Biolab Home Page
Biolab archives
- Lab experiments and specific techniques
Lab philosophy and administration
Discussions on improving lecture courses
Curriculum issues
Miscellaneous
- Reviews
- Software and textbooks
Other links
- Home pages of biolab members
- Resources
Biolab is an unmoderated e-mail list for discussion of issues and information
related to college biology laboratory teaching. Topics include successful
laboratory techniques, sources of materials and information, troubleshooting
experiments, supervising student-designed investigations, lab teaching tips,
and topics related to lab administration such as course policies, TA training
and supervision, and organizational problems. Discussion of lecture-related
issues and other topics of interest to the list members is also welcome.
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Biolab has been in existence since April, 1994 and currently more than 450
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Lab experiments and specific techniques
- Acupuncture references (not technique):
4/96
- Agar -- what it is, where it came from: 4/95
Anesthesia of fish with MS222: 4/96
- Antibiotic resistance lab: 3/96
- Auxotrophs after uv irradiation: 5/97
- Behavior labs: 9/95
- Benedict's solution/amylase experiments: 2/95
- Blood, simulated: 3/97
- Central nervous system -- ideas for labs? 4/97
- Chromatography of spinach pigments: 2/96;
2/97
- Corn genetics: 2/97
Crickets in lab experiments: 4/96
- DCPIP and pH: 10/95
- DNA fingerprinting for high school students: 4/97
- DNA -- sources for isolation: 11/95
DNA staining (non-toxic): 9/96
Development and reproduction labs: 6/96
- Diffusion using Elodea: 4/97
- Disposable labware -- can it be recycled?:
3/96
- Drosophila labs: 2/97
- Drosophila mutants: 4/97
- Formalin (buffered) recipes: 2/97
- Graph construction help for students: 5/97
- Hay infusions: 1/95
- Histology -- how to teach in non-majors course:
1/96
- Human physiology labs: 12/95
- Labs without lab space: 1/97
- Leaf disk technique for measuring photosynthesis:
1/95
- Legumes in lab experiments: 5/97
- Making models of tissues and organs: 9/95
- Mark-recapture labs; use rodents? and other ideas:
1/96
Microscope purchase and repair: 9/96
- Mitosis and Meiosis Labs: 2/95; 2/97
- Osmoconformers: 10/95
- Owl pellets and skulls: 10/95
- Peroxidase from turnips (enzyme assay): 5/95
- Phenol oxidase from potato and other sources:
2/96
- Phytochrome and seed germination: 3/95
- Plant labs -- (especially intro courses): 12/95
- Plant proteins -- isolation: 10/95
Plants and animals for cell labs; osmosis: 4/96
- Protist labs: 2/97
- Quantitative genetics labs: 12/95
Quantitative physiology labs: 4/96
- Radioactives in teaching labs: 5/97
- Root beer recipes: 4/97
- Sea urchin fertilization labs/ sources of urchins:
10/95
- Spectrophotometers for student use: 2/95
- Sources for protozoan cultures: 2/96
- Starch detection in Coleus: 4/97
- Starch digestion; making solutions: 3/97
- Stomatal impressions: 5/97
- TLC of digested starch: 4/97
- Transpiration or other plant physiology experiments:
12/95
- Ultraviolet radiation experiment: 5/95
- Vertebrate zoology -- ideas for labs: 12/95
- Yeast investigations: 1/97
Lab Philosophy and Administration
- Blind students in lab: 12/95
- Changing verification labs, especially those on
food molecules: 2/96
- Cooperative Education in Biology: 2/96
- Grades in a multi-section lab course: 5/97
Groups and Lab Community: 2/95; 4/95; 11/95
- Lab credit given to students: 5/97
- Lab fees; lab costs: 2/95; 3/97
- Open labs: 4/95
- Student review of papers: 2/97
- TA Training Programs: 2/95; 3/95; 6/95
- Teaching students to write scientific reports;
teaching TAs to grade reports: 5/94; 1/95
- Videotape and videodisk for lab introductions:
3/97
- Videos on lab safety: 3/95; 4/97
Discussions on improving lecture courses
- Analogies: 5/96
- Problem-Based Learning: 2/96
- Debates in Non-Majors Courses: 2/95
- Elementary education majors: 4/95; 3/97
- E-mail lists for classes: 1/96
Essay questions on exams: 9/96
Examples and applications for introductory biology:
4/96
Famous biologists: 4/96
- Great experiments in biology: 4/97
- Honors seminar topics: 3/97
- Large lecture classes: 10/94; 7/95
- Original papers: 2/97
- Phylogenic surveys: 2/97
- Science and societal issues: 2/97
- Microphones: 6/96
- Thesis teaching: 3/97
- Videos: 5/96
- When science was wrong: 1/97
Curriculum Issues
- Assessment: 3/95
- Attrition: 2/97
- Calculus/math requirements for biology majors:
7/95
- Chemistry and other prerequisites for biology
majors: 12/94; 3/97
- Coordination between lower and upper level
courses: 1/97
- Creationism and evolution: 1/97
- Details? 1/97
Digital classroom?: 5/96
- Distance Learning: 2/96
Goals for majors vs. non-majors courses: 4/96
- Grade inflation: 3/97
- Integrated Science/ Interdisciplinary Courses:
4/95; 2/96
Integrating organismic and molecular approaches:
4/96
- Interactivity in lectures: 3/97
- Instructional objectives for general biology:
4/97
- Macro-to-micro approach to teaching biology:
