《生物化学》作为通识课的教学实践

生物化学研究生命的化学组成和化学变化等生命基本属性,是阐述生命奥秘的基本语言,是生命科学的基础学科。生物化学能否作为公选课?如果其作为公选课,又应包含哪些生物化学知识,如何讲授这些专业知识?本文从课程内容,教材选取以及授课方式等方面介绍了笔者在向非健康科学专业的学生开设《生物化学》公选课的实践和体会。笔者联系身边的生物化学现象讲解其中的基本生物化学原理,关注疾病发生和临床治疗中涉及的生物化学,整合本校生命和健康相关学科和最前沿的科学进展中涉及到的生物化学知识,极大地增强了学生对生物化学和生命科学的兴趣,有效提高了教学效果;并且为学生理解其它生命科学选修课程打下了良好的基础。这些策略和教学方法对于公选课和通识课,甚至专业课的教学实践,具有一定的参考价值。     

Industrial Ecology Education at Tsinghua University

As a leading university in engineering education in China, Tsinghua University implemented industrial ecology (IE) education in the 1990s. This article describes the evolution of IE education at Tsinghua. Tsinghua mainstreams IE education into green education and engineering education not only by establishing independent courses of IE for both undergraduate and graduate students, but also by incorporating IE principles and knowledge modules into an increasing number of courses. During 2002–2015, a total of 1,023 undergraduates from 33 schools and departments participated in an IE course. To cope with the diversity of participants, four knowledge modules were customized for an undergraduate course: concepts and history; methods and tools; topics and applications; and policy and perspectives. Meanwhile, an interdisciplinary teaching method was adopted by inviting experts from diverse disciplines and organizing group discussions. Though the course has received strong positive feedback, four challenges still remain in IE education: defining the knowledge boundary, presenting an integrated view, utilizing an interdisciplinary methodology, and cultivating a class culture.     

Diversity and Connectance in an Industrial Context

The ecological metaphor of industrial ecology is a proven conceptual tool, having spawned an entire field of interdisciplinary research that explores the intimate linkages between industry and its underlying natural systems. Besides its name and a number of borrowed concepts, however, industrial ecology has no formal relationship with the ecological sciences. This study explores the potential for further interdisciplinary collaboration by testing whether some of the same quantitative analysis techniques used in community ecology research can have meaning in an industrial context. Specifically, we applied the ecological concepts of connectance and diversity to an analysis of Burnside Industrial Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our results demonstrate that these ecological tools show promise for use in industrial ecology. We discuss the meaning of connectance and diversity concepts in an industrial context and suggest next steps for future studies. We hope that this research will help to lay the groundwork of an ecologically inspired tool kit for analyzing industrial ecosystems.     

Perspectives on facilitating dynamic ecology courses online using active learning

As education methodology has grown to incorporate online learning, disciplines with a field component, like ecology, may find themselves sidelined in this transition. In response to challenges posed by moving classes online, previous studies have assessed whether an online environment can be effective for student learning. This work has found that active learning structures, which maximize information processing and require critical thinking, best support student learning. All too commonly, online and active learning are perceived as mutually exclusive. We argue the success of online learning requires facilitating active learning in online spaces. To highlight this intersection in practice, we use a case study of an online, active, and synchronous ecology and conservation biology course from the College of Natural Sciences at Minerva Schools at KGI. We use our perspectives as curriculum designers, instructors, and students of this course to offer recommendations for creating active online ecology courses. Key components to effective course design and implementation are as follows: facilitating critical “thinking like a scientist”, integrating open‐ended assignments into class discussion, and creating active in‐class dialogues by minimizing lecturing. Based on our experience, we suggest that by employing active learning strategies, the future of ecology in higher education is not inhibited, but in fact supported, by opportunities for learning online.     

The Green Design Apprenticeship

In order to convey the results of our industrial ecology research to broader audiences, the Green Design Institute research group at Carnegie Mellon University offers the Green Design Apprenticeship for local high school students. The Green Design Apprenticeship introduces participants to industrial ecology concepts and how they intersect with engineering. The content of the program has evolved to include the topics of life cycle assessment, energy and water resources, transportation, and the built environment. The program has resulted in exposing a new generation of scholars to industrial ecology and has also benefited the research of graduate students involved with the program. The process of developing the instructional materials for younger, novice students based on complex industrial ecology research was a challenging task requiring thoughtful and iterative planning. Through the development and delivery of the program, we have experienced awareness of where our own research fits into the larger industrial ecology scope, have improved our communication of complex industrial ecology concepts into simple terms, and have gained valuable insight for engaging students in our teaching.     

