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1. Introducing comparative immunology through the lens of scaling biology

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1602537  

   Downs, Cynthia J; Elliott, Samantha L (August 2025, Frontiers in Education)

   Justement, Louis (Ed.)

   In most undergraduate programs, immunology is relegated to a few weeks of microbiology or human anatomy courses, or rarely offered as a dedicated topics course. As such, we feel it is essential to consider new approaches to introduce undergraduate students to immunological concepts. Recent work by the ImmunoReach network uncovered gaps in connecting concepts of metabolism and evolution in undergraduate immunology education. With these ideas in mind, we developed a comparative immunology lesson within an upper-division Animal Physiology course, in which students explore how differences in body size change both the metabolic rates and immune cell concentrations. Students who completed this activity improved their scores on scaling questions included in a class exam by more than 29% over students who only received a lecture on the course material. Pre- and post-quizzes demonstrate that the activity increased scores on questions about scaling (>17%) and immune concepts (>100%). By requiring students to apply concepts of scaling, a fundamental concept in biology and physiology, to a system not typically considered in animal physiology courses, this activity enhanced students' understanding of that topic, as well as introducing them to immune cell types. It also introduced pointillist comparative methods, just now being integrated into immune studies, thereby introducing students to leading-edge research in immunology and a new way of thinking about the immune system. We believe this approach can not only fill gaps within undergraduate immunology courses but also incorporate immunology into curricula where immunology is not a viable stand-alone course. 

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2. A gut microbiome tactile teaching tool and guided-inquiry activity promotes student learning

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.966289  

   Shoaf, Parker T.; French, Katie S.; Clifford, Noah J.; McKenney, Erin A.; Ott, Laura E. (December 2022, Frontiers in Microbiology)

   Davida Smyth (Ed.)

   The gut microbiome and its physiological impacts on human and animal health is an area of research emphasis. Microbes themselves are invisible and may therefore be abstract and challenging to understand. It is therefore important to infuse this topic into undergraduate curricula, including Anatomy and Physiology courses, ideally through an active learning approach. To accomplish this, we developed a novel tactile teaching tool with guided-inquiry (TTT-GI) activity where students explored how the gut microbiome ferments carbohydrates to produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). This activity was implemented in two sections of a large-enrollment Human Anatomy and Physiology course at a research intensive (R1) university in the Spring of 2022 that was taught using a hyflex format. Students who attended class in person used commonly available building toys to assemble representative carbohydrates of varying structural complexity, whereas students who attended class virtually made these carbohydrate structures using a digital learning tool. Students then predicted how microbes within the gut would ferment different carbohydrates into SCFAs, as well as the physiological implications of the SCFAs. We assessed this activity to address three research questions, with 182 students comprising our sample. First, we evaluated if the activity learning objectives were achieved through implementation of a pre-and post-assessment schema. Our results revealed that all three learning objectives of this activity were attained. Next, we evaluated if the format in which this TTT-GI activity was implemented impacted student learning. While we found minimal and nonsignificant differences in student learning between those who attended in-person and those who attended remotely, we did find significant differences between the two course sections, which differed in length and spacing of the activity. Finally, we evaluated if this TTT-GI approach was impactful for diverse students. We observed modest and nonsignificant positive learning gains for some populations of students traditionally underrepresented in STEM (first-generation students and students with one or more disabilities). That said, we found that the greatest learning gains associated with this TTT-GI activity were observed in students who had taken previous upper-level biology coursework. 

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3. Strategies for navigating primary scientific literature in undergraduate immunology courses

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1606578  

   Bergerson, Rachel J; Basta, Holly A; Coleman, Sean T; Pandey, Sumali (July 2025, Frontiers in Education)

   Segura, Miriam (Ed.)

