Teachers often rely on tests and exams to understand how well their students are learning the subject. However, the traditional approaches of assessment end with giving marks or grades to the students. What if teachers could do more than just give marks to students? In this article, an educator tries a different approach to assessing answer sheets and shares her experiences from it.

Low exposure to research, often due to the financial constraints of college laboratories, and extensive curriculum can make studying biology unexciting for students. This short article on ​‘frugal science’ describes how paper, a cheap and familiar material, has been developed into instruments to study nature and stimulate creativity and curiosity in students.

Tests and examinations can be stressful to students and do not necessarily result in deeper learning. In this article, Rama Akondy, an Associate Professor of Biology from Ashoka University describes an open assignment that stimulated creativity and motivation to learn the subject among her students.

Food spoilage is covered in undergraduate biology courses with limited scope for practical experience. This article describes a simple module that not only helps students explore the topic experimentally but also develop a deeper understanding of various scientific concepts and gain experience in design thinking.

A mention of 'neuroscience' might stir up thoughts of cutting-edge brain scanning and imaging techniques and other complex, expensive and highly specialized procedures. However, such techniques might be inaccessible to undergraduate students and educators of basic sciences due to financial constraints or challenges of technical training. This article describes a simple, budget-friendly assay that can be used in such a setting.