Tag Archives: Association for Biology Laboratory Education

The Incredibly Stretchy Condom, Revisited

Posted on September 2, 2019 by

It has been about 6 years since I wrote about the “Process and Tools of Science” lab in which students learn metric units of measure while they experiment with condoms. I still love this activity and use it every semester, … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental design, Laboratory activities | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Moldy bread, experimental design, and you

Posted on January 18, 2019 by

For many semesters, my nonmajors biology lab did a lab called chicken wing microbiology. You can download it here, from the wonderful Association for Biology Laboratory Education website (Walvoord and Hoefnagels, 2006). In the lab, students devised a method to … Continue reading →

Posted in Engaging students, fungi, Laboratory activities, Microbiology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Attend the best conference for people who teach biology labs … for free!

Posted on January 11, 2018 by

This is a good time to direct your attention to my favorite professional organization: The Association for Biology Laboratory Education, or ABLE. I raved about ABLE in a previous post, and I won’t repeat my praise here. I just wanted … Continue reading →

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Trail cam images and data for your lab

Posted on July 1, 2017 by

Earlier this month, I went to my favorite conference of the year: the one for the Association for Biology Laboratory Education. If you don’t know about it, check it out. Each conference follows a workshop format, so you don’t sit … Continue reading →

Posted in Active learning, Citizen science, Ecology, Laboratory activities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

If you don’t know ABLE yet, you should

Posted on June 27, 2016 by

I just got back from the 2016 conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE). If you teach biology labs at any level, you really should check it out. It’s hands-down my favorite meeting of the year because it’s about … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic conferences, Experimental design, Laboratory activities, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Reptilobirds revisited: An evolutionary connection

Posted on June 29, 2015 by

[Special thanks to Matt Taylor for his contributions to this blog post.] Judging from the number of comments, the “Reptilobird” post is by far the most popular one on this blog. And no wonder. It is a simple, fun activity … Continue reading →

Posted in Laboratory activities | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Calling Educators and Researchers: Here’s a New Source for Travel Funds

Posted on April 6, 2015 by

If you have ever wanted to expose your introductory biology students to authentic research but weren’t sure how to begin, help is on the way. A multi-university team of faculty, led by Rachelle Spell and Chris Beck of Emory University, … Continue reading →

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What Good Is It to Know Biology? Study Says: Not Much!

Posted on April 3, 2015 by

The March 2015 edition of The American Biology Teacher features a research article by Alla Keselman et al., entitled “The Relationship between Biology Classes and Biological Reasoning and Common Health Misconceptions.” (ABT has kindly posted a free PDF of the … Continue reading →

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Clicker Questions that Make Students Think

Posted on July 2, 2012 by

Conference season came to a quick start and finish for me in June, starting with the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (http://www.ableweb.org/) conference at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and ending with the Introductory Biology Project (http://ibp.ou.edu/) conference in … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic conferences, Active learning, Assessment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment