Category Archives: Teaching

Jamboard: A great tool for collecting student questions and ideas

Posted on September 26, 2022 by nonmajorsbiology

I am back in the nonmajors biology classroom after a long departure. COVID-19, a sabbatical, and some unexpected administrative duties took their toll, but it’s good to be back. I have been trying to reduce the amount of superfluous content … Continue reading →

Posted in Active learning, Collaboration, Engaging students, Equity and inclusion, Instructional technology, Teaching | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Using Google Forms for biology class: A free tool with many uses

Posted on September 21, 2021 by nonmajorsbiology

My all-time favorite professional organization is the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, chiefly because the annual hands-on workshops provide ideas that I can use right away in my teaching. (ABLE’s journal compiles all of the past workshops and is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Active learning, Engaging students, Instructional technology, Online teaching, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mindset Matters for Teachers, Too

Posted on July 19, 2021 by nonmajorsbiology

Mindset has been a recurring theme throughout my blog posts. (If you need a quick primer on the difference between fixed and growth mindset, you can find a good summary here.) In a nutshell, people with a fixed mindset believe … Continue reading →

Posted in Engaging students, Equity and inclusion, Mindset, STEM, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Inching Toward Inclusivity, One Instructor at a Time

Posted on April 30, 2021 by nonmajorsbiology

Like many instructors, I have spent the past year or so thinking more about enhancing inclusivity and a sense of “belonging” in my college classroom. One thought-provoking paper from CBE — Life Sciences Education that recently came my way has … Continue reading →

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This might just be my new favorite book about teaching…

Posted on February 5, 2021 by nonmajorsbiology

Last month, I bought and read Terry McGlynn’s excellent new book, The Chicago Guide to College Science Teaching (published 2020). It is one of those books that hits the rare combination of being informed by educational research without dwelling on … Continue reading →

Posted in Course design, Equity and inclusion, STEM, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A New Way to Look at Red-Green Colorblindness

Posted on September 21, 2020 by nonmajorsbiology

When we cover genetics in our nonmajors biology classes, many of us use red-green colorblindness as a familiar example of X-linked inheritance. We may even ask our students to indicate whether they can see the numbers or symbols in Ishihara … Continue reading →

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“BiteScis”: Bite-sized research to promote scientific thinking

Posted on August 26, 2020 by nonmajorsbiology

Are you looking for biology lessons that promote scientific thinking, are classroom-tested, and are fully customizable to your own needs? On second thought, who isn’t? While reading The American Biology Teacher recently, I learned about a good source: BiteScis, a … Continue reading →

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What Does a STEM Professional Look Like? One Graduate Student’s Perspective

Posted on June 26, 2020 by nonmajorsbiology

I encourage you to visit today’s Science Careers website and read the moving commentary entitled Why I’ve struggled with the pressure to assimilate when teaching. The author is Montrai Spikes, a graduate student in Biology at the University of Oklahoma … Continue reading →

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Calling on students at random: What are the keys to success?

Posted on June 1, 2020 by nonmajorsbiology

Lofty principles of equal opportunity guide our country and our schools, but the truth is that not everyone is treated fairly, and not everyone’s voice has an equal chance of being heard. As instructors, we must confront the painful idea … Continue reading →

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Instructors: Be kind to your future self

Posted on February 13, 2020 by nonmajorsbiology

I’ve posted a few times on helping your students cultivate a growth mindset. But I think its also important to think about our own mindsets as instructors. How can we cultivate a growth mindset about teaching, learn from our mistakes, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Mindset, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment