Malin Ah-King published in BioEssays
In the latest number of the international journal BioEssays, Malin Ah-King from the Centre for Gender Research writes about current biology undergraduate curricula and its lack of a broader understanding of sexual strategies, sexuality and variation in sexual behaviour.
The article "Plenty of sex, but no sexuality in biology undergraduate curricula. How sexuality and variation in sexual behaviour are addressed in current biological teaching in relation to recent research findings", which is now available online, is written in cooperation with Andrew B. Barron and Marie E. Herberstein from Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia.
Abstract
"Research over the last decades has stimulated a paradigm shift in biology from assuming fixed and dichotomous male and female sexual strategies to an appreciation of significant variation in sex and sexual behaviour both within and between species.
This has resulted in the development of a broader biological understanding of sexual strategies, sexuality and variation in sexual behaviour.
However, current introductory biological textbooks have not yet incorporated these new research findings. Our analysis of the content of current biology texts suggests that in undergraduate biology curricula variation in sexual behaviour, sexual strategies and sexuality barely feature, even though sex is discussed in a range of contexts.In this aspect, biological teaching is lagging behind current research.
Here, we draw attention to new findings in the biology of sex, and suggest how these might be incorporated in undergraduate teaching to provide a more contemporary and inclusive eduation for biology students." (BioEssays Vol. 33, Issue 11, "Plenty of sex, but no sexuality in biology undergraduate curricula", Andrew B. Barron, Malin Ah-King, Marie E. Herberstein)
BioEssays Journal
BioEssays is a review-and-discussion journal publishing novel insights, forward-looking reviews and commentaries in contemporary biology with a molecular, genetic, cellular, or physiological dimension. A further aim of the journal is to emphasise transdisciplinarity and integrative biology in the context of organismal studies, systems approaches, through to ecosystems where appropriate.
Read the article in BioEssays Vol. 33, Issue 11
Read more about Malin Ah-King (Länk borttagen)