加强生物通识教育，促进理工与生命科学交叉人才培养——以哈尔滨工业大学生物化学公选课教学改革为例

理工科与生命科学的交叉与融合,是今后科学发展的潮流和趋势。生物化学作为面向全校学生的公选课,应更好地发挥介绍生命科学发展、促进学科交叉的作用。结合所在理工科院校自身特点,提出以“打基础,提兴趣,促交叉,重引导”为核心的教改方案。通过优化教学内容打牢理论基础,开设专题介绍促进学科交叉,引入虚拟实验激发学生兴趣,跟进后续课题引导参与科研,使公选课能够切实提升理工科学生生物学素养,发掘跨学科发展潜力。     

基于工程教育专业认证产业需求为导向的“环境微生物学”课程项目化教学改革

本课程团队以地方产业需求为导向,结合国家工程教育专业认证的标准,实施了“环境微生物学”课程项目化教学改革,构建了“教、学、育、用”一体化的创新教学模式。课程设计了3个教学项目、17个学习任务,设定了4个课程目标,完善了课程各目标达成的评价方法,建立了多元化的考核评价体系。课程教学方法多样,授课形式多元,同时注重课程的特色教学和思政教育。课程改革后学生学习的主动性、积极性明显增强,课程目标的达成度均高于期望值;期末学生及格率、综合成绩、督导评价、同行评价、学生评价均有明显的提升,课程的项目化教学改革取得良好的成效。     

医学留学生生物化学实验教学的实践与探索

随着国际交流与合作的日益频繁,留学生教育已成为中国高等教育的一个重要组成部分,生物化学实验是医学留学生的必修重要课程之一,因此,生物化学实验课的教学质量对学生的全面发展非常重要。通过对留学生生物化学实验教学的实践,根据留学生自身的特点和生物化学实验课程的特点,对我校留学生的生物化学实验教学进行了有益的实践与探索。结果显示留学生生物化学实验课的教学质量取得了显著提高。     

Developing a flexible learning activity on biodiversity and spatial scale concepts using open‐access vegetation datasets from the National Ecological Observatory Network

Biodiversity is a complex, yet essential, concept for undergraduate students in ecology and other natural sciences to grasp. As beginner scientists, students must learn to recognize, describe, and interpret patterns of biodiversity across various spatial scales and understand their relationships with ecological processes and human influences. It is also increasingly important for undergraduate programs in ecology and related disciplines to provide students with experiences working with large ecological datasets to develop students’ data science skills and their ability to consider how ecological processes that operate at broader spatial scales (macroscale) affect local ecosystems. To support the goals of improving student understanding of macroscale ecology and biodiversity at multiple spatial scales, we formed an interdisciplinary team that included grant personnel, scientists, and faculty from ecology and spatial sciences to design a flexible learning activity to teach macroscale biodiversity concepts using large datasets from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). We piloted this learning activity in six courses enrolling a total of 109 students, ranging from midlevel ecology and GIS/remote sensing courses, to upper‐level conservation biology. Using our classroom experiences and a pre/postassessment framework, we evaluated whether our learning activity resulted in increased student understanding of macroscale ecology and biodiversity concepts and increased familiarity with analysis techniques, software programs, and large spatio‐ecological datasets. Overall, results suggest that our learning activity improved student understanding of biological diversity, biodiversity metrics, and patterns of biodiversity across several spatial scales. Participating faculty reflected on what went well and what would benefit from changes, and we offer suggestions for implementation of the learning activity based on this feedback. This learning activity introduced students to macroscale ecology and built student skills in working with big data (i.e., large datasets) and performing basic quantitative analyses, skills that are essential for the next generation of ecologists.     

