Biology Students Math Attitudes and Anxiety Program

Using the Biology Students Math Attitudes and Anxiety Program (BIOMAAP) and Universal Design for Learning practices to increase students’ confidence and skills in quantitative biology

Spring 2020

Quantitative skills are essential for student success in biology, and math attitudes and anxiety can have strong effects on both persistence and performance. QUBES and BIOQUEST are pleased to offer a networking and professional development opportunity from January– May 2020 for faculty interested in increasing their undergraduate students' success by alleviating math anxiety. This faculty mentoring network will familiarize faculty with information on how math attitudes and design of the learning environment can impact biology students.  Participants will explore a range of tools demonstrated to address math attitudes and anxiety and adapt them to use in their own classrooms.

Benefits of Participation

1. Access to strategies to affect math attitudes and anxiety across general themes such as metacognition, growth mindset, learning progressions, model thinking, and data visualization, as well as specific ready-to-use teaching materials in each of these areas. 
2. Guidance and resources for applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to course design. UDL is an instructional approach that seeks to provide an equitable learning experience to the broadest possible diversity of students, minimizing the need for specific modifications to activities for specific groups or individuals.
3. Practice in applying Universal Design for Learning principles to BIOMAAP materials and your curriculum.
4. Strategies for establishing learning environments that are accessible and appropriately challenging for all students.  
5. Access to peer mentors on lecture/classroom/lab effective tips and strategies in small group virtual meetings throughout implementation of  during the spring semester
6. Some financial support is available for travel to the BioQUEST & QUBES Summer Workshop, June 22-27, 2020 in Pittsburgh, PA.
7. Opportunity to share materials to the QUBES Resource System. 

Commitments  

To qualify for this network, participants must commit to:

1. Teaching an undergraduate biology course in Spring 2020, OR teaching a mathematics course to primarily Life Science majors
2. Incorporating at least three UDL-informed BIOMAAP interventions in their spring course
   1. Interventions may include implementing a small portion of a module, or the whole thing. You may choose to implement the modules in separate courses (i.e. one module in an intro bio course and the other in upper division course).
3. Attending 30-minute, synchronous online meetings every other week during the spring semester
4. Sharing materials and giving feedback to others within our FMN community during synchronous meetings and asynchronous forum discussions.
5. Sharing your final materials and/or adaptations as resources on QUBES

Application is now closed. Accepted applicants will be notified by December 23, 2019. Questions? Contact Hayley Orndorf at hco1“at” pitt “dot” edu