Replacing lecture with peer-led workshops improves student learning.

Peer-facilitated workshops enhanced interactivity in our introductory biology course, which led to increased student engagement and learning. A majority of students preferred attending two lectures and a workshop each week over attending three weekly lectures. In the workshops, students worked in small cooperative groups as they solved challenging problems, evaluated case studies, and participated in activities designed to improve their general learning skills.

Assessment of the effects of student response systems on student learning and attitudes over a broad range of biology courses.

With the advent of wireless technology, new tools are available that are intended to enhance students' learning and attitudes. To assess the effectiveness of wireless student response systems in the biology curriculum at New Mexico State University, a combined study of student attitudes and performance was undertaken. A survey of students in six biology courses showed that strong majorities of students had favorable overall impressions of the use of student response systems and also thought that the technology improved their interest in the course, attendance, and understanding of course content.

HOW DISCRETE ARE OAK SPECIES? INSIGHTS FROM A HYBRID ZONE BETWEEN QUERCUS GRISEA AND QUERCUS GAMBELII.

The white oaks Quercus gambelii and Q. grisea overlap in distribution in New Mexico and Arizona. Within the region of overlap, there are numerous instances of contact between the two taxa.

Reduced parasitism of a leaf-mining moth on trees with high infection frequencies of an endophytic fungus.

We investigated relationships between endophytic fungi and a leaf-mining moth, Phyllonorycter sp., along an elevational gradient from 2255 to 2895 m. The fungi and moth larvae inhabit leaves of Quercus gambelii.

Interactions between host plants, endophytic fungi, and a phytophagous insect in an oak (Quercus grisea x Q. gambelii) hybrid zone.

We examined interactions between host plants, endophytic fungi, and leaf-mining moths (Phyllonorycter sp.) in an oak (Quercus grisea x Q. gambelii) hybrid zone.

A three-trophic-level analysis of the effects of plant hybridization on a leaf-mining moth.

We investigated relationships between host plant hybridization in the Quercus grisea x Q. gambelii species complex and the distribution and performance of a leaf-mining moth in the genus Phyllonorycter. In 2 years at two sites Phyllonorycter densities were lowest on Q.