Teaching Tales: Sex and More

Teaching Tales: Sex and More

It was time to tackle the reproductive system—including sex. The textbook started with external anatomy, but I suspected the students would know this. I elected to avoid the guffaws that would accompany the labeling of a penis on the screen. Instead, starting with the...
Teaching Tales: About Pee

Teaching Tales: About Pee

The following semester at NVCC, I taught Bio 102, and we came to the lab on the excretory system, which produces urine. After locating the fetal pig’s kidneys, bladder, and other parts of the system, the students had the opportunity to experiment on themselves. ...
Teaching Tales: A Remarkable Offer

Teaching Tales: A Remarkable Offer

We were nearing the end of Bio 101. I was painfully aware that many students had not yet grasped the basic concepts of the course, so decided to make one last attempt to help them do so, while also making it possible for them to raise their grade. My Offer “I want to...
Teaching Tales: Blood, but no Guts

Teaching Tales: Blood, but no Guts

Welcome to the fourth in my series of blogs on teaching at NVCC and GMU.  The study of genetics involved mathematics, which is never a favorite. But I knew that it was personal enough to capture student interest. In the lab, after counting kernels of corn (not an...