Student‐led field studies of herbivory: Hands‐on experiences for remote (or in‐person) learning

Challenging students to independently design and implement experiments is a powerful way to teach the scientific method while engaging with STEM‐related course material. For ecology and organismal biology, such experiences often take the form of field work. The COVID‐19 pandemic presented formidable challenges for instructors of such courses: How can students conduct any experiments, much less ones of their own design, when they might not even have access to campus? Here we describe a student‐led field project exploring invertebrate herbivory in terrestrial plant systems. Designed to flexibly accommodate student groups working either in‐person, remotely, or both, the project would be suitable for invertebrate biology, plant biology, or general ecology courses at the college or high school level. We describe our implementation in two sections of a sophomore‐level course, provide specific advice based on our experiences, make suggestions for future improvements or adaptations, and provide all the written materials that instructors would need to implement this in their own teaching.     

Lessons learned through listening to biology students during a transition to online learning in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic

During the Spring Semester of 2020, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus (SARS‐CoV‐2) and the illnesses it caused (COVID‐19) led to widespread cancelling of on‐campus instruction at colleges and universities in the United States and other countries around the world. Response to the pandemic in university settings included a rapid and unexpected shift to online learning for faculty and students. The transition to teaching and learning online posed many challenges, and the experiences of students during this crisis may inform future planning for distance learning experiences during the ongoing pandemic and beyond. Herein, we discuss the experiences of first‐ and second‐year university students enrolled in a biology seminar course as their classes migrated to online environments. Drawing on reported student experiences and prior research and resources, we discuss the ways we will adjust our own teaching for future iterations of the course while offering recommendations for instructors tasked with teaching in online environments.     

Ask the plant: investigating and teaching plant structure

The discipline of comparative plant morphology can play an important role in both teaching and research at a comprehensive university. Natural variation can be used as the basis for studies that begin with the simple premise of 'ask the plant'. Research questions from a variety of disciplines can be examined using the unique methods and perspectives of comparative morphology. In addition to its common application in clarifying developmental relationships and processes, comparative morphology is naturally and has been historically suited to examining the adaptations of plants to their environments. Two examples (one from grasses and another from native Utah shrubs) of studies relating plant form to patterns of growth and competition will be used to illustrate this interface between morphology and ecology. The potential role of comparative morphology in teaching will be described for three different levels in the university curriculum: Biology I (an introductory course for first-year students); Plant Structure (an elective for third- or fourth-year students); and Ecological Plant Morphology and Anatomy (post-baccalaureate or postgraduate level). Describing and explaining plant diversity and variation in the context of common structural adaptations, rather than from a strictly taxonomic perspective, has been an effective 'hook' to interest students in plants in the introductory course. In the more advanced courses it has provided a useful framework for understanding how plant diversity reflects adaptive value as well as common descent and has provided a broader perspective for student research projects in the basic and applied plant sciences.  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 150 , 73–78.     

推进组织学与胚胎学双语教学培养高素质医学人材——双语教学改革阶段性成果简介

经过两年多的组织学与胚胎学双语教学改革,我们在双语教学大纲编写、课程设置、教材建设、教学工作安排和学生考试等方面,已取得了阶段性的成果,达到了学校批准立项的教学改革专项（双语课程建设）研究课题预期目标,为我们进一步完善组织学与胚胎学双语教学改革打下了坚实的基础。     

Reinterpreting Industrial Ecology

This article argues that industrial ecology has, to date, largely engaged with the ecological sciences at a superficial level, which has both attracted criticism of the field and limited its practical application for sustainable industrial development. On the basis of an analysis of the principle of succession, the role of waste, and the concept of diversity, the article highlights some of the key misconceptions that have resulted from the superficial engagement with the science of ecology. It is argued that industrial ecology should not be seen as a metaphor for industrial development; industrial ecology is the ecology of industry and should be studied as such. There are manifold general principles of ecology that underpin our understanding of the world; however, the physical manifestation and causal effects of these principles are particular to the system and its constituent elements under analysis. It is thus proposed that context‐specific observation and analysis of industry are required before theoretical and practical advancement of the field can be achieved.     

A Simulation Tool for Industrial Ecology: Creating a Board Game

This article presents a board game that was developed for use as a simulation tool in teaching the basic concepts of industrial ecology (IE). The game, with the automobile industry as its theme, includes realistic numbers and displays a variety of IE principles. The objectives of the simulation, however, transcend the automobile industry and apply to other manufacturing industries. They include: pollution prevention, design for environment (in several forms, including design for disassembly), environmental management, and life-cycle assessment. The game has already been played by engineering and business professors, graduate students in environmental engineering, government representatives, and industry executives. A statistical analysis performed on pre- and post-game questionnaires indicates that the game is an effective teaching tool.     

Small-group learning in an upper-level university biology class enhances academic performance and student attitudes toward group work

To improve science learning, science educators' teaching tools need to address two major criteria: teaching practice should mirror our current understanding of the learning process; and science teaching should reflect scientific practice. We designed a small-group learning (SGL) model for a fourth year university neurobiology course using these criteria and studied student achievement and attitude in five course sections encompassing the transition from individual work-based to SGL course design. All students completed daily quizzes/assignments involving analysis of scientific data and the development of scientific models. Students in individual work-based (Individualistic) sections usually worked independently on these assignments, whereas SGL students completed assignments in permanent groups of six. SGL students had significantly higher final exam grades than Individualistic students. The transition to the SGL model was marked by a notable increase in 10th percentile exam grade (Individualistic: 47.5%; Initial SGL: 60%; Refined SGL: 65%), suggesting SGL enhanced achievement among the least prepared students. We also studied student achievement on paired quizzes: quizzes were first completed individually and submitted, and then completed as a group and submitted. The group quiz grade was higher than the individual quiz grade of the highest achiever in each group over the term. All students--even term high achievers--could benefit from the SGL environment. Additionally, entrance and exit surveys demonstrated student attitudes toward SGL were more positive at the end of the Refined SGL course. We assert that SGL is uniquely-positioned to promote effective learning in the science classroom.     

新经济形势下的生物工程一流专业建设与实践

生物经济的快速发展迫切需要新型生物工程人才支撑,建立以创新型工程教育为理念的新工科人才培养模式,能够为区域经济发展与产业升级提供支撑作用。大连理工大学生物工程学院紧密围绕“服务国家战略”“对接产业行业”“引领未来发展”“以学生为中心”等新工科建设的教育教学理念,从“面向新经济”的培养体系构建、“多学科交叉”的课程体系重构和“项目式”教学方式改革、“多元化”评价体系实施等方面进行生物工程专业建设改革和探索,提出了“价值引领、深厚的基础理论、强烈的创新意识、技术和非技术核心能力素养”四位一体的生物工程新工科人才培养标准。满足了产业对人才多样化、个性化和动态变化的需求,保障了产业与教育的深入融合发展,为生物工程一流本科专业建设提供了思路。     

以“环境微生物学”为载体的环境生态工程专业本科生科创能力培养

环境生态工程是一个设立较晚的新专业,其基本的教学体系和专业课程设计还有待摸索和完善。"环境微生物学"作为环境生态工程专业普遍设置的专业必修课,其授课内容和形式如何适应专业整体的培养需求是一个值得探讨的问题。我们结合所在学校、学院的特点和优势,提出将融入海洋特色和生态学思想的"环境微生物学"作为载体,结合课上理论教学、学生课堂报告、课下专题培训和实验技能培养等形式,培养环境生态工程专业本科生的科创能力。这可为同专业开设"环境微生物学"课程的教师提供教学参考,也可以为其他院校环境生态工程专业本科生科创能力的培养提供借鉴。     

Learning biology and geology through a participative teaching approach: the effect on student attitudes towards science and academic performance

ABSTRACT

The investigation has demonstrated that the science teaching strategy employed moderates the interest of students in learning the subject, along with academic achievement. In this article we used a mixed method design in a sample of secondary education students (n = 57) to examine the effect of the participative teaching approach in attitudes towards science and student academic performance in the Biology and Geology subject. We also analysed the influence of student learning styles in their academic performance. The statistical results show that the participative methodology has a positive effect on attitude towards student attitudes towards science and academic performance; this finding has been triangulated with class observations and the vision of the teacher participating in the experience. Furthermore, we identified different significances between boys and girls in pre-test academic performance, which disappeared post-test. Despite this, in both measurements the boys showed greater interest in and enjoyment of science learning than the girls. Finally, we are able to conclude that academic performance is positively related to attitude towards science and with reflexive and theoretical learning styles.