How to answer the question "Why"?

Spillover events, just like the Black Death in the 14th century, continue today. Watch this engaging short video to learn more about this phenomenon, which has more recently brought us AIDS, and COVID-19. Spillover events are happening much more frequently in the 2000s, and the concept of One Health can help us understand why. Moreover, did you know about spillback? Kelly Cowan explains this in her trademark accessible style in this audio podcast.

Please join Tami Hodge (McGraw Hill Education) & Heidi Smith (Front Range Community College), as they talk about the importance of a solid pre-lab approach. Moving from a print oriented pre-lab to a digital one with McGraw Hill Virtual Labs revolutionized Heidi Smith's lab. 80-90% of her students do the pre-lab work and show up the most prepared! 

COVID-19 has challenged everyone to understand how vaccines work and how we can ensure their safety.  This talk from microbiology author Marjorie Kelly Cowan is an update of her early summer talk and provides vaccine basics and then the particulars of the vaccines used for COVID-19. Be sure that your students have access to an authoritative source of information amongst all the noise in the cybersphere concerning vaccines, with this 38-minute video pulling on concepts and figures from her microbiology textbooks.If you would like to view this lecture visually, click here: https://www.mheducation.com/highered/highered/discipline-detail/microbiology/vaccines-and-covid-19.htmlAbout the AuthorKelly Cowan has taught microbiology to pre-nursing and allied health students for over 20 years. She received her PhD from the University of Louisville and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Maryland and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Her campus, Miami University Middletown, is an open admissions regional campus of Miami University in Ohio. She has also authored over 25 basic research papers with her undergraduate and graduate students. For the past several years, she has turned her focus to studying pedagogical techniques that narrow the gap between under resourced students and well-resourced students. She is past chair of the American Society for Microbiology’s Undergraduate Education committee and past chair of ASM’s education division, Division W.

As instructors teaching the non-majors microbiology student you often hear “why do I need to know this”?  Bringing relevancy into the course can sometimes be difficult due to time constraints of all kinds.  McGraw Hill helps instructors bring relevancy into the classroom with Relevancy Modules that can be assigned within Connect. Learn how Dr. Dorothy Wood of Durham Technical College engages her students with these easy to use and interesting modules covering topics like Vaccines, Biotechnology Antibiotic Resistance, SARS-CoV2 and more.

Scientists have produced effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. The speed with which the vaccines were produced is unprecedented, and that makes some worry that they were “rushed through” and may not be safe or effective. This mini-lecture reviews vaccine biology and discusses how the current vaccines were made and assessed and discusses their safety profile now that they are being administered to the public.To see this talk visually, click here! https://www.mheducation.com/highered/highered/discipline-detail/microbiology/vaccines-and-covid-19.htmlAbout the AuthorKelly Cowan has taught microbiology to pre-nursing and allied health students for over 20 years. She received her PhD from the University of Louisville and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Maryland and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Her campus, Miami University Middletown, is an open admissions regional campus of Miami University in Ohio. She has also authored over 25 basic research papers with her undergraduate and graduate students. For the past several years, she has turned her focus to studying pedagogical techniques that narrow the gap between under resourced students and well-resourced students. She is past chair of the American Society for Microbiology’s Undergraduate Education committee and past chair of ASM’s education division, Division W.

Check out this awesome lecture from Kelly Cowan. The live lecture link is below, if you want to view it with visuals. Enjoy! Instructors - with everything else you are handling during this bizarre semester, brushing up on your epidemiology may not be high on your list. But students have been bombarded with a lot of information (good and bad) about how pandemics work, and they will probably be looking to you for answers. I have taught epidemiology to undergraduates for over 20 years, and I put together a little 30-minute lecture that you can pop in to your course, pain-free! In this lecture, with clear slides and narration by me, your students will get information on what epidemiology actually is, how SARS-CoV-2 how screening tests work (including specificity vs. sensitivity), why some people get sick and others don't, herd immunity, contact tracing, vaccine preparation, and more.https://www.mheducation.com/highered/highered/discipline-detail/microbiology/epidemiology-for-a-pandemic.htmlKelly Cowan has taught microbiology to pre-nursing and allied health students for over 20 years. She received her PhD from the University of Louisville and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Maryland and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Her campus, Miami University Middletown, is an open admissions regional campus of Miami University in Ohio. She has also authored over 25 basic research papers with her undergraduate and graduate students. For the past several years, she has turned her focus to studying pedagogical techniques that narrow the gap between under resourced students and well-resourced students. She is past chair of the American Society for Microbiology’s Undergraduate Education committee and past chair of ASM’s education division, Division W.

Tune in to this episode of Grow Microbiology, where Tami Hodge (McGraw-Hill) interviews Denise Andersen (University of Washington: Senior Lecturer Emeritus) about the 10th Edition of Nester's Microbiology. Denise talks about writing a book during a pandemic and staying true to preparing today's student for tomorrow's information. Denise talks about current COVID-19 Pandemic and how it presents learning opportunities. Nester's Microbiology: Perfect for the non-major/allied health student (and also appropriate for mixed majors courses), this text provides a rock solid foundation in microbiology. By carefully and clearly explaining the fundamental concepts and offering vivid and appealing instructional art, Microbiology: A Human Perspective draws students back to their book again and again!The text has a concise and readable style, covers the most current concepts, and gives students the knowledge and mastery necessary to understand advances of the future. A body systems approach is used in the coverage of diseases. 

Tune in to this episode where we interview Heidi Smith, Microbiology Professor at Fort Range Community College in Fort Collins, CO. Heidi offers tips on how to make the best decisions regarding your health, family, and community, provides easy-to-understand information on the novel Coronavirus, and shares best practices on how you can successfully move to online classes during this unprecedented time. Please note: this episode was recorded on 3/17/2020. Due to the evolving nature of this topic, we recommend following CDC, federal, state, and local government guidelines and mandates.

With recent events, it's time to think about getting your Microbiology course online! Join Valerie Kramer ([email protected]) and Jim Connely ([email protected]) as they discuss moving your course online. It's all about communication, organization—and keeping it simple!          Inspiration comes from a recent article by professors Stephanie Moore (University of Virginia) and Charles B. Hodges (Georgia Southern University). You can find their article at: http://bit.ly/AdvicetoMoveOnline. 

Join Jim Connely (McGraw-Hill Education) as he talks about how key branded content offered through Connect Microbiology is tagged to the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) curriculum guidelines. We built these tags to assist you in customizing assignments and in reporting your students’ performance against these guidelines. This greatly enhances your ability to assess student learning in your courses by allowing you to align your learning activities to peer-reviewed standards from an organization.