive to the use of this type of technology as a way to reinforce conceptual understanding of course material. An activity combining a podcast with an active-learning worksheet references the literary classic “The Lord of the Rings” as an analogy to help students understand the many proteins, cells, and processes involved in the human immune response. This activity has helped a significant number of students improve their understanding of this subject.