   The impact of immunology on our daily lives is growing every year. From vaccines to immunotherapies, it's essential for our healthcare professionals (present and future) and the general public as patients or caregivers to be literate in immunology. One way to foster immune literacy in this rapidly advancing field is through Primary Scientific Literature (PSL). There are unique challenges with integrating PSL into immunology courses. First, the laboratory techniques used are often new and not things students have tried before or may have access to, such as flow cytometry. Second, the tools used in this literature can be confusing. For example, antibodies are often used as both part of the research method and as the research subject. Third, immunology literature is especially heavy in acronyms, jargon and abbreviations. In this manuscript, four instructors gathered to discuss the strategies that they have used in their classrooms to utilize PSL in immunology (PSL-I) and scaffold various activities around it. These teaching methods vary from highlighting immunology-specific techniques, interpreting figures, alignment with the 5E instructional model to guide an inquiry, jigsaw format learning, to in-depth journal-club style analysis. Finally, this paper discusses reflections from our experiences teaching PSL-I. We know that there are misconceptions about immunology and health in general. If we teach PSL and how to interpret it, we hope to prepare our students not just for their chosen field, but also to think critically and discern facts from fiction in society. 

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4. POGIL exercise exploring molecular biology

   Flowers, L (June 2025, International Journal of Science and Research Archive)

   The active learning student-centered teaching approach process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) is a stimulating peer-based pedagogical method gaining momentum based on reported students’ outcomes that align with STEM undergraduate goals and objectives and job market competencies. Specific advanced topics in biology are intractable to many undergraduate students and require innovative, collaborative methods to produce desired learning outcomes. Chemistry instructors originally designed POGIL, and while biology-based POGILs are present in the literature, there is a limited amount of POGILs available in molecular biology. Thus, the current article illustrates a POGIL exercise that explores the central dogma, a fundamental principle in molecular biology. The central dogma of molecular biology provides a framework for gene expression processes and describes the flow of genetic information in living organisms. The central dogma describes how DNA nucleotides are transcribed into RNA nucleotides and translated into proteins. This seminal concept of molecular biology is critical to student understanding in introductory and advanced biological sciences courses. The POGIL exercise is organized based on the learning cycle model associated with inquiry-focused teaching techniques. The learning cycle model promotes gradual concept comprehension and real-world utilization. An increase in molecular biology POGIL exercises is required to improve student understanding and course grades in molecular biology or related disciplines. Examining the efficacy of using the current molecular biology POGIL exercise is necessary from the perspectives of undergraduate students and biology faculty to fortify POGIL usage at colleges and universities. 

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5. Scientific Inquiry before Engineering Activities: Using an AI-based Mixed-Reality System to Investigate Transfer

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-025-10282-5  

   Yannier, Nesra; Li, Julia; Chang, Henry; Pavlinek, Sara; Yim, Megan; Hudson, Scott E; Koedinger, Kenneth R (June 2026, Journal of Science Education and Technology)

   Abstract One approach to inquiry-based science learning has emphasized hands-on engineering design projects that encourage open-ended exploration, tinkering and building. Another involves more structured scientific inquiry activities where students make predictions, observe experimental results, and interpret and explain those results. Little is known about whether learning from open-ended engineering activities and from scientific inquiry support each other and, if so, in which directions. Should students do open-ended engineering to motivate their scientific inquiry and/or should they do scientific inquiry as preparation for more effective open-ended engineering? We explored this question of transfer between open-ended engineering and scientific inquiry activities in the context of an AI mixed-reality system. Our results reveal that learning from scientific inquiry activities transfers to learning on engineering activities but not the other way around. Children who engage in scientific inquiry first, produce better engineering outcomes later on and also engage in more relevant scientific conversations during engineering activities than students who start with open-ended engineering. In contrast, children who engage in open-ended engineering first do not produce better scientific inquiry or conversations later. These results suggest that science curricula may better enhance Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outcomes if they sequence scientific inquiry activities before open-ended engineering activities, encouraging transfer of scientific principles learned from guided inquiry to use during engineering. 

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