This is the first article of the brand new series, the "Common Misconceptions in Biology". In this article, author Sushama Yermal delves into one of the topics in biology that often confounds undergraduate students - the difference in allele numbers between individuals and population. She provides insightful ways to identify misconceptions in students around this topic and offers solutions to resolve them. Yermal is an independent advisor in teacher education. She was formerly a faculty of the undergraduate programme at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

The pandemic and the consequent lockdown have disrupted classes and access to labs at educational institutions across the country. However, for the undergraduate students of the CUBE program, the lockdown has been a boon. Instead of losing hope, these students have set a precedent by finding creative ways to continue working and learning along with their peers by developing the CUBE home labs and the CUBE chatShaala.

Online education comes in shades of grey. In this article, educators, Prashanthi Karyala and Sarita Kamat, bring the voices of teachers, students and parents from across the country to the fore, as they highlight the good, the bad and the ugly faces of online education in India, and the need for inclusive education policies.

The push for digital mode of education in recent times has surfaced the 'digital divide' that exists in our society. In this article, educator Charu Dogra Rawat and her former student, Pranjal Gupta, highlight the various roadblocks en route to equitable digital education, and the efforts that might bridge the divide.

Science education research delves into a multitude of ways through which the teaching practices in a science classroom can be better aligned with its learning goals. In this article, Ashish Nerlekar, a doctoral candidate and a Teaching Assistant studying grassland ecology at Texas A&M University, USA, describes some of the ideas provided by such research, to improve college teaching.