Science for the classroom and beyond
Our guest this week is Tim Hartelt from the Department of Biology Education at the University of Kassel in Germany. With colleagues Helge Martens and Nina Minkley, Tim recently published a study investigating if science teachers were able to diagnose the alternative conceptions they may hold when teaching biology concepts. Tim joins us to discuss the study and its findings, […]
Read more
In this installment of #ScientistOutLoud, we welcome research and teaching professor Prashant Sharma from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Using morphology and genomic data, Dr. Sharma and his lab recently challenged our understanding of arachnid classification by adding horseshoe crabs to the same class as spiders and scorpions. Dr. Sharma joins us to remind us how modern classification works, describe why […]
Read more
The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) was founded to provide teachers with content and engaging resources to teach evolution in an effective and respectful way. Now with downloadable units that meet every state’s evolution standards, TIES offers formidable resources for teaching evolution online. TIES Director and founder Bertha Vazquez joins us to discuss how science teachers can access their […]
Read more
To conclude our segment on video in science education, we are joined this week by filmmakers Clayton Brown and Monica Long from 137 Films. This Chicago-based documentary production company promotes science through storytelling by exploring how its search for answers impacts our cultural, political, and personal lives. Directed by Clayton and Monica, We Believe in Dinosaurs follows the building of […]
Read more
Kicking off a new decade, we are happy to welcome Joe Shane (Professor of Chemistry and Science Education at Shippensburg University) and Lee Meadows (science educator at the School of Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham) to the show. Joe and Lee (in addition to Ronald Hermann and Ian Binns) are co-authors of a new book from NSTA […]
Read more
As a science teacher at Curry College in Massachusetts, Abby Hafer is a staunch advocate of teaching peer-reviewed, scientifically accurate content in her college classes. In an effort to protect public school science education in the state, Hafer recently worked with legislator Kenneth Gordon to draft a bill that adds language to existing curriculum standards that seeks to limit science […]
Read more
Hakhamanesh Mostafavi, PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University and co-author of a recent paper, Identifying genetic variants that affect viability in large cohorts, joins us to talk about the evidence for and examples of continuing human evolution. Links: Hakhamanesh Mostafavi, Columbia University Mostafavi H, Berisa T, Day FR, Perry JRB, Przeworski M, Pickrell JK (2017) Identifying genetic variants […]
Read more
To close season 10, we welcome back Dr. Sean B. Carroll – award-winning scientist, writer, and educator. Dr. Carroll’s new book, The Serengeti Rules, examines the fundamental question of how life works as he uncovers the rules that determine the what controls the number of species in an environment and the diversity within that community. What this molecular biologist learns […]
Read more
Dr. William Romine and Dr. Amber Todd are co-leading a project to study teachers’ attitudes and emotions surrounding evolution. They are looking for current and former teachers who have taught biology at the K-college level. If you would like to participate in our study, please click the following link to complete the survey. This study has been reviewed by the […]
Read more
This week we talk sex with Dr. Carin Bondar (specifically, we discuss how science teachers can use sex to teach biological concepts). As biologist, writer and presenter, Dr. Carin Bondar hosts an independent web series called Wild Sex and has just released her second book, also titled Wild Sex. Listen to the show to hear ideas on how you might utilize biological sex to teach […]
Read more
As students are returning to school, they might be hunting for Pokémon with the wildly popular PokémonGo app. Part of the game allows students students to evolve their Pokémon into other pocket monsters. But is this an accurate portrayal of biological evolution? Can science educators actually use PokémonGo to teach evolution or other scientific concepts? To help answer some of these questions, we are happy to welcome Dr. […]
Read more
This week we welcome Neil Shubin to the show. As paleontologist and anatomy professor at the University of Chicago, Shubin has had some fantastic opportunities to hunt for fossils and use them to communicate stories of our own evolution. In 2008, he wrote these stories into Your Inner Fish – a national bestselling book that has now been adapted into a three-part series […]
Read more
For our 100th episode, we welcome Glenn Branch to the show. As Deputy Director for the National Center for Science Education, Glenn talks to us about the center, how they support climate change education, and how the NCSE can defend science in your classroom. Lab Out Loud thanks NSTA and our listeners for support of 100 episodes. Listen to how we […]
Read more
http://traffic.libsyn.com/wsst/LOL83.mp3 After the summer release of “The Violinist’s Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, As Written By Our Genetic Code,” we got a chance to catch up with science writer Sam Kean. Sam talks to us about his book, science writing, and how educators might use his stories in the science classroom. Did you read any good […]
Read more
http://traffic.libsyn.com/wsst/LOL73.mp3 As science educators are increasingly reporting attacks on climate change education, the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is announcing that they will also be defending climate change science in public school science education. Join us as Dr. Eugenie Scott explains this new initiative for NCSE by adding climate change to their portfolio in defending good science education. Links: […]
Read more
The state of education in Wisconsin in turmoil at the moment due to a bill introduced by our governor that will reduce teachers’ benefits and essentially break up our unions. The latter concerns us the most and it was the topic of discussion at the start of our most recent episode. In Episode 59 – The Courage to Teach, we […]
Read more
http://traffic.libsyn.com/wsst/LOL59.mp3 This week we discuss evolution education with Dr. Eric Plutzer, co-author of “Defeating Creationism in the Courtroom, But Not in the Classroom” – a recently published article in Science Magazine. Dr. Plutzer discusses the paper, and what the results reveal about how much evolution is actually being taught in biology classrooms across the nation. The Cautious 60: The […]
Read more
http://media.libsyn.com/media/wsst/LOL48.mp3 For our 100th podcast interview (including 52 interviews with Periodicity), we talk with former marine biologist turned filmmaker and author Randy Olson. Since we last talked with Randy about Flock of Dodos, he has since put out another movie (Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy) and a book (Don’t Be Such a Scientist: ). We talk with Randy about […]
Read more
http://media.libsyn.com/media/wsst/LOL47.mp3 Our guest this week is Daniel Loxton, editor of Junior Skeptic and author/illustrator. Daniel joins us to talk about Junior Skeptic, shepherding and his new book: Evolution: How we and all Things Came to Be. Links: Wikipedia Entry on Daniel Loxton Evolution: How we and all Things Came to Be (Amazon.com) Junior Skeptic Explains Evolution (Wired) Junior Skeptic […]
Read more
http://media.libsyn.com/media/wsst/LOL46.mp3 You may know this week’s guest as Paleontologist Scott from the PBS hit show “Dinosaur Train”. In episode 46, Paleontologist Scott talks about the show, being a paleontologist, and his new book Dinosaur Odyssey. Links: Scott Sampson’s Website Purchase Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life Dinosaur Train (PBS) Dinsosaur Train Videos Dinosaur Train […]
Read more