Cover: Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Volume 2, 1st Edition by Diane Ebert-May; Emily Holt

Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Volume 2

First Edition  ©2026 Diane Ebert-May; Emily Holt Formats: E-book

Authors

  • Headshot of Diane Ebert-May

    Diane Ebert-May

    Diane Ebert-May is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University, where she provides national and international leadership in biology education research and teaching. Together with her postdoctoral fellows, she developed and tested a model for faculty and postdoc teaching professional development based on student-centered learning, science practice-based instructional strategies, and assessment. She led FIRST IV, an NSF-funded professional development program to help 201 postdoctoral scholars create and teach their first introductory biology course in preparation for their academic positions. A longitudinal study of their teaching as early career faculty identifies the specific roles that departments contribute to their success. She continues to teach postdoctoral fellows via the Pathways to Scientific Teaching course where enrollments have exceeded 500. Her plant ecology research continues on Niwot Ridge, Colorado, where she has conducted long-term ecological research on alpine tundra plant communities since 1971. She earned her BS from University of Wisconsin, Madison (Botany), MA and PhD University of Colorado (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology).

  • Headshot of Emily Holt

    Emily Holt

    Emily Holt is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado, where she combines her expertise in plant ecology and biology education research to explore how people learn—and teach—about the living world. She earned her PhD in Botany and Plant Pathology from Oregon State University, MS in Botany from the University of Wyoming, and BA in Biology from Colorado College. Her research bridges two interconnected fields: biology education and plant community ecology. In her bioeducation work, Holt investigates how climate change and social justice can be more effectively integrated into undergraduate biology education. Her lab develops and evaluates interventions that reduce the psychological distance of climate change and promote equity-minded teaching. She also designs tools to assess climate change understanding, climate change acceptance, learner-centeredness, and inclusive teaching practices. In her ecological research, Holt focuses on disturbance ecology and community responses of plant and lichen systems. Her work examines gradients in community response to large-scale disturbances, such as bark beetle epidemics and fire.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Section One: Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Lesson 1 Monitoring Intracellular Traffic: Learning How to Measure Movement of Cellular Components

Lesson 2 Auxins: How Plant Growth Is Mediated from the Inside to Outside

Lesson 3 Cell Membranes: Making Sense by Working with Data

Lesson 4 Determining Confidence: Sex and Statistics

Lesson 5 Evolution as a Hypothesis-Driven Science: Case Studies

Lesson 6 Plant-Microbe Interactions: How Pairwise Interactions Can Affect Complex Ecosystems

Section Two: Developing and Using Models

Lesson 7 Introduction to Epigenetics: Long-Lasting Effects of in Utero Environmental Stress on DNA Methylation

Lesson 8 Peppered Moths and the Mutation Mechanisms of Transposons

Lesson 9 Climate Change: Challenging Student Ideas

Lesson 10 Systems Thinking in Ecosystems: Modeling and Predicting Complex Disease Dynamics

Section Three: Arguments from Evidence

Lesson 11 The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend: Plants Recruit Bodyguards

Lesson 12 Genetic Diversity Provides Potential for Selective Breeding of Horticultural Crops

Lesson 13 Intertwined: How Ocean Ecosystems and Climate Interact

Section Four:About the Authors and Their Reflections on Lesson Construction

Author Introductions

Product Updates

Authors

  • Headshot of Diane Ebert-May

    Diane Ebert-May

    Diane Ebert-May is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University, where she provides national and international leadership in biology education research and teaching. Together with her postdoctoral fellows, she developed and tested a model for faculty and postdoc teaching professional development based on student-centered learning, science practice-based instructional strategies, and assessment. She led FIRST IV, an NSF-funded professional development program to help 201 postdoctoral scholars create and teach their first introductory biology course in preparation for their academic positions. A longitudinal study of their teaching as early career faculty identifies the specific roles that departments contribute to their success. She continues to teach postdoctoral fellows via the Pathways to Scientific Teaching course where enrollments have exceeded 500. Her plant ecology research continues on Niwot Ridge, Colorado, where she has conducted long-term ecological research on alpine tundra plant communities since 1971. She earned her BS from University of Wisconsin, Madison (Botany), MA and PhD University of Colorado (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology).

  • Headshot of Emily Holt

    Emily Holt

    Emily Holt is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado, where she combines her expertise in plant ecology and biology education research to explore how people learn—and teach—about the living world. She earned her PhD in Botany and Plant Pathology from Oregon State University, MS in Botany from the University of Wyoming, and BA in Biology from Colorado College. Her research bridges two interconnected fields: biology education and plant community ecology. In her bioeducation work, Holt investigates how climate change and social justice can be more effectively integrated into undergraduate biology education. Her lab develops and evaluates interventions that reduce the psychological distance of climate change and promote equity-minded teaching. She also designs tools to assess climate change understanding, climate change acceptance, learner-centeredness, and inclusive teaching practices. In her ecological research, Holt focuses on disturbance ecology and community responses of plant and lichen systems. Her work examines gradients in community response to large-scale disturbances, such as bark beetle epidemics and fire.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Section One: Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Lesson 1 Monitoring Intracellular Traffic: Learning How to Measure Movement of Cellular Components

Lesson 2 Auxins: How Plant Growth Is Mediated from the Inside to Outside

Lesson 3 Cell Membranes: Making Sense by Working with Data

Lesson 4 Determining Confidence: Sex and Statistics

Lesson 5 Evolution as a Hypothesis-Driven Science: Case Studies

Lesson 6 Plant-Microbe Interactions: How Pairwise Interactions Can Affect Complex Ecosystems

Section Two: Developing and Using Models

Lesson 7 Introduction to Epigenetics: Long-Lasting Effects of in Utero Environmental Stress on DNA Methylation

Lesson 8 Peppered Moths and the Mutation Mechanisms of Transposons

Lesson 9 Climate Change: Challenging Student Ideas

Lesson 10 Systems Thinking in Ecosystems: Modeling and Predicting Complex Disease Dynamics

Section Three: Arguments from Evidence

Lesson 11 The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend: Plants Recruit Bodyguards

Lesson 12 Genetic Diversity Provides Potential for Selective Breeding of Horticultural Crops

Lesson 13 Intertwined: How Ocean Ecosystems and Climate Interact

Section Four:About the Authors and Their Reflections on Lesson Construction

Author Introductions

Product Updates

Ready-to-Use Biology Lessons for Student-Centered, Inclusive Teaching

Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Volume 2, brings inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices into biology classrooms through adaptable, classroom-ready lessons grounded in scientific research. Edited by Diane Ebert-May and Emily Holt, this e-book expands on the original Pathways to Scientific Teaching by Diane Ebert-May and Janet Hodder (Oxford/Sinauer, 2008).

Each lesson is built around seminal and emerging scientific papers selected to engage students in authentic scientific thinking. Students develop transferable understanding of core biological concepts by using science practices such as modeling, argumentation, and data analysis, to investigate questions and interpret evidence. The lessons are designed using backward design (Wiggins and McTighe 2005) principles and aligned with the three-dimensional learning assessment protocol (3D-LAP; Laverty et al. 2016), helping students apply their knowledge to reason through biological phenomena like scientists. 

Spanning the full spectrum of biology, from molecular processes to ecosystem dynamics, the collection is organized by both biology subdiscipline and scientific practices. Whether you are refining a single class session or redesigning an entire course, Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Volume 2 provides flexible teaching models that support scalable, student-centered learning and meaningful student engagement.

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Video file for Lesson 1

ISBN:9781319614553

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