Remember this saying? —If you want something done right, do it yourself. After 15 years of teaching genetics, the University of St. Thomas-Houston professor of biology, Dr. Alexandra Simmons, took action on that adage. She undertook the task of writing the sophomore level genetics textbook she had long been searching for. The book is titled “Introductory Genetics: A Primer for the Flipped Classroom.”

Before now, the professor, whose area of research is identification of microsatellites associated with bovine traits, found available genetics textbook choices missing the mark in one way or another.

“I always encountered one of two scenarios,” she recalled. “Either the content was oversimplified, hampering students’ understanding and visualization of molecular processes, or I would find enormous, 700-page textbooks, and students would barely cover a third of the content.”

The Mother of Invention: Necessity

Driven by the shortfall in textbook resources, Dr. Simmons wrote a series of student handouts providing the concise and up-to-date content she found missing. Eventually, she developed the handouts into a guide, added illustrations and figures, and realized she had the foundation for a great textbook. California publisher, Cognella, liked the idea, and the rest is publishing history.

A Better Textbook

What’s different about ‘Introductory Genetics: A Primer for the Flipped Classroom’ is that the chapters are short and focused, encouraging students to read ahead of time and come to class prepared to work on application activities. The content is up-to-date, uses proper technical vocabulary, and is organized so that related molecular processes are grouped together in one chapter to debunk typical misconceptions in genetics.

The Venezuelan-born professor also found a way to involve several students in the textbook development process.

“I worked with three amazing University of St. Thomas students — Kim Pham, Daniel Lam, and Harshdeep Lamba — to produce a large number of beautiful figures that facilitate concept capture.”

Dr. Simmons is using the new textbook in her UST classroom.

“We are currently working in the classroom with the preliminary edition. It is great because it allows me to classroom-test the book and make any corrections before its wider release.”

The first edition of ‘Introductory Genetics: A Primer for the Flipped Classroom’ will be available across the United States in January 2025 through the Cognella website.