Christian Moore Anderson
Difference Maker: Enacting Systems Theory in Biology Teaching
Free first chapter here . Laying down a new path in biology teaching , this book explains how to enact a learning environment where...
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Christian Moore Anderson
Jan 142 min read
Helping students develop study skills: a simple model.
Advising students how to study is complex. Learning is messy, with ups and downs. Sudden insights may punctuate periods of seemingly...
1,882 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Aug 29, 20233 min read
Why endothermy should be an explicit part of the biology curriculum
During my training year I had to teach a Year 8 class (12 year-olds) the physics topic of heat. I began with a common question for the...
107 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Jun 19, 20232 min read
Subject Knowledge: Great books for biology teachers
There is only one short cut to improving subject knowledge—reading great books. In this post I compile a selection of the books that have...
908 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Apr 5, 20234 min read
Biology Made Real: Ways of teaching that inspire meaning-making
Download chapter 1 here Summary This outstanding book... deserves to be very widely read. I hope it makes a major contribution to how...
2,294 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Nov 19, 20222 min read
Case studies I've made to share for A-level, IB, and AP biology: Indicator species & life strategies
After coming across two interesting journal papers I thought they would make excellent case studies for my students. Let me introduce,...
454 views
Christian Moore Anderson
May 12, 20225 min read
Reading the organism: Studying the whole to give meaning to the parts
This preprint was vastly improved and made into Chapter 5 of my book . This is a brief summary of my new (preprint) paper in which: I...
1,258 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Jan 24, 20224 min read
Why a teacher's philosophy matters as much as their pedagogy
A thought experiment: Scenario 1: Two pedagogy-passionate colleagues (of the same subject) are being observed by a non-specialist. The...
487 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Nov 14, 20217 min read
A taxonomy for feedback: a shared understanding of learning in biology
They say that feedback is not about improving the work, but about improving the learner. Yet, what aspect of the learner? Their knowledge...
2,495 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Oct 29, 20212 min read
Unifying & discerning organisms through a diagram: Making meaning of life
Whilst reading through a rather old book called Life Cycles by Peter Calow (1978), I came across a diagram that instantly struck me as...
681 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Oct 15, 20216 min read
Embedding natural selection throughout the biology curriculum
In lower secondary science education, chemistry and physics curricula seem to focus on developing robust explanatory models, such as the...
2,480 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Feb 18, 20214 min read
How excessive use of the respiration equation can cause problems:
Cell respiration and its relationship to photosynthesis is one of the fundamental concepts of biology. It sits up high in the hierarchy...
1,256 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Jan 6, 20215 min read
On life as a flow: making meaning in secondary biology education
I once approached a physics teacher to lend me his expertise and opinion on my sequence of lessons for Gravity, Mass, and Weight. His...
255 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Nov 4, 20204 min read
Teaching variables: Does X affect Y?
While the scientific method doesn't exist , experimental methodology remains an important concept for secondary science education. It is,...
280 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Oct 14, 20208 min read
Beyond the scientific method: Philosophy in the biology curriculum
During my teacher training we had to write a masters' level essay on the implementation of the How Science Works component of the English...
554 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Sep 1, 20205 min read
Beyond description: Begin your biology curriculum with autopoiesis
When beginning secondary education in science the physicist may discuss energy, or forces, possibly even motion, the chemist may discuss...
766 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Jul 3, 20208 min read
Inheritance via 'Nature and Nurture'? Is it time to change what we teach?
During my training year as a teacher I taught one lesson that went really well with a bottom set science class. It generated a lot of...
654 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Feb 12, 20205 min read
The problems with Mendelian genetics in biology education
Mendelian genetics is ubiquitous in secondary school biology curricula and the Punnet square is iconic to genetics. Think about the...
4,055 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Feb 3, 202011 min read
How typical biology curricula get it wrong: The need to contextualise components
Should mitosis be taught alongside meiosis or separately? Should organelles be taught together or separately across the curriculum? How...
1,832 views
Christian Moore Anderson
Jan 5, 20203 min read
The hows & whys of biology: Classroom questions that elicit explanation
Explanation in biology is split between two big questions. These questions should inform how we teach, and the answers we expect from...
677 views
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