Genomics is not only essential for students to understand biology but also provides unprecedented opportunities for undergraduate research. The goal of the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP), a collaboration between a growing number of colleges and universities around the country and the Department of Biology and Genome Center of Washington University in St. Louis, is to provide such research opportunities. Using a versatile curriculum that has been adapted to many different class settings, GEP undergraduates undertake projects to bring draft-quality genomic sequence up to high quality and/or participate in the annotation of these sequences. GEP undergraduates have improved more than 2 million bases of draft genomic sequence from several species of Drosophila and have produced hundreds of gene models using evidence-based manual annotation. Students appreciate their ability to make a contribution to ongoing research, and report increased independence and a more active learning approach after participation in GEP projects. They show knowledge gains on pre- and postcourse quizzes about genes and genomes and in bioinformatic analysis. Participating faculty also report professional gains, increased access to genomics-related technology, and an overall positive experience. We have found that using a genomics research project as the core of a laboratory course is rewarding for both faculty and students.

While course-based research in genomics can generate both knowledge gains and a greater appreciation for how science is done, a significant investment of course time is required to enable students to show gains commensurate to a summer research experience. Nonetheless, this is a very cost-effective way to reach larger numbers of students.

When motivation has been discussed in relation to autonomy in language learning, it has often been put forward as a product of autonomy. This paper suggests a more complex relationship in which motivation in many cases precedes autonomy. It discusses some of the relevant literature and presents results from a large-scale study of Hong Kong tertiary students. The study aimed to assess students’ readiness for learner autonomy in language learning by examining their views of their responsibilities and those of their teachers’, their confidence in their ability to operate autonomously and their assessment of their level of motivation to learn English. It also investigated their actual practice of autonomous learning in the form of both outside and inside class activities. Results indicated that motivation played a key role in this readiness, and this led the authors to look at the relationship between autonomy and motivation as revealed in the study and in the literature. The findings lead the authors to conclude that motivation is a key factor that influences the extent to which learners are ready to learn autonomously, and that teachers might therefore endeavour to ensure motivation before they train students to become autonomous.

The Genomics Education Partnership offers an inclusive model for undergraduate research experiences incorporated into the academic year science curriculum, with students pooling their work to contribute to international data bases.

This paper reviews the empirical studies of washback from external exams and tests that have been carried out in the field of English language teaching. It aims to do so from the point of view of the teacher so as to provide teachers with a clearer idea of the roles they can play and the decisions they can make concerning washback. The paper begins by defining its use of the term 'washback', then goes on to identify the areas in which washback has been noted by the studies. It next examines what intervening factors the studies have indicated influence whether and to what degree washback occurs. This examination highlights how much washback cannot be considered an automatic or direct effect of exams. Finally, the paper pulls together suggestions from the washback literature on how to teach towards exams and indicates areas of classroom practice that these could be applied to. The paper shows how crucial a role the teacher plays in determining types and intensity of washback, and how much teachers can therefore become agents for promoting positive washback.