A. Daniel Johnson

Teaching Professor in Biology/ Core Curriculum Coordinator

B.S., University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1985)
Ph.D., Wake Forest University (1992)
Research Fellowships: Texas Heart Institute (1993-1995); University of Virginia (1995-1998)

214 Winston Hall
(336) 758-5320
johnsoad AT wfu.edu

My Educational Philosophy

Deep, lasting learning happens when students and faculty work together to build content knowledge and thinking skills simultaneously. Effective teachers are neither “sage on a stage” nor “guide on the side.” They are cognitive coaches.

Effective teachers know (either implicitly or explicitly) how students learn, and use that knowledge to create a classroom environment in which all students can achieve significant learning gains. These teachers use data to help students identify current weaknesses and limitations, provide their students with resources and practice opportunities that help them improve, and help students learn to monitor progress towards well-defined goals.

Scholarly Activities

Besides teaching my scholarly work focuses on how to make college-level STEM teaching more evidence-based. Specifically I spend most of my time on:

  • Designing active, inquiry-oriented lab experiences for students
  • Using educational technology tools to support STEM teaching, learning and evaluation
  • Training and professional development for teaching assistants and future faculty
  • Bringing active teaching and learning practices to the college classroom
  • Developing “artisan-scale” analytics methods

Current Research

My currently active projects and collaborations include:

  • Developing digital learning ecosystems to replace traditional print textbooks. (Look here to see our first full e-book.)
  • Using computational linguistics and statistical modeling to: 1) understand how students develop technical writing skills; 2) provide early, frequent feedback to student writers; and 3) make writing assessment more uniform and transparent. (Go to project web site).
  • Testing new methods for curriculum and program assessment (web site coming soon).

To find out more or see our projects in action, visit The Adapa Project.

Student Researchers!

Interested in one of these areas? I usually have several projects of different sizes just waiting for undergraduates (in AND outside of biology!) to get involved. Go to my public page to learn more, contact me by email, or stop by Rm. 214 Winston Hall to talk.

Selected Publications

Martin, JB, Setaro, SD, Fick, S, Johnson, AD. (manu. in prep.) A Mixed Methods Approach to Assessing Undergraduate Gains in Understanding the Nature of Science. 

Johnson, AD. 2017. EdTech Toolkit: Creating Browser Based Interactive Keys and Documents in Your Class. Proceedings of the 36th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 38:Article 38, 1pp.

Johnson, AD. 2016. “Rising Stakes” Collaborative Writing Projects: Tools, Techniques, & Tips. Proceedings of the 36th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 37:Article 42, 18pp.

Mallison, S., Johnson, AD. 2016. Assessing biodiversity using forest plots. Proceedings of the 36th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 37:article 11, 16pp.

Johnson, AD, Setaro, SD, Blackburn, TA. 2014. Teaching genetics principles with dogs. Proceedings of the 35th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 35: 184-220.

Bennett, KR, Johnson, AD. 2011. Using multi-node tools for success in non-major science classes. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 34(4). 8 pp. http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/using-multi-node-tools-student-success-non-major-science-classes.

Jones, NL, Peiffer, AM, Lambros, A, Guthold, M, Johnson, AD, Tytell, M, Ronca, A, Eldridge, JC. 2010. Developing a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum for professionalism and scientific integrity training for biomedical graduate students. Journal of Medical Ethics, 36:614-619.

Johnson, AD, Lambros, AM, Peiffer, AM, Tytell, M., Eldridge, JC, Jones, NL. 2010. Teaching Bioethics and Professional Conduct Through Problem-Based Learning. Proceedings of the 31st Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 31:134-161.

Gatewood, EJ, Macosko, J, Johnson, AD, Yokum, S. 2009. Teaching Science Entrepreneurship through Science–oriented Teams and Projects: Three Case Studies. Handbook of University-wide Entrepreneurship Education, West, GP, Gatewood, EJ, and Shaver, KG, eds.. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 122–134.

Johnson, AD. 2009. Forty Inquiry Exercises For the College Biology Lab. NSTA Press, Arlington, VA. 514 pp.

Bohrer KE, Johnson AD, *Miller K, Ferrier, A. 2008. Teaching the Teacher: Introducing and Training TAs in Inquiry–Based Learning Methods. Proceedings of the 29th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 29: 67–126.

Johnson AD. 2007. Using Chlamydomonas For Signal Transduction Experiments. Proceedings of the 28th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 28: 309–310.

Johnson AD. 2006. Resource Allocation in Plants. Proceedings of the 27th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 27: 15–30.

Johnson AD. 2005. Amanda’s Absence: Should Vioxx Be Kept Off the Market? National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science. Http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/ubcase.htm

Johnson AD, Kron K. 2005. Morphological and Molecular Methods for Creating Phylogenetic Trees. Proceedings of the 26th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 26: 121–154.

Moretz CM, Awkerman J, Thorington K. Johnson AD. 2005. Building an Ecosystem with a Semester–Long Lab Writing Project. Proceedings of the 26th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 26: 406–409.

Johnson AD. 2004. Molds as Model Organisms for Undergraduate Structured Inquiry Labs. Proceedings of the 25th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, 25: 328–333.

Johnson AD. 2003. Do You Have a 10 Liter Bladder? Visually Reinforcing Understanding of Nephron Functions. Journal of College Science Teaching, 33: 52–53.

Kumar MS, Hendrix JA, Johnson AD, Owens GK. 2003. Smooth Muscle Alpha–Actin Gene Requires Two E–Boxes for Proper Expression In Vivo and Is a Target of Class I Basic Helix–Loop–Helix Proteins. Circulation Research, 92: 840–850.

Jung, F, Johnson AD, Kumar, MS, Wei, B, Hautmann, M, Owens, GK, and McNamara, C. 1999. Characterization of E-box-Dependent cis-Element in the Smooth Muscle Alpha Actin Promoter. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., 19:2591-2599.

Johnson, AD, and Owens, GK. 1999. Activation of Smooth Muscle Alpha Actin Transcription in Smooth Muscle Cells by Binding of Upstream Stimulatory Factor to an E-Box Element. American Journal of Physiology, 276 (Cell Physiol. 45): C1420-C1431.