Is Support in the Anxiety of the Beholder? How Anxiety Interacts with Perceptions of Instructor Support in Introductory Biology Classes.

High levels of student anxiety are negatively related to degree persistence, academic achievement, and student perceptions of instructor support. Anxiety levels vary along many axes-among classes, within students in the same class, and over time-creating a dynamic emotional landscape in classrooms. In this study, we examined the relationship between student anxiety levels and perceptions of instructor support within three introductory biology classes at two timepoints during a semester.

Student Perceptions of Instructor Supportiveness: What Characteristics Make a Difference?

The use of active learning in the undergraduate biology classroom improves student learning and classroom equity, but its use can lead to student anxiety. Instructors can reduce student anxiety through practices that convey supportiveness and valuing of students. We collected students' ratings of their classroom anxiety and perceptions of their instructors' supportiveness, as well as open-response reasons for their ratings, in six large introductory biology classes.

How do undergraduates cope with anxiety resulting from active learning practices in introductory biology?

Active learning pedagogies decrease failure rates in undergraduate introductory biology courses, but these practices also cause anxiety for some students. Classroom anxiety can impact student learning and has been associated with decreased student retention in the major, but little is known about how students cope with anxiety caused by active learning practices. In this study, we investigated student coping strategies for various types of active learning (clickers, volunteering to answer a question, cold calling, and group work) that were used in 13 introductory Biology courses at a large public university in 2016-2017.

Student Anxiety and Perception of Difficulty Impact Performance and Persistence in Introductory Biology Courses.

Students respond to classroom activities and achievement outcomes with a variety of emotions that can impact student success. One emotion students experience is anxiety, which can negatively impact student performance and persistence. This study investigated what types of classroom anxiety were related to student performance in the course and persistence in the major.

Student anxiety in introductory biology classrooms: Perceptions about active learning and persistence in the major.

Many researchers have called for implementation of active learning practices in undergraduate science classrooms as one method to increase retention and persistence in STEM, yet there has been little research on the potential increases in student anxiety that may accompany these practices. This is of concern because excessive anxiety can decrease student performance. Levels and sources of student anxiety in three introductory biology lecture classes were investigated via an online survey and student interviews.

Facilitating improvements in laboratory report writing skills with less grading: a laboratory report peer-review process.

Incorporating peer-review steps in the laboratory report writing process provides benefits to students, but it also can create additional work for laboratory instructors. The laboratory report writing process described here allows the instructor to grade only one lab report for every two to four students, while giving the students the benefits of peer review and prompt feedback on their laboratory reports. Here we present the application of this process to a sophomore level genetics course and a freshman level cellular biology course, including information regarding class time spent on student preparation activities, instructor preparation, prerequisite student knowledge, suggested learning outcomes, procedure, materials, student instructions, faculty instructions, assessment tools, and sample data.

Pheromone responsiveness is regulated by components of the Gpr1p-mediated glucose sensing pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Many fungi have evolved mechanisms to assess environmental nutrient availability prior to the energy-intensive process of mating. In this study, we examined one such system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, involving a glucose-sensing pathway mediated by Gpr1p and the pheromone-induced mating pathway. Initially we observed that the mating pathway in MATa cells is sensitive to environmental glucose depletion.

Phage display for generating peptide reagents.

This unit presents detailed protocols for selection and propagation of landscape phages, which are fusions of filamentous phage fd (or its close relatives M13 and f1) and foreign DNA that result in chimeric phage virions with foreign peptides (8 to 9 amino acids long) covering the entire surface of the phage particles. These landscape phages bind specifically to mammalian and bacterial cells, spores, or discrete molecular targets.

Bacteriophage-amplified bioluminescent sensing of Escherichia coli O157:H7.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 remains a continuous public health threat, appearing in meats, water, fruit juices, milk, cheese, and vegetables, where its ingestion at concentrations of perhaps as low as 10 to 100 organisms can result in potent toxin exposure and severe damage to the lining of the intestine. Abdominal pain and diarrhea develop, which in the very young or elderly can progress towards hemolytic uremic syndrome and kidney failure. To assist in the detection of E.

Bacteriophage-based bioluminescent bioreporter for the detection of Escherichia coli 0157:H7.

The rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria in food and water is vital for the prevention of foodborne illness. In this study, the lux reporter genes were used in a new bioassay that allows pathogen monitoring without multiple sample manipulations or the addition of exogenous substrate. A recombinant phage specific for Escherichia coli 0157:H7 was constructed that, upon infection, catalyzes the synthesis of N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (OHHL).

Thermostability of landscape phage probes.

Immunoassays have traditionally relied on antibodies as diagnostic probes. Their use outside of a laboratory, however, may be problematic because antibodies are often unstable in severe environmental conditions. Environmental monitoring requires thermostable probes, such as landscape phage, that carry thousands of foreign peptides on their surfaces, are superior to antibodies, and can operate in non-controlled conditions.