From numerous occasions of disruptive behavior in lectures we concluded that the traditional lecture format seemingly lacked purpose. We have countered this type of behaviour not be sanctions but by creating a more engaging, motivating and learning-centered environment. To achieve this we have sought inspiration in theories and findings about the facilitation of engagement and chose the Self-Determination Theory of motivation. The outcome of our reflection led in 2012 to a complete overhaul of the introductory cell biology course by offering students more say. In a new publication we describe how students perceive and react to these changes.

The 3rd edition of Signal Transduction was written with students and instructors in mind. What will suit us best, students and instructors, is a narrative fashion; embedding pathways in physiological settings.Thus, each chapter, with one exception, deals with specific signaling pathways placed in one or two precise contexts (themes) such as muscle contraction, cell migration, cell fate determination, immunity, sensory organs, and others. These contexts (enriched with anatomy, cell biology, histology, physiology or pathology) offer students and instructors the opportunity to tell a story, rather than a list of events to quote. For the new edition we have made all images, at high resolution, fully accessible for teachers, students and scientists.

UniSciel, the french online university of sciences is now hosting our cell biology resources. They have been updated, separated over 11 chapters and provided with interactive mulitple choice questions. 

Molecular structure analysis has become an integral part of nearly all disciplines in biology. The protein databank has registered over 80 000 entries and numbers are rising. Molecular structures provide important information of how proteins and nucleotides function and they have a strong impact on our understanding of how cells work. Students must be confronted with realistic representations of biomolecules at an early stage so that they acquire the universal iconographic codes and can better understand current scientific progress. We show that students attending a introductory cell biology cours can handle realistic represenations of proteins.

We have explored science writing in the blogosphere in our 1^st year introductory cell biology course. Students, working in groups, were asked to prepare a blog on a societal/scientific issue related to the subject of cell biology. The blog had to offer both layman and more specialized levels of understanding. We organized regular meetings to monitor progress of the project. Science writing in the blogosphere provides the students with a real public and this may offer a motivating environment.