Evolution and Revolution in STEM Education

BioQUEST Summer Workshop

For over 35 years, the BioQUEST community has been coming together each summer to develop new curricular materials and discuss contemporary issues in undergraduate biology education. Providing an opportunity to meet like-minded faculty, share ideas and resources, learn more about good pedagogical approaches, and catch some cutting edge science, the Summer Workshop is a unique experience most commonly described by participants as "exhausting but invigorating!"

The workshop launches with a series of hands on sessions about resources, tools, and pedagogical methods. Throughout the week, speakers share exciting ideas and information, and participants have time to work with colleagues to develop their own materials. Time is also dedicated to sharing ideas with the larger group to get feedback and new insights. Workshop activities run from 8:30 am to late in the evening. Participants leave with new resources, tools and new collegial connections. The conversation now starts online prior to the workshop, and groups are encourage to continue to work together after the workshop. Several major BioQUEST projects emerged from work initiated at the Summer Workshop.

The Summer Workshop is generally appropriate for two-year and four-year faculty teaching all levels of undergraduate biology, quantitative biology, and life-science oriented mathematics. We also welcome high school faculty teaching AP or advanced biology as well as future faculty (graduate students and postdocs). Those in related disciplines are also encouraged to join us, often based on the theme for that year's meeting.

Based at Beloit College for many years, more recently the Summer Workshop has been held at other academic institutions across the country.

 

Year Theme Location

2023

BIOME: Igniting IDEAS: Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable, and Accessible Communities Leading Change in STEM Classrooms Hybrid: Online & University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH

2022

BIOME: Sparking IDEAS: Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable, and Accessible Communities in STEM Classrooms Online
2021 BIOME: From Pieces to Patterns: Building a Scientific Worldview Online
2020 BIOME: Cultivating Scientific Curiosity Online
2019 Evolution of Data in the Classroom: From Data to Data Science William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA
2018 Wicked Problems: Investigating real world problems in the biology classroom Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA
2017 Making Meaning through Modeling: Problem solving in Biology Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
2016 Lowering the Activation Energy: Making Quantitative Biology more Accessible North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
2015 Count the Ways: Engaging Students in Quantitative Biology Applications Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA
2014 Interdisciplinary STEM Education for Millennial Students University of Delaware, Newark, DE
2013 Ten Years after Using Data in the Classroom: Problem Based Approaches with Data, Tools, Simulations and Games Emory University, Atlanta, GA
2012 Making a Difference with Data Goucher College, Baltimore, MD
2011 Undergraduate Biology in the 21st Century Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2010 Global Health in Undergraduate Education: Focus on Cyberlearning Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2009 Green Architecture – Green Curriculum Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2008 Problem Solving in Biology: Data, Tools and Resources in Plant Science Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, and Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO
2007 Exploratory Evolution Education Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2006 Exploring Complex Data Sets Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2005 Investigating Interdisciplinary Interactions Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2004 Systems Biology Education Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2003 Enabling Exploration for Everyone, Everytime, Everywhere: Collaboratories, Digital Libraries, and