The Genetic Drift Inventory: A Tool for Measuring What Advanced Undergraduates Have Mastered about Genetic Drift

Understanding genetic drift is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of biology, yet it is difficult to learn because it combines the conceptual challenges of both evolution and randomness. To help assess strategies for teaching genetic drift, we have developed and evaluated the Genetic Drift Inventory (GeDI), a concept inventory that measures upper-division students’ understanding of this concept. We used an iterative approach that included extensive interviews and field tests involving 1723 students across five different undergraduate campuses. The GeDI consists of 22 agree–disagree statements that assess four key concepts and six misconceptions. Student scores ranged from 4/22 to 22/22. Statements ranged in mean difficulty from 0.29 to 0.80 and in discrimination from 0.09 to 0.46. The internal consistency, as measured with Cronbach''s alpha, ranged from 0.58 to 0.88 across five iterations. Test–retest analysis resulted in a coefficient of stability of 0.82. The true–false format means that the GeDI can test how well students grasp key concepts central to understanding genetic drift, while simultaneously testing for the presence of misconceptions that indicate an incomplete understanding of genetic drift. The insights gained from this testing will, over time, allow us to improve instruction about this key component of evolution.     

Navigating complexity,culture, collaboration,and emotion: student perspectives on global justice and global justice education

Recent years have seen increasing scholarly attention to the ways in which colleges and universities might contribute to educating ‘global citizens’ who work toward addressing injustice and inequity. The present study examines the experiences and perspectives of students participating in an upper level ‘global justice inquiry’ course designed to help meet this goal. Drawing from interviews with students and reflections submitted as part of their course assessment, we explore participants’ developing understanding of global justice and their experiences of learning about this topic. This investigation reveals key issues that students highlight and with which they sometimes struggle, including the complexity of global challenges, the importance of collaboration in attempting to address such challenges, the significance of navigating cultural considerations, and the potential influence of emotion on understanding and action. Implications of these findings, including the potential value of considering these issues as threshold concepts in global justice education, are discussed.     

Leucine125Valine (Leu125Val) Gene Polymorphism of Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (PECAM-1) and Myocardial Infarction in Indian Population

Platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) has role in atherosclerotic plaque development as well as in thrombosis leading to myocardial infarction (MI). Present study was aimed to analyse the association of PECAM-1 Leu125Val gene polymorphism with MI in Indian population. Subjects included healthy individuals as control (N = 116) and MI patients (N = 100) divided into two groups; MI patients at presentation of the acute event (MI-Group-1, N = 46) and patients with recent event of MI stabilized with treatment 4.5 days from their symptoms (MI-Group-2, N = 54). The difference in the distribution of Leu125Val genotype frequencies of controls and patients did not reach statistical significance. However Leu allele frequency (0.57) was more associated with MI patients as compared to control (0.504). sPECAM-1 levels were significantly elevated in patients at acute event of MI (MI-Group-1) by 44.1% (P = 0.009) as compared to controls and by 95.2% (P = 0.001) as compared to stabilized MI patients (MI-Group-2).