Author: admin
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Teaching and learning with AI (part 10)
The learning community The learning community refers to the impact of the wider community on teaching and learning. These could be friends and family of students, who have interesting life stories, or professionals who are engaged in the public understanding of their subjects. It is said that “It takes a whole village to raise a…
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Using AI to deliver the biology curriculum
Jane Still and I will be presenting as part of the BERG day at the annual Association of Science Education conference 2025, in the University of Nottingham . We will be speaking on ‘Using AI to deliver the biology curriculum’ on Thursday January 9th 2025 at 08:45-09:35 in ESLC at B05. If you are at…
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Biology, AI and teachers, (part 1)
This is the presentation that Neil Ingram gave at the Association of Science Education conference in the University of Northampton in January 2024. This is the first of two parts, and thinks about how biology teachers can use generative AI.
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AI and how we teach in schools
Teaching looks so easy: all we have to do is stand up and talk. Lots of us can do that! So, if this is all there is, could an AI chat box one day become an effective classroom teacher? Obviously, a fundamental part of teaching is about instruction. Instruction is the transmission of knowledge and skills from…
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AI and the joy of early adopters
What will schools be like when AI is embedded into our lives? Much like they are now or perhaps something radically transformed? Perhaps we can see clues to the future by looking into the past? I was interested to hear Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, describing these days as being as “exciting… like the 90s are…
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Can AI become a school tutor?
One of the most dramatic claims for the “new” AI is that it will be able to act as tutors (or counsellors) for students. A recent manual for higher education by UNESCO suggests that AI could become a “personal tutor… providing personalised feedback based on information provided by students or teachers.” Some secondary schools are…
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Case studies in the Evolution Oxford Biology primer
The Oxford Biology primer contains a number of case studies on the evolution of familiar and unusual organisms, from finches to giraffes, peppered moths to wood rats! Here are some pages that give a feel for the book. Darwin’s finches have captured people’s imaginations ever since he first described them. In the 1970s they hooked…
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How did the ‘Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium’ get its funny name?
It is February 1908 and Reginald Punnett has just finished giving a lecture to the Royal Society of Medicine in London, when the unthinkable happens. He is ambushed by a question he cannot answer, posed by his enemies. By 1908, Mendel’s ‘lost’ paper had been re-discovered for eight years. Punnett’s boss and mentor William Bateson,…
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Updating the story of the peppered moth
There are a number of case studies in the Oxford Biology primer on Evolution that are revisited several times in the first four chapters. This post illustrates this for the story of the evolution of the peppered moth. This is an iconic example, which is taught all over the world as an example of natural…
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Evolution – a primer for 16-19 year olds
The book is beautifully illustrated and engaging. It is are aimed at 16 to 19 year olds who want to learn more and who may be contemplating a biological career. However, we also have several non-biologist and non-scientific adult friends who have bought and enjoyed Evolution. The first two chapters explore natural selection and how it…