Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education最新文献

{"title":"Designing ethical AI literacy across secondary to graduate STEM pathways: ensuring cross-disciplinary outcomes and workforce alignment.","authors":"Taylor Lightner, Malle Schilling, Whitney Hansberry, Sakib Hussen, Abdul Siam, Verónica A Segarra","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00351-25","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00351-25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rapid adoption of generative AI in STEM courses has created an urgent need for practical, ethical AI literacy that students can carry from high school into college and beyond. In this Perspective, we make the case for a cross-disciplinary approach to AI literacy and present a skills progression table that aligns core outcomes with typical academic and professional levels (high school, early undergraduate, advanced undergraduate, graduate, and workplace). We focus on six core areas: (i) attribution and citation, (ii) bias awareness and mitigation, (iii) privacy and data handling, (iv) safety and environmental care, (v) community impact and fairness, and (vi) compliance and readiness for audit. We frame AI-related classroom practice as a balancing act, on one side, clear benefits (faster drafting, coding support, and broader access), and on the other, real risks (bias, privacy leaks, over-reliance, and academic integrity concerns). To ground our Perspective in STEM broadly, we offer guidance with suggested steps and actions, grading cues, rural/low-bandwidth adaptations, and links to workforce expectations. We also note concrete examples from biology, engineering, and computer science to show both shared core practices and discipline-specific needs. As we look into the future, we highlight the role of professional societies as conveners to ensure alignment of guidance across disciplines and keep materials current. Our goal is to provide instructors with practical materials they can adopt, while building a living framework that evolves with evidence, standards, and stakeholder input.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0035125"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149012970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Choosing online or in-person biology laboratories: student motivations, perceived costs, and comparable learning outcomes.","authors":"Stefanie Kautz, Elizabeth C Hendrickson, Erica Hernandez, Amanda L Grunwald, Leah Tuor, Radhika Reddy","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00135-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00135-26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Online laboratory instruction has increased in undergraduate STEM education in response to higher demand for flexible learning environments, yet motivations underlying students' modality choice often remain little understood. Grounded in expectancy-value theory (EVT), we examined why students selected online asynchronous or in-person sections of an introductory biology laboratory course (<i>N</i> = 135), using a mixed-methods design that integrated qualitative data, institutional records, and performance metrics. Students reported distinct reasons for modality choice: online students mainly cited flexibility, logistics, and workload considerations-cost-related themes-while in-person students often cited learning style and social preferences-value-related themes. Online students had completed more total credits and were more likely to identify as female than in-person students. Age, GPA, race/ethnicity, first-generation status, transfer status, non-traditional student status, and course-requirement status did not differ between groups. Notably, the reported cost-related themes were not mirrored by significant differences in measured structural constraints, such as work hours, caretaking responsibilities, or commuting distance, suggesting perceived rather than objective cost as the driver of modality choice. Online students reported significantly lower laboratory confidence than in-person students, consistent with a difference in expectancy of success. Despite these motivational and confidence differences, student performance did not differ significantly between modalities across all measured performance outcomes. Overall GPA was the strongest predictor of academic success. Our findings support expectancy-value theory as a useful framework for understanding modality choice in undergraduate laboratory courses and indicate that well-designed online laboratory courses can broaden access to undergraduate STEM education without compromising learning outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0013526"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148971685","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bacterial gene transfer in chemotaxis language: a laboratory class that integrates phage transduction, gene mapping, transformation, and gene expression.","authors":"R A Paggi, M K Herrera Seitz, M I Giménez, A Pedetta, M Cerletti, I E Redersdorff, S D Frecha, R E De Castro, C A Studdert","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00163-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00163-26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Practical laboratory (PL) experiences are essential for conceptual understanding and for motivation. The PL presented in this work combines classical genetic techniques-such as generalized transduction using P1 phage and bacterial transformation-with phenotypic analysis of chemotactic behavior in <i>Escherichia coli</i>. The chemotaxis system presents a visually engaging and attractive model of signal transduction, while P1-mediated transduction offers a powerful, low-cost approach for hands-on experimentation in bacterial genetics. Over the course of 10 sessions, students explore key topics including gene transfer mechanisms, genetic linkage, and complementation, carrying out a series of scaffolded experiments. This activity promotes active learning, data analysis, critical thinking, and teamwork while reinforcing practical wet-lab skills and experimental design. The structure of the PL simulates a real research workflow, helping students build problem-solving abilities and develop confidence in their laboratory performance. This educational model can be adaptable to different teaching contexts and provides an effective framework for introducing complex genetic concepts in an accessible and effective manner.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0016326"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148971657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Caring about teaching in the classroom and research lab.","authors":"Ann M Stevens","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00230-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00230-26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There are some common themes that exist between teaching students in a course and in an experimental research lab. Both require an effort to foster good communication skills related to the presentation of findings and scientific discovery. Teaching and mentoring skills evolve in both environments through a willingness to change, whether that change comes from a self-desire to improve, a roadblock that must be overcome, or an unexpected opportunity that presents itself. Both types of teaching are strengthened by building connections between related pieces of information and through establishing cooperative and collaborative professional relationships. Balancing a career between teaching and research is a challenging but important and rewarding endeavor, and demonstrating to your students that you care is vital for successful outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0023026"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148963805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ungrading in a third-year biology laboratory indicates positive student results without loss of outcomes.","authors":"Celeste Leander, Tessa Blanchard, Maia V Palka, Amy S Kim, Christine Goedhart","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00130-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00130-26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traditional grading practices in undergraduate science education have been criticized for emphasizing compliance and performance over authentic learning and scientific inquiry. Although ungrading has gained attention as an alternative assessment strategy, evidence from upper-level STEM laboratory courses remains limited. Here, we evaluated a fully ungraded assessment model in a third-year project-based biology laboratory course at a large Canadian research university. Grades and point-based assessments were replaced with formative feedback, student-generated learning goals, reflective practice, and end-of-term self-assessment. Qualitative responses from 93 students were analyzed using inductive thematic coding. Students most frequently reported decreased stress, increased enjoyment, greater focus on learning rather than grades, increased motivation, and a safer environment for experimentation and risk-taking. Comparisons with traditionally graded laboratory courses similarly emphasized reduced anxiety and greater engagement with learning. To assess academic outcomes, 20 final manuscripts from the ungraded cohort and 20 from previously graded cohorts were evaluated blindly using a 16-variable scientific writing rubric. No significant differences were detected in manuscript quality or final course grades between graded and ungraded cohorts. These findings suggest that ungrading can improve student experience and foster intrinsic motivation in upper-level biology laboratories without diminishing learning outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0013026"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148945262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Constructing the Immune Panorama: a jigsaw-style, artifact-centered approach to teaching immunology.","authors":"Huan Ren, Weijin Shen, Han Li, Qiao Chen, Wenyong Zhang","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00111-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00111-26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Immunology is a conceptually challenging subject due to its multi-level organization and dynamic, non-linear processes. Medical students often struggle to integrate molecular mechanisms, cellular interactions, and system-level responses into a coherent understanding. While collaborative learning can enhance engagement, approaches that explicitly support multi-scale mechanistic reasoning and systems thinking in immunology education remain underexplored. We conducted a qualitative curriculum case study of a scaffolded, jigsaw-style, artifact-centered capstone activity embedded within a required undergraduate medical immunology course (<i>N</i> = 27). Five student groups were assigned complementary conceptual dimensions representing spatial, molecular, cellular, temporal, and regulatory aspects of immune function. Guided by a shared \"Immune Kingdom\" metaphor, students developed multimodal artifacts that were iteratively refined through instructor feedback and synthesized into the Immune Panorama. Evidence was drawn from student-generated artifacts, instructor assessment, and a post-course questionnaire. Student-generated artifacts demonstrated complementary representations of immune organization across spatial, molecular, cellular, temporal, and regulatory dimensions. Instructor-guided refinement helped students correct conceptual ambiguities and strengthen mechanistic connections within their artifacts. In the post-course questionnaire, students reported that the activity supported system-level understanding, mechanistic learning, visualization of complex immune processes, and collaborative learning. Collectively, the five group artifacts were synthesized into the Immune Panorama, a shared conceptual framework representing immune function across multiple biological scales. This curriculum demonstrates that a jigsaw-style, artifact-centered learning design can support the development of integrated, multi-scale understanding in undergraduate immunology. Through collaborative construction of the Immune Panorama, students engaged in systems thinking and multi-scale mechanistic reasoning. The framework provides a practical curricular model that may be adapted to other biomedical and life science disciplines requiring integration of complex biological systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0011126"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148945205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A duty to act.","authors":"Emily Sickbert-Bennett, Philip J Rosenthal, Cesar A Arias, Gonzalo M Bearman, Paul E Sax, Graeme Forrest, David P Calfee, Romney M Humphries, Stanley Maloy, Ravi Jhaveri, Ira Blader, Ashley Shade, Roger Bedimo, Cynthia L Sears, Paul Katz, Barbara Resnick","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00231-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00231-26","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0023126"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148945227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Science communication about contentious biology topics: why it frequently fails and how to fix it.","authors":"Brian B Gibbens","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00194-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00194-26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Science communication broadly refers to the exchange of scientific information between people, whether through presentations, discussions, collaboration, or other formats. It can serve many goals, including sharing findings among colleagues, teaching students, and informing or persuading the public. This paper focuses on communicating biological science to non-expert audiences to inform, counter misinformation, and support evidence-based decision-making, especially when scientific evidence conflicts with an audience's existing beliefs. Communicating about biology is particularly challenging, as topics such as evolution, vaccines, pandemic science, and reproductive biology have become ideological flashpoints. Unfortunately, undergraduate and graduate biology curricula rarely include formal training in public communication, leaving many scientists and science communicators to compete against misinformation, pseudoscience, and political messaging without the skills to do so effectively. The good news is that science communication is a teachable, evidence-based competency. This paper synthesizes research from psychology, science communication, and biology education into a practical framework that pairs common communication failures with their corresponding remedies. Effectively communicating science to non-specialist audiences is a learnable skill and an essential core competency for undergraduate biology education. Two classroom implementation options are also provided in the appendices.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0019426"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148921174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modified approach for investigating Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment (PARE)-a research project embedded in lecture-based courses.","authors":"Yuwei Kong, Wei-Cheng Hung, Adriane Jones, Carol Bascom-Slack, Laila Shaaban, Marisol Cira, Karina Jimenez, Yuhui Zhang, Jennifer A Jay","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00173-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00173-26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment (PARE) Project utilizes standard microbiological methods to engage students in monitoring environmental soil samples for the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This initiative exemplifies a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) within the microbiology curriculum, which has been shown to promote student engagement and persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines by providing opportunities for authentic scientific inquiry. However, broader adoption of PARE can be limited by its requirement for microbiology specialization and biosafety level protocols. To address these barriers, we developed EcPARE (<i>Escherichia coli</i> [<i>E. coli</i>]-specific PARE), a culture-free module of PARE that focuses on detecting pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> in water samples using a modified IDEXX Colilert-18 method. Although IDEXX is primarily designed to detect general fecal contamination, our approach demonstrates its utility as a practical tool for screening erythromycin resistance trends in environmental water samples. In this study, undergraduate participants (<i>n</i> = 47) conducted hypothesis-driven research, including sample collection, laboratory analyses, data analysis, and interpretation. Our findings revealed strong positive correlations between general coliforms or <i>E. coli</i> counts obtained using the modified IDEXX method and total counts from Luria-Bertani plate cultures, indicating concordance between modified IDEXX and conventional plate count methods in the absence of antibiotic selection. This result validates the scientific rigor of our PARE module. Student outcomes assessed through pre- and post-course surveys indicated substantial increases in students' confidence in their scientific skills. Notably, underrepresented students reported greater gains in domains related to sense of community and career confidence, suggesting that such CUREs may be especially impactful for supporting the success and retention of diverse student populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0017326"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148913841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A course-based research experience in environmental water quality in a graduate course: comparing flipped and non-flipped formats.","authors":"Marisol Cira, Karina Jimenez, Yuwei Kong, Laila Shaaban, Jennifer A Jay","doi":"10.1128/jmbe.00063-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00063-26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Course-based research experiences (CREs) integrate authentic research into coursework. While the benefits of CREs are well documented at the undergraduate level, less is known about their impact at the graduate level. This study examined a CRE embedded in a graduate course offered in flipped and non-flipped formats. Through the CRE, students developed and applied environmental water quality research skills while investigating runoff contributions of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the Santa Monica Bay, California, USA. The CRE was assessed using a pre-post survey (<i>N</i> = 23) containing objective and subjective measures of student learning. Objective measures demonstrated gains in test performance (mean difference [MD = 0.48], <i>P</i> = 0.013). Subjective measures indicated increased confidence in research skills (MD = 0.32), understanding of environmental water quality (MD = 0.83, <i>P</i> = 0.002), engagement (MD = 0.25), and career interest and preparedness (MD = 0.20). Students in the flipped format exhibited greater objective and subjective gains than those in the non-flipped format. Men achieved larger objective gains, whereas women reported larger subjective gains, with the differences in subjective gains being statistically significant. First-generation and non-first-generation students accomplished comparable objective gains, although first-generation students experienced higher subjective gains. These findings support the integration of CREs into graduate courses and the evaluation of delivery formats. Results also suggest that connecting scientific inquiry to local manifestations of global environmental challenges can prepare, engage, and empower students as research partners.</p>","PeriodicalId":46416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education","volume":" ","pages":"e0006326"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148882184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}