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Peer instruction is an evidence-based pedagogy that has been extensively studied in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. In this essay, the authors review and summarize the research literature on the effectiveness and intricacies of implementation of peer instruction. A research-based how-to guide and suggestions for future research investigations are provided.

This Research Methods essay describes a framework for measuring fidelity of implementation of evidence-based instructional practices in discipline-based education research and provides general guidelines, as well as a specific example using peer instruction, for how this framework should be employed to characterize the impact of evidence-based instructional practices.

Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, is a commonly used model organism because of its homology to mammals and facile genetic manipulations. However, the size of the nervous system is very small. We report a method to evoke and detect rapid changes in extracellular dopamine in a single nerve cord isolated from a Drosophila larva. Flies were genetically modified to express Channelrhodopsin-2, a blue-light activated cation channel, in only dopaminergic neurons. Extracellular dopamine changes were measured with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at an implanted carbon-fiber microelectrode. Seven-second stimulations with blue light result in an average peak dopamine concentration of 810 ± 60 nM, similar to electrically-stimulated release in mammals. Stimulations repeated at 15-minute intervals are stable for 65 minutes, allowing pharmacological experiments in the same sample. Peak duration is extended after cocaine or nisoxetine, inhibitors of the dopamine transporter (DAT). Release was reduced upon exposure to reserpine, which inhibits vesicular packaging. Chronic administration of NSD-1015, a dopamine synthesis inhibitor, decreased dopamine release and inhibited pupation, showing a link between neurotransmission and physiology. This is the first method to measure endogenous dopamine in an intact larval Drosophila nervous system and will allow studies of genetic and pharmacological manipulations of dopamine release and uptake.

The surface properties of carbon based electrodes are critically important for the detection of biomolecules and can modulate electrostatic interactions, adsorption and electrocatalysis. Carbon nanotube (CNT) modified electrodes have previously been shown to have increased oxidative sensitivity and reduced overpotential for catecholamine neurotransmitters, but the effect of surface functionalities on these properties has not been characterized. In this study, we modified carbon-fiber microelectrodes (CFMEs) with three differently functionalized single-wall carbon nanotubes and measured their response to serotonin, dopamine, and ascorbic acid using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. Both carboxylic acid functionalized and amide functionalized CNTs increased the oxidative current of CFMEs by approximately 2–6 fold for the cationic neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, but octadecylamine functionalized CNTs resulted in no significant signal change. Similarly, electron transfer was faster for both amide and carboxylic acid functionalized CNT modified electrodes but slower for octadecylamine CNT modified electrodes. Oxidation of ascorbic acid was only increased with carboxylic acid functionalized CNTs although all CNT-modified electrodes showed a trend towards increased reversibility for ascorbic acid. Carboxylic acid-CNT modified disk electrodes were then tested for detection of serotonin in the ventral nerve cord of a Drosophila melanogaster larva, and the increase in sensitivity was maintained in biological tissue. The functional groups of CNTs therefore modulate the electrochemical properties, and the increase in sensitivity from CNT modification facilitates measurements in biological samples.