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Teacher Resources

Welcome to a special section created just for teachers. You will find a variety of resources to assist you in teaching biology. These resources come from many teachers over the years - what they tried, and worked. Feel free to browse, copy and use appropriate material for your students. If you have additions that we could include, please email them to us. We will be adding more resources in the very near future, so check back often. Please keep in mind this section is copyrighted, and may not be reused in other publications or the web.

The below two documents are starter tips for new teachers. Feel free to browse, copy and use appropriate material for your students. If you have additions that we could include, please email them to us. We will be adding more resources in the very near future, so check back often. Please keep in mind this section is copyrighted, and may not be reused in other publications or the web.

Every college has its own specific requirements for the class syllabus. The two offered here are meant only as examples of how the weekly quiz method might differ from the midterm exams method. We have experimented with so many different approaches that we can not summarize all of them in this limited space. However, if you have unique questions or valuable discoveries you have made on your own, please email us. We are happy to share what we have learned, and we would be honored to share your good ideas with others.

Your testing and grading will decide what your students do during the lab and their attitude about it.

Reinforce the lab behavior you want from students.
Make testing manageable for you.
Create a general sense of test fairness in your students.

We have example Study Guides for both the “Weekly Quiz” and the “Midterm Tests” methods. Most teachers prefer the Weekly Quiz method. While a smaller portion of professors prefer the Midterm Testing method, the advantage is that there are only two midterm days and the final is required.

These lab review questions were developed for Biology Lab Book. They were removed from that lab book in 2011, and are available below.

Specializing in biology lab resources is our primary mission. However, we have another goal of sharing our experiences with lecture classes. And we hope you will share your successful ideas with us and others. Please email us with those good ideas for lecture. Each college has its own standards and requirements for a General Biology Lecture. Perhaps our current lecture resources will be of some help to you. If so, help yourself.

Grading

Grading is one of the five ways for changing the way you organize your biology lab class. There are many approaches to grading, and the arguments about which is best will go on forever. Forget the fancy analysis. Remember the single most important truth about grades:

Grading Options