3/96; 12/96; 5/97
Math and chemistry requirements for biology majors:
10/96
- Mixing majors and non-majors: 2/97
New approaches to general biology: 10/96
Pre-college biology education: 12/96
Preparation for college teaching: 8/96
Questions about A&P courses: 5/96
- Reading research papers: 2/95
- Reading list for biology majors (books):
12/95
- Research activities for students: 2/97
- Senior projects: 5/94
Surveys on attitudes towards biology: 6/96
- Underprepared students: 4/95
Miscellaneous
- Activities for science fair day: 4/97
- Bacterial classification: 5/97
- Bats: 4/97
- Biology enrollment data: 3/97
- CARL database: 3/97
- Citing sources from the Web: 4/97
- Does Euglena have centrioles? 2/97
- Fat substitutes/Olestra: 9/96
- Fungal classification: 5/97
- Honors and awards for biology majors: 5/97
How long does a human ovum live? 5/96
- Language used in biology: 4/97
List of journals and societies that disseminate
information on science education: 9/96
- Mammalian red blood cells: 3/97
Origin of sex? 10/96
- Pronunciation of terms: 3/97; 5/97
- Red tides (Pfiesteria): 3/97
- Sneezing -- why do we say "Bless you?"
3/97
- Sources of science news for non-scientists:
5/97
- Teaching credit for lab teaching: 5/97
- What causes wrinkled fingers? 9/96
Why does male urine have more bubbles than female
urine?: 6/96
Reviews
- The Elements of Teaching
Software and Textbooks
- Assessment of computer-assisted learning: 3/97
- Computer data acquisition units: 4/97
- Dissection simulations
- Evolution software: 9/96
- Gradebook and test-writing software 1/97
- Interdisciplinary textbooks: 5/97
- Modelling bacterial growth: 2/97
- Morphing and movies: 2/97
- Sources of clip art for biological images:
2/96; 4/97; 5/97
- Text for course on cancer: 2/97
- Text for developmental biology: 2/97
- Text for human biology course: 2/97
- Tutorial software: 4/95; 5/95
- Web-authoring software 1/97; 2/97
Other links
Members' Home Pages
Curtis L. Blankespoor, Calvin College, Grand Rapids MI
- http://www.calvin.edu/~cblankes/
-
Robert V. Blystone, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas
- http://WWW.trinity.edu/departments/biology
- We have a great deal of career information at this site along with
the anotations of the WEB columns for cell biology education through the
auspices of The American Society of Cell Biology. References to the Emerging
SLIBS site are there as well. Synergistic Learning in Biology and Statistics.
Malcolm Campbell, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
- http://www.davidson.edu/academic/biology/biology.html
- The Davidson Biology Department web site includes home pages that might
be of interest to readers. Numbers 11-15 have course related mateirals
and if the reader clicks on #11, there are movies, RasMol images, and currently
three courses with the Molecular Biology home page having the best collection
of teaching tools.
-
-
Roger Christianson, Southern Oregon University
- http://www.sou.edu/biology/faculty/rc.html
-
Earl Fleck, Whitman College
- http://marcus.whitman.edu/Departments/Biology/Biol_HomePage.html
- The homepage for the department of biology at Whitman College contains
links to a variety of subjects: 1) Department Faculty and Staff, 2) Department
Policy Statements, 3) Department Facilities, 4) Typical Student Research
in the Department of Biology, 5) Calender of Events, 6) Biology Courses
on the Web, 7) Careers in Biology, 8) Miscellaneous, and, 9) Biology Resources
on the Internet.
Christopher Harendza, Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell,
Pennsylvania
- http://www.mc3.edu/gen/faculty/charend/charend.htm
- Contains materials for my Anatomy & Physiology and Biology courses,
including selected Shockwave versions of Authorware lecture presentations,
note outlines, links to other web sites, information about the professor,
etc.
-
William Hayes, Delta State University, Cleveland, MS
- http://okra.deltast.edu/~bhayes
-
Rick Hershberger, Carlow College, Pittsburgh PA
- http://www.carlow.edu/~rhershberger/
- The Bioactive Site @ Carlow College is a growing collection of lecture
notes, lab activities, learning materials, and links to web resources intended
to enhance biology education at Carlow College and elsewhere.
Kerry S. Kilburn, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
- http://www.odu.edu/~ksk/grey3.htm
- In addition to some general fun and professional resources, I have
links to my course home pages. The pages for Principles of Ecology and
Vertebrate Zoology (200-level, lecture-only courses often taught in large
lecture format) include (1) a general home page with specific course-related
links as well as more general areas of interest; (2) an on-line syllabus
and (3) an on-line study guide, consisting of a comprehensive set of questions
from which exam questions are derived. The page for our Undergraduate Seminar
course (a 400-level capstone course) currently consists of the syllabus,
which contains a full description of the course as well as general tips
on technical writing and giving oral presentations.
-
Jonathan Monroe, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
- Contains links to three course websites for Cell Biology, Plant Physiology,
and Molecular Biology, as well as a description of my research on
the alpha-glucosidases of the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana.
Jeff Newman, Lycoming College, Williamsport PA
- http://lyco.lycoming.edu/~newman
- This site contains links to my course web pages, research activities
of my laboratory, and publications.
-
Jay Pitocchelli, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH
- http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/jpitocch/welcome.html
- I have assembled this homepage so it can be used as a resource for
searching
- information about my courses taught at Saint Anselm College, information
for students' assignments and exercises in my courses, my research interests
and my personal interests. There are also sections with general information
on recycling on campus and the community of Goffstown, neotropical migrant
bird conservation in New Hampshire, local Audubon Society events and recent
bird sightings. I would appreciate any comments you might have. Send them
to me at jpitocch@anselm.edu
-
John Snyder, Furman University, Greenville, SC
- http://www.furman.edu/~snyder/
- Some of its features: Internet resources in biology (extensive), a
guide
- to graduate education in biology, how to write papers in biology, a
guide
- to biological terminology, and a guide to careers in biology and medicine
- (extensive).
Resources
The following are sites that biolab subscribers have found useful. Additional
contributions are welcome!
- ABLE (Association
for Biology Laboratory Education) home page
- ABLE promotes information exchange among educators who are actively
concerned with teaching biology in a laboratory setting. Find out about
ABLE memberships, publications, and the annual workshop/conference. http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/zooweb/able/index.html
-
- Biodidac: A Bank of Digital
Resources for Teaching Biology
- Users must respect three conditions: (a)that it is not used for commercial
purposes
- (b) that the source of the material is clearly indicated and (c) that
its use is recorded in such a way that we can provide documentation to
the sponsors of the project. http://biodidac.bio.uottawa.ca
-
- Bionet Teaching
and Learning Technology Programme
- Includes downloadable software. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/bionet/bionet.html
-
- BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium
- http://www.beloit.edu/~bquest
- Bioscene: Journal
of College Biology Teaching
- http://papa.indstate.edu/amcbt/bioscene.html
- Biotechnology Resources
- Access Excellence, sponsored by Genentech, Inc, is an educational program
for high school teachers. On-line information and activities are offered.
http://www.gene.com/ae/
California State University Biological
Sciences WWW Server
- Links to all kinds of resources for research, education, and multimedia.
http://arnica.csustan.edu
Careers in
Biology
- Links to information about more than 100 careers in biology, plus links
to general employment information. http://www.furman.edu/~snyder/careers/careers.html
-
- Coalition for Education in the Life
Sciences (CELS)
- CELS is a national coalition of professional societies in the biological
sciences. The mission of CELS is to improve undergraduate education in
the life sciences by bringing the expertise and resources of the life sciences
professional societies to bear upon critical issues relating to life science
undergraduate education in the United States.
http://www.wisc.edu/cels
-
- Computer viruses
- Check out virus warnings at this Department of Energy site. Also identifies
Internet hoaxes. http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHome.html
Dictionary of Cell
Biology
- Online version of cell biology dictionary published by Academic Press.
http://www.mblab.gla.ac.uk/~julian/Dict.html
-
- Links
- Links to biology resources on the web. http://www.selkirk.bc.ca/courses/biology/links.htm
-
- Mad ScientistNetwork
- Web site where volunteer scientists attempt to answer questions relating
to all aspects of science. http://128.252.223.239/~ysp/MSN/
Molecular Modelling
- NIH molecular modelling home page. http://cmm.info.nih.gov/modeling/
-
- National Undersea Research Center
- Marine science information. http://www.uncwil.edu/nurc
Online Mendelian Genetics
in Man
- OMIM is a searchable database containing a wealth of information on
human genetics. http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim/
-
- Problem-Based
Learning
- Problem-based learning in biology with 20 case examples. http://www.selkirk.bc.ca/courses/biology/pbl.htm
-
- Pronunciation
- Pronunciation of biological terms. http://www.selkirk.bc.ca/courses/biology/pron.htm
-
- Science on a Shoestring
- Low-budget activities for K-12 and college students, contributed by
biolab members. http://okra.deltast.edu/~bhayes/sos.html
Voyage Magazine
- This bimonthly electronic publication offers summaries of articles
on environmental issues. The summaries may be downloaded and copied for
classroom use. http://www.cais.com/publish/
Workshop Biology
- This link takes you to the biology department at the University of
Oregon. Click on "Workshop Biology" to access information and
materials from a program to promote science literacy in non-science majors.
http://biology.uoregon.edu/
Yahoo Information
- Starting point for searches and links in many fields of biology. http://www.yahoo.com/Science/Biology/
-
- Zoology Links
- A collection of useful sites compiled by James Mahaffy at Dordt College.
- http://www.dordt.edu/dept/biology/zoobkm.htm
If you have questions about the Biolab list or suggestions for additional
links, please contact
Jean Dickey (dickeyj@clemson.edu)