This thread is to collect resources and ideas that might help biology faculty as they face new instructional challenges in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dear colleagues,

If you are looking for evidence-based online resources that you can implement during the COVID-19 crisis, feel free to use our collection of Interactive Video Vignettes (IVVs).  IVVs are short (15-20 minutes) online videos that use live-action and incorporate interactive features that let users make predictions, analyze data, answer questions and reflect on what they have learned.   

These tools were designed for introductory/mid-level students and cover a range of concepts that might be applicable to some of the courses you are currently teaching.

All of the IVVs can be found at this website https://www.rit.edu/MINT/ivv-list.php or look at the end of this message and click on individual links.  The website also contains ideas for activities to extend the lesson (A “MINT” is a module, whereas an “IVV” is just the online, video-based piece).

Notes about using IVVs

All of the videos are captioned!  There is a “CC” icon to have captioning turned on within the video pane.

The first page of each IVV asks students to enter in their name but only so that instructors have a record (see below) of who completed the assignment.  The IVV team is not trying to collect any private student information. 

This software does not allow instructors to access the database and see which of their students completed the assignment so if you would like you students to complete one or more IVVs for credit you could ask them to upload an image of the last “completion certificate” page of the IVV to a course management system or email it to you.  This practice encourages students to spend at least the minimum amount of time on the IVV (the time spent will be visible on the completion page).

Tell students not to use their browser button to back up (if they want to re-watch a page) as that may restart the entire thing from the beginning.  Users should use the “previous page” button within the IVV window.

List of IVVs, Big Ideas and Links

Introduction to Active Learning

IVV:  Hands on/Minds on:  An introduction to Active Learning

Big Idea:  Active classrooms are most effective for learning

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/HA/2/v/index.php

 

Information Flow

IVV:  Going Green

Big Idea:  Nonsense mutations affect protein expression but not transcription or replication

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/GG/2/v/index.php

 

IVV:  How Do You Find a Needle in a Haystack?

Big Idea:  Mutations exist prior to selection

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/NH/2/v/index.php

 

IVV:  Divide and Conquer

Big Idea:  DNA sequence determines homology and the mechanism of homologous pairing. Ploidy is defined as the number of complete sets of unique genetic information in a cell.

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/DC/2/v/index.php

 

Genetics/Inheritance

IVV:  A Matter of Taste

Big Idea:  Dominance describes the molecular relationship between products of two different alleles

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/TT/2/v/index.php

 

IVV:  Marfamily

Big Idea:  Mechanism of genetic inheritance

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/MF/2/v/index.php

 

Energy Transformation 

IVV:  Why Is My Phenol Red Yellow?

Big Idea:  Buffers regulate pH by absorbing and releasing protons

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/PR/2/v/index.php

 

IVV:  Dead Thing by a Tree

Big Idea:  The carbon link between decomposition and plants exists via gaseous carbon dioxide.

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/DT/2/v/index.php

 

IVV:  To Ferment or Not to Ferment: That Is the Question

Big Idea:  Environmental conditions (O₂) influence metabolic pathways

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/FM/2/v/index.php

 

IVV:  Extra Credit Project

Big Idea:  Biosynthesis and cell growth are dependent on photosynthesis

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/EC/2/v/index.php

 

Structure/Function

IVV:  Why Didn’t You Write That Down?

Big Idea:  Osmosis is a specialized diffusion resulting from the presence of a semi-permeable membrane

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/WD/2/v/index.php

 

Process of Science/Experimentation

IVV:  Whose Graph Is Better?

Big Idea:  Populations exhibit variability due to abotic influences

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/WG/2/v/index.php

 

IVV: Send in the Clones  (Note---this IVV is in draft form!)

Big Idea:  An introduction to genetic engineering and protein expression

Link:       https://www.rit.edu/cos/interactive/CL/2/v/index.php

 

For anyone who is interested, we published a Bioscene paper about the design of IVVs in 2016; you can read it here:https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1126351.pdf. We currently have a couple of other papers in review about specific IVVs as well.

 

Best of luck to everyone!

Kate Wright and Dina Newman (RIT) and Jean Cardinale (Alfred University)

Hello All,

One more option for pretty much ready-to-use virtual Biology labs is Avida-ED.

Avida-ED is an educational application developed at Michigan State University for undergraduate biology courses to help students learn about evolutionary mechanisms and science practices. Avida-ED allows students to design and perform experiments to test hypotheses about evolution using digital organisms.  Avida-ED is the educational version of the model system used by researchers to do experimental evolution.  It is not a simulation, but an instantiation of evolution that allows for real experiments.  Avida-ED produces authentic data that can be analyzed within the application or exported for further analyses.  Avida-ED has been used in classrooms across the country and the world for over a decade.  

Some of Avida-ED are:

-       Avida-ED is free.
-       Avida-ED requires no special registration or configuration.
-       Avida-ED is accessible on-line and runs locally in your web browser.
-       User-friendly interface requires little technical training to use.
-       Includes ready-to-use exercises to teach a variety of evolutionary concepts.
-       Can be used for open-ended labs where students design their own experiments.
-       Can be used to teach principles of experimental design and scientific method.

Please see the Avida-ED web site <https://avida-ed.msu.edu> for:

-       Link to the Avida-ED application launch page
-       Model exercises (under the Curriculum link)
-       Quick start user manual
-       Background information about digital evolution
-       Articles about Avida-ED, including effectiveness studies

The Avida-ED teams is quickly working to provide instructional videos for the core lab book exercises from Active-LENS train-the-trainer workshops we offer each summer where we teach faculty how to use the software in their classes.  We can also provide instructor support materials for some exercises offline for certified instructors.  A mirror <tinyurl.com/Avida-ED-home-mirror> of the Avida-ED site is available in case the primary site goes down.

Good luck to everyone as they make the quick move from face-to-face to virtual instruction. 

Stay healthy,

Jim

The POD community has been working on a few crowd-sourced resources for online labs and more. See below.

And a massive list of resources for teaching remotely is here:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VT9oiNYPyiEsGHBoDKlwLlWAsWP58sGV7A3oIuEUG3k/htmlview?usp=sharing&sle=true#

Kacy

We were asked to 'provide guidance' to our faculty earlier this week and offered the following.  Many of the ideas and resources overlap with those that have been provided elsewhere, but please feel free to share. 

(1) Letter to faculty: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hShGVLhkXkWP_OgACLwaxAW3MmiqS7eXFiNrEyUMw1U/edit?usp=sharing

(2) Resource list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18fJ2ud_ihCD25FZVwosbgtpLQOV75cEQaF1LBoX-Smw/edit?usp=sharing