National and local initiatives focused on the transformation of STEM teaching in higher education have multiplied over the last decade. These initiatives often focus on measuring change in instructional practices, but it is difficult to monitor such change without a national picture of STEM educational practices, especially as characterized by common observational instruments. We characterized a snapshot of this landscape by conducting the first large scale observation-based study. We found that lecturing was prominent throughout the undergraduate STEM curriculum, even in classrooms with infrastructure designed to support active learning, indicating that further work is required to reform STEM education. Additionally, we established that STEM faculty’s instructional practices can vary substantially within a course, invalidating the commonly-used teaching evaluations based on a one-time observation.

This essay highlights recommendations to make academic biology more inclusive of LGBTQ+ individuals. These recommendations are drawn from the literature and the collective experience of the 26-member author team.

Relating macromolecular “structure to function” is considered a foundational skill in biochemistry and molecular biology course curriculums. The molecular visualization skills necessary to interpret information in 3D models of biological macromolecules, however, are often lacking. Moreover, current technologies aimed at spanning this skills gap often require varying degrees of prior knowledge, training, and/or hardware requirements that can make implementation difficult. To address this we have developed a simple classroom activity using augmented reality technology that allows students to quickly and easily interact with high‐resolution images of a 3D macromolecule. The activity was implemented in a junior/senior level biochemistry course as part of a class discussion on the structure and function of the potassium channel. The 3D images were integrated as an iPad application in which a 3D virtual image of the molecule would appear superimposed on the real world on the iPad screen when the iPad camera was directed towards a printed QR code. Students were able to rotate, translate, and zoom in on the molecule by physically moving either the iPad or the QR code sheet. The activity was also accompanied with worksheet questions aimed at developing an interpretation of the 3D structure. Student attitudes were assessed using a pre/post survey analysis. Results indicate increases in student confidence towards visualizing the 3D structures of biological macromolecules, as well as an increase in positive student perceptions of the helpfulness of looking at 3D structures for learning protein biochemistry. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

The Drosophila melanogaster Polycomb group protein Posterior Sex Combs is a component of Polycomb repressive complex 1 and is central to Polycomb group-mediated silencing. A related Polycomb group gene, Suppressor 2 of zeste, is thought to be partially redundant in function. The two proteins share a small region of homology but also contain regions of unconserved sequences. Here we report a biochemical characterization of Suppressor 2 of zeste. Like Posterior Sex Combs, Suppressor 2 of zeste binds DNA, compacts chromatin, and inhibits chromatin remodeling. Interestingly, the regions of the two proteins responsible for these activities lack sequence homology. Suppressor 2 of zeste can also replace Posterior Sex Combs in a functional complex with other Polycomb group proteins, but unlike with their biochemical activities, complex formation is mediated by the region of Suppressor 2 of zeste that is homologous to that of Posterior Sex Combs. Our results establish Suppressor 2 of zeste as a functional homolog of Posterior Sex Combs and suggest that the two proteins operate via similar molecular mechanisms.

Biology education research (BER) is a growing field, as evidenced by the increasing number of publications in CBE—Life Sciences Education ( LSE) and expanding participation at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) annual meetings. To facilitate an introspective and reflective discussion on how research within LSE and at SABER has matured, we conducted a content analysis of LSE research articles ( n = 339, from 2002 to 2015) and SABER abstracts ( n = 652, from 2011 to 2015) to examine three related intraresearch parameters: research questions, study contexts, and methodologies. Qualitative data analysis took a combination of deductive and inductive approaches, followed by statistical analyses to determine the correlations among different parameters. We identified existing research questions, study contexts, and methodologies in LSE articles and SABER abstracts and then compared and contrasted these parameters between the two data sources. LSE articles were most commonly guided by descriptive research questions, whereas SABER abstracts were most commonly guided by causal research questions. Research published in LSE and presented at SABER both prioritize undergraduate classrooms as the study context and quantitative methodologies. In this paper, we examine these research trends longitudinally and discuss implications for the future of BER as a scholarly field.