Lots to remember, but not a lot to think about? Using mass-participation online outreach to change students’ perception of biology

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dc.creatorCatherall-Ostler, AM
dc.creatorElliott, P
dc.date2026-04-03T00:31:09Z
dc.date2026-04-19
dc.date.accessioned2026-08-03T03:52:14Z
dc.descriptionBiology is often perceived by students as a subject that primarily requires the memorisation of large volumes of information. All too often, the way biology is taught and assessed prioritises factual recall at the expense of developing the creativity, lateral thinking and collaboration skills that students need to succeed professionally in the life sciences. Here, we describe the results of a new two-year outreach programme, the Cambridge Biology Challenge (CBC), which aimed to dispel the ‘memorisation myth’ whilst also helping students develop their ability to solve biological problems. We show that our programme successfully achieved both aims for several thousand students and discuss the broader lessons that can be learned as to how best to help students understand the true nature of biology as a discipline.
dc.descriptionIsaac Newton Trust 24xii(a) HO37 W
dc.formatapplication/msword
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifier0021-9266
dc.identifierhttps://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/400897
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.128901
dc.identifier2157-6009
dc.identifier.urihttps://repo.dare.co.zw/handle/123456789/181874
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherTaylor & Francis
dc.publisherDepartment of Zoology
dc.publisherhttps://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2026.2652865
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rightshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject3901 Curriculum and Pedagogy
dc.subject31 Biological Sciences
dc.subject3104 Evolutionary Biology
dc.subject39 Education
dc.titleLots to remember, but not a lot to think about? Using mass-participation online outreach to change students’ perception of biology
dc.typeArticle

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