Teaching

Recent articles

AI-generated, blueprint-like illustration of a classroom.

Many students want to learn to use artificial intelligence responsibly. But their professors are struggling to meet that need.

Effectively teaching students how to employ AI in their writing assignments requires clear guidelines—and detailed, case-specific examples.

By Tim Requarth
23 June 2025 | 8 min listen
Against a background of American dollar bills, two hands gesture at a whiteboard that shows liquid flowing from one beacon into another.

How to teach students about science funding

As researchers reel over the uncertain state of U.S. federal funding, educating students on the business of science is more important than ever.

By Ashley Juavinett
19 February 2025 | 8 min read
Multiple people look together at a whiteboard in a lab.

Why practical summer courses in neuroscience matter

Among other reasons, this tradition helps researchers rekindle the unfettered joy that initially brought them to the field.

By John Tuthill
13 January 2025 | 7 min read
A hand points to an illustration on a chalkboard.

From a scientist’s perspective: The Transmitter’s top five essays in 2023

From big-picture debates about theories and terms to practical tips for teaching and writing, our favorite expert-written articles offer a glimpse into what neuroscientists are thinking.

By The Transmitter
25 December 2023 | 3 min read
A hand points to an illustration on a chalkboard.

How to teach this paper: ‘Neural population dynamics during reaching,’ by Churchland & Cunningham et al. (2012)

This foundational paper, with more than 1,500 citations, is an important departure from early neuroscience research. Don’t be afraid of the math in the first paragraph.

By Ashley Juavinett
13 November 2023 | 9 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Contested paper on vaccines, autism in rats retracted by journal

The editor-in-chief cited “inconsistencies in the number of subjects” as the reason for the retraction.

By Marta Hill
7 August 2025 | 4 min read

Body state, sensory signals commingle in mouse whisker cortex

The new study challenges a long-held view that the barrel cortex exclusively encodes sensory signals from the whiskers.

By Claudia López Lloreda
6 August 2025 | 6 min listen
Book cover for Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis, showing several bird species.

‘Bird Brains and Behavior,’ an excerpt

In their new book, published today, Georg Striedter and Andrew Iwaniuk dive deep into the latest research on the neural mechanisms of avian behavior. This excerpt from Chapter 2 explores how birds sleep.

By Andrew Iwaniuk, Georg Striedter
5 August 2025 | 9 min read