Students explore how climate is changing from the recent record. Produced by Project EDDIE.

One of the challenges of teaching Cell Biology is helping students understand important research methods used to study cells.  The goal of understanding cell biology methods is especially challenging in courses without a laboratory component.  When studying cells, determining the location of a protein is important for understanding the protein's cellular function.  In this lesson, upper-division Cell Biology students will learn about two commonly used methods for protein localization: 1) immunoblotting after differential centrifugation, and 2) immunofluorescence microscopy.  They will work in small groups to answer questions in a problem set written in the spirit of Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL).  Students will explore key points of the two methods and then apply their knowledge to the analysis of protein localization data from the primary literature.  Analyzing protein localization data will help students develop the ability to “apply the process of science”, which is one of the Vision and Change core competencies.

A long-standing tradition uses strings of poppit beads of different colors to model meiosis, especially to show how segments of paired homologous chromosomes are recombined. Our use of orthodontic latex bands to model cohesion of sister chromatids, and plastic coffee stirrers as microtubules, extends what can normally be achieved with ‘standard’ commercial kits of beads, so emphasizing the importance of four key elements of meiosis: (a) the role of chromosome replication before meiosis itself begins; (b) pairing and exchange (chiasma formation) of homologous chromosomes during meiosis I; (c) centromere (kinetochore) attachment and orientation within/on the spindle during meiosis I and meiosis II; and (d) the differential loss of arm and centromere cohesion at onset of anaphase I and anaphase II. These are essential elements of meiosis that students best need to visualize, not just read and think about. Bead modeling leads them in that direction, as our gallery of figures and accompanying text show.

Primary image: Unassembled components of ‘PoppitMeiosis’ – a poppit bead exercise aimed at student learning of meiosis. Beads are snapped together to model bivalent chromosomes (on the right side), with double-stick tape (top) representing the synaptonemal complex, orthodontic latex bands representing cohesion rings, and coffee stirrers representing microtubule bundles that connect centromeres to the spindle poles.

To maintain recruitment and retention, biology teachers face the challenge of finding relatable role models for their students. Our ever-increasing scientific knowledge has been facilitated by people from many different backgrounds, identities, and experiences. However, textbooks and lectures typically present researchers as one-dimensional people that live only to perform science. Highlighted scientists are also overwhelmingly members of majority and privileged backgrounds and groups. The lesson includes materials that will help students create their own slide deck of information about the research and outside interests of scientists at their own institution. The lesson also includes materials that can be used to help initiate discussions about representation and inclusion in science. The lesson introduces students to the research that is being done on their own campus as a way to humanize researchers. The lesson allows students to progress beyond being passive consumers of resources to themselves identifying relatable role models/role models from marginalized groups/backgrounds/identities. In general, the lesson helped students make personal connections to scientists at their institution, humanized scientists, that it made professors less intimidating, and increased their reported confidence in their ability to do research in the future. We provide templates, rubrics, and scaffolding materials from an undergraduate introductory course that instructors can directly implement to engage students in discovering the human side of the researchers on their own campuses and beyond.

Presentation on Universal Design for Learning at the 2019 BioQUEST & QUBES Summer Workshop

Slides and materials for the STEM Inclusive Teaching Practices Webinar Series: Universal Design for Learning

Video recordings (with captions), transcript, and chat for the STEM Inclusive Teaching Practices Webinar Series: Universal Design for Learning.

Presentation on Universal Design for Learning at the 2022 SIMIODE EXPO

Three resources for faculty interested in an introduction to Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

This activity supports instructors in revising materials to incorporate Universal Design for Learning checkpoints.

The Revising Social & Environmental Justice Open Educational Resources through UDL and Accessibility Lenses Working Group met during the Fall 2021 semester as part of the BIOME Institute. This resource includes a lightning talk describing our activities and plans going forward.

This activity guides faculty through analyzing a resource using the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines.

Two activities for introducing Universal Design for Learning to a faculty audience

A tool for analyzing a resource's alignment to CAST's Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

This framework, developed by ISKME in partnership with SERC, provides a practical reference for curators and authors of STEM OER, with 23 accessibility criteria, or elements, to reference as they curate, design and adapt materials to be accessible.