Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why should I consider taking the PE Biological Research course?
If you want to learn biology by doing and if you want to develop real-world research skills, you should consider PE Biological Research. Specifically, the course develops the skills to become an independent thinker, to transform curiosity into a rigorous and meaningful exploration; to design, conduct & analyze experiments; to write scientifically and to apply scientific skills to multiple subject areas in a societally-relevant manner.
Here's a link to a recent example of student publications (April, 2025)
2. If I’m a student who likes structure in a course, how much structure would a course like PE Biological Research offer compared to a conventional advanced biology course?
PE Biological Research uses structure in terms of having a syllabus that outlines the skills and content of the course, in terms of weekly pre readings and activities aligned to the upcoming week’s topic, in terms of class discussion slides, and in terms of multiple ways of assessing a student’s understanding of learning objectives.
The course structure also gives students the agency to choose a topic of their interest to demonstrate their understanding of content.
3. If I’m a student who wants to learn a broad range of content in biology, how would a course like PE Biological Research compare to a typical advanced biology course?
PE Biological Research covers the fundamental areas of biology: macromolecular structure and function; cell biology; energy metabolism; genomics, gene expression and genetics; and evolution. Students engage with these topics through a series of experiments and discussions, and have the option to explore any of them as deeply as they want. They develop the skills to engage with any content deeply, independently and through a lens of their interest.
4. How will research and hands-on experimental skills be developed in PE Biolgical Research? What real world opportunities does the course provide?
The entire course can be seen as a collection of research modules where each module is driven by a question connecting an area of biology to society that is explored by doing experiments, analyzing data and writing about it within the context of the research question. The specific research skills that are developed are outlined in this link, and examples of recently published student research review articles are in this link.
Experiments are used as the means to engage with content and students engage with the related skills almost every week.
Students develop experimental skills in four ways mostly working in pairs and following a research rubric.
Technical skills labs: the focus is to allow students to develop specific technical skills before applying them to labs and experiments. Examples: micropipetting, fluorescence detection, aseptic techniques in microbiology, casting and running gels, PCR and bioinformatics.
Short labs (1-2 class periods): open-ended, inquiry-based labs related to a specific content area that are repeated more than once to understand experimental error and statistical significance. Example: Protein and DNA structure function labs, and gene expression labs.
Experiments (days to weeks): longer in duration and rigor of statistical analysis relative to labs. Examples: SARS-CoV2 real-time PCR, human genomic DNA extraction and genotyping, bacterial culture based microbiology, enzyme biochemistry, and microbial fuel cells.
Research Proposals: experimental design skills informed by scientific literature that is context specific. Example: MIT THINK, Earth Prize, Genes in Space.
5. How will a student's skill and knowledge be assessed in PE Biological Research?
All assessments are rubric- and proficiency-based using a four-point scale: Beginning, Developing, Meeting, Exceeding.
Students are encouraged to use the rubric and feedback to revise their work and resubmit to demonstrate growth in proficiency of learning outcomes. The reassessment window is within one week of the assessment feedback posted on MyPoly and applies to moving from "Beginning" or "Developing" to "Meeting Expectations"; it does not apply to moving from “Meeting” to “Exceeding Expectations”.
Here is a link to a sample rubric.
All assessments are posted at least a week in advance with longer assessments like some projects being posted as long as two to three months in advance.
Examples of assessments include:
Open notebook tests: Year-long
Lab reports: Year-long
Research report: Two to three that are specific to a topic.
Research review: One that connects multiple content areas
Research proposals: One to two that connects multiple content areas
Research presentations: One to two related to specific topic
Oral Exams: One to two that is topic specific.
6. What does homework look like in PE Biological Research?
Every Friday, students are expected to start pre reading corresponding to the upcoming week’s content, complete it by the end of the following week, and record their notes, including in-class notes, in a separate word document on My Poly.
Pre readings/homework include, reading and analyzing scientific literature, completing pre-class and pre-experiment activities and preparing for any upcoming reports and presentations. Students use their notes during open-notebook assessments to demonstrate “Meeting” or “Exceeding Expectations” of learning outcomes. These notes are also used as the basis of discussion when a student is not meeting expectations.
Students are expected to plan for 160 minutes per week of homework.
7. How does PE Biological Research compare with AP Biology?
a. Learning objectives for the PE Biological Research course will be driven by the scientific method in terms of:
Defining a research question
Formulating a hypothesis
Engaging with primary literature to test hypothesis
Data interpretation and analysis
Scientific writing within the context of current research
Sample version of course reviewed and published by the Buck Institute of Education
b. Learning objectives of the PE Biological Research course will involve experimentation in terms of:
Time to design experiments
Time to engage with experiments in a sustained manner to generate reproducible data
Time to troubleshoot experiments and re-design.
Link to sample labs in the syllabus
c. Learning objectives for the PE Biological Research course will connect to real-world challenges
Students will work on independent projects of their choice to demonstrate their understanding of the learning outcomes, including having their work considered for publication.
d. The AP Biology science practices:
Do not require the student to engage with primary literature and associated databases.
Do not require or facilitate scientific writing.
Do not drive the content, instead they mostly apply to labs related to content.
e. The AP Biology curriculum does not allow the time to:
Design experiments
Engage with experiments in a sustained manner to generate reproducible data
Troubleshoot experiments and re-design.
f. The AP Biology curriculum does not allow time for:
Independent student projects
Making real-world connections through projects
8. If I’m a student who is not interested in research and/or unsure about meeting the demands of an advanced biology course but am curious about biology, should I consider PE Biological Research?
At a basic level, the research skills that students develop in PE Biological Research provides a means to nurture their curiosity in a rigorous and meaningful manner. The extent to which students develop these research skills is determined by individual student interest.
Students can demonstrate their understanding of learning outcomes in multiple ways and the assessments are based on rubrics, reflections and opportunities for growth, including submitting revisions.
The course expects that a student set aside 160 minutes per week to give them adequate time to do well.
9. Could I read any student feedback about their experience in PE Biological Research?
Yes. Click on this link to read student feedback.