The teacher's guide, Microscopic Explorations: A GEMS Festival Guide (), is the result of a partnership between Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS), a program of the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS), the public science and curriculum development center of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Microscopy Society of America (MSA). Microscopic Exploration supports the MSA's low-cost national outreach program and, also, reaches a very large educational community as part of the GEMS series. Some of the lessons learned through the extremely successful MSA/LHS collaboration are summarized here in hopes that they may be instructive to other scientists and educators as they launch their own partnerships and collaborations.

Multimedia has the potential of providing bioscience education novel learning environments and pedagogy applications to foster student interest, involve students in the research process, advance critical thinking/problem-solving skills, and develop conceptual understanding of biological topics. Cancer Cell Biology, an interactive, multimedia, problem-based module, focuses on how mutations in protooncogenes and tumor suppressor genes can lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation by engaging students as research scientists/physicians with the task of diagnosing the molecular basis of tumor growth for a group of patients. The process of constructing the module, which was guided by scientist and student feedback/responses, is described. The completed module and insights gained from its development are presented as a potential “multimedia pedagogy” for the development of other multimedia science learning environments.

A 14-week, undergraduate-level Genetics and Population Biology course at Morgan State University was modified to include a demonstration of functional genomics in the research laboratory. Students performed a rudimentary sequence analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans genome and further characterized three sequences that were predicted to encode helix–loop–helix proteins. Students then used reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction to determine which of the three genes is normally expressed in C. elegans. At the end of this laboratory activity, students were 1) to demonstrate a rudimentary knowledge of bioinformatics, including the ability to differentiate between“ having” a gene and “expressing” a gene, and 2) to understand basic approaches to functional genomics, including one specific technique for assaying for gene expression. It was also anticipated that students would increase their skills at effectively communicating their research activities through written and/or oral presentation. This article describes the laboratory activity and the assessment of the effectiveness of the activity.

Cries for increased accountability through additional assessment are heard throughout the educational arena. However, as demonstrated in this study, to make a valid assessment of teaching and learning effectiveness, educators must determine not only what students do, but also why they do it, as the latter significantly affects the former. This study describes and analyzes 14- to 16-year-old students' explanations for their choices and performances during science data handling tasks. The study draws heavily on case-study methods for the purpose of seeking an in-depth understanding of classroom processes in an English comprehensive school. During semistructured scheduled and impromptu interviews, students were asked to describe, explain, and justify the work they did with data during their science classes. These student explanations fall within six categories, labeled 1) implementing correct procedures, 2) following instructions, 3) earning marks, 4) doing what is easy, 5) acting automatically, and 6) working within limits. Each category is associated with distinct outcomes for learning and assessment, with some motivations resulting in inflated performances while others mean that learning was underrepresented. These findings illuminate the complexity of student academic choices and behaviors as mediated by an array of motivations, casting doubt on the current understanding of student performance.