My primary teaching and research interests embrace curriculum transformation and evidence-based teaching practices through Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), specifically in the following areas:

1. Development, implementation, and assessment of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in the entry-level science core courses.
2. Metacognition interventions in STEM courses.
3. Best practices for teaching Primary Scientific Literature (PSL) in introductory biology courses
4. Sustainability of Auburn University Learning Assistant Program (AULAP)

• McNeal, K.S. Zhong, M., Soltis, N., Doukolpoulos, L. Alwan, A, Johnson, E., Courtney, S., Porch, M. Biosensors Show Promise as a Measure of Student Engagement in a Large Introductory Biology Course. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2020 Dec;19(4):ar50. doi: 10.1187/cbe.19-08-0158. PMID: 33001773.
• Zhong, M, B. Hansen, M. Nesnidal, A. Golombek, K.M. Halanych, T.H. Struck. 2011. Detecting the symplesiomorphy trap: a multigene phylogenetic analysis of terebelliform annelids. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11:369
• Bleidorn, C., L. Podsiadlowski, M. Zhong, I. Eeckhaut, S. Hartmann, K. M. Halanych. Tiedemann, R. 2009. On the phylogenetic position of Myzostomida: Can 77 genes get it wrong? BMC Evolutionary Biology 9:150
• Zhong, M., T.H. Struck, K.M. Halanych. 2008. Phylogenetic information from three mitochondrial genomes of Terebelliformia (Annelida) worms and duplication of the methionine tRNA. Gene 416:11-21.
• Zhong, M., Z.R. Shen. 2004. The Superinfection of Endosymbiont Wolbachia in Trichogramma evanescens in China. Acta Entomologica Sinica. 47:732-737.
• Zhong, M., Z.R. Shen. 2003. Scale Structure and Development of Lepidopteran Insects and Their Eyespot Formation. Entomological Knowledge. 40:410-415.