Conflict reducing practices in evolution education are associated with increases in evolution acceptance in a large naturalistic study.

Evolution is an important part of biology education, but many college biology students do not accept important components of evolution, like the evolution of humans. Practices that reduce perceived conflict between religion and evolution have been proposed to increase student evolution acceptance. This study investigates college student experiences of conflict reducing practices in evolution education and how these experiences are related to their gains in acceptance of human evolution during evolution instruction.

Students respond positively to an instructor collecting and sharing aggregated class demographic data from a survey in a high-enrollment physiology course.

The impersonal nature of high-enrollment science courses makes it difficult to build student-instructor relationships, which can negatively impact student learning and engagement, especially for members of marginalized groups. In this study, we explored whether an instructor collecting and sharing aggregated student demographics could positively impact student-instructor relationships. We surveyed students in a high-enrollment physiology course about their perceptions of their instructor ) distributing a demographic survey, and ) sharing aggregated survey results in class.

Christian Student Experiences During Peer Interactions in Undergraduate Biology Courses.

The tension between religion and science as a long-standing barrier to science education has led researchers to explore ways of improving the experiences of Christian students in biology who can experience their Christianity as stigmatized in academic biology environments. As undergraduate science classes become student-centered, interactions among students increase, and Christians may feel a need to conceal their religious identities during peer discussions. In this interview study, we used the social psychology framework of concealable stigmatized identities to explore 30 Christian students' experiences during peer interactions in undergraduate biology courses to find potential ways to improve those experiences.

Longitudinal Comparison of Neutralizing Antibody Responses to COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines after Second and Third Doses.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines protect against severe disease and hospitalization. Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) are a first-line defense mechanism, but protective NAb responses are variable. Currently, NAb testing is not widely available.

Third COVID-19 vaccine dose boosts neutralizing antibodies in poor responders.

Background: While evaluating COVID-19 vaccine responses using a rapid neutralizing antibody (NAb) test, we observed that 25% of mRNA vaccine recipients did not neutralize >50%. We termed this group "vaccine poor responders" (VPRs). The objective of this study was to determine if individuals who neutralized <50% would remain VPRs, or if a third dose would elicit high levels of NAbs.

Aspects of Large-Enrollment Online College Science Courses That Exacerbate and Alleviate Student Anxiety.

Anxiety is the top mental health concern for undergraduates. While researchers have identified ways that in-person science courses can affect anxiety, little is known about how online science courses affect anxiety. In this study, 2111 undergraduates at a large research-intensive institution completed survey questions about their anxiety in large-enrollment online science courses.