In July of 1999, I wrote to 24 Texas junior and community colleges (and one four-year institution) describing my thesis agenda of a general biology lecture and laboratory syllabus for introductory biology students. I requested the titles and authors of the general biology textbooks and laboratory manuals they were currently using, the publishers of these texts, and the edition of said texts. I then contacted publishers of the various textbooks who, in turn, directed me to the Dallas-area representatives for further inquiries. I assimilated the various authors' general biology topics into a two-semester syllabus of lecture and one semester of laboratory. The document is not a text manuscript, but an all-inclusive listing of a general biology syllabus broken down by subject.

The major problem of this study involved a comparison of two methods of teaching English and biology to college freshmen. Subproblems investigated in this study involved the apparent influence of each method of teaching on achievement in each course, on the self-concept of the student, on the students' attitude toward college and toward the learning center, and the effect of the commuterresident status on achievement, self-concept, or attitude. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of the experimental method of teaching to achieve desired growth in academic achievement of first-semester college freshmen enrolled in English or biology.

This project constitutes an instructional unit for honors biology that involves the use of science in the field of criminal investigation and forensics. Before beginning the unit, the learners should have mastered basic laboratory skills, including use of the microscope. They should also have an understanding of the basic structure and function of DNA and its role in heredity and protein synthesis. The standard time frame is 24 days with 70-minute periods, but can be easily adjusted to meet classroom needs. Several instructional strategies enhance student learning and make science fun. The unit is inquiry-driven and activity-based. Students are surprised by the crime, gather and analyze evidence, and work towards proposing an explanation. This real world problem involves the use of cooperative learning and a variety of assessment techniques.

The main purposes of the present study included investigation of the effect of problem based learning on students&rsquo / academic achievement and performance skills in the unit of human excretory system / and students&rsquo / perceived motivation and perceived use of learning strategies. This study was carried out during 2003-2004 fall semester at an Anatolian High School in Ankara. A total of 61 tenth grade students from two biology classes of the same biology teacher were involved in the study. Two classes were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups. Experimental Group was instructed with problem based learning, while control group received traditionally designed biology instruction. In the experimental group, illstructured problems based on actual patiens served as a basis for learning the basic science and while dealing with these problems, students did independent study as well as group work. In the control group, instruction was based on teacher explanations and textbooks. Human Excretory System Achievement Test, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were administered as pre-test and post-test to students in both groups to measure students&rsquo / academic achievement and performance skills in the unit of human excretory system / and students&rsquo / perceived motivation and perceived use of learning strategies. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to investigate the effect of problem based learning on the dependent variables of current study. Results revealed that problem based learning improved students&rsquo / academic achievement, performance skills, intrinsic goal orientation, task value,elaboration strategy use, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation, effort regulation and peer learning.

The effect of case based learning on 10th grade students&rsquo / academic achievement in the unit of human reproductive system and their perceived motivation (Intrinsic Goal Orientation, Extrinsic Goal Orientation and Task Value) was investigated in this study. The study was conducted during 2007-2008 spring semester in a private high school in Ankara, Turkey. A total of 80 (48 males and 32 females) tenth grade students from four biology classes of two teachers were involved in the study. One class of each individual teacher was assigned as control group and the other class of the same teacher was assigned as experimental group to sustain randomization. Two of the classes assigned as experimental group were instructed with case based learning, while two classes of the control group were received traditionally designed biology instruction. In the experimental group, two cases that are divided into several parts were assigned in an interrupted manner. Students learned the human reproductive system via cases in experimental group without any additional method. The cases include incomplete data and students were needed to search for and discuss to answer the questions posed in the cases and by themselves and to complete the data. When the students completed a part of the case, next part was distributed. While dealing with the dilemma presented in cases, students did independent study as well as group work. In the control group, instruction was based on teacher explanations and web based notes prepared by the biology department of the high school. Human Reproductive System Achievement Test, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were administered as pre-test and post-test to the students in both groups to measure the students&rsquo / academic achievement in the unit of human reproductive system / and their perceived motivation / specifically, task value, intrinsic goal orientation, and extrinsic goal orientation. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to investigate the effect of case based learning on the students&rsquo / academic achievement in the unit of human reproductive system and their perceived motivation. Results revealed that case based learning improved students&rsquo / academic achievement and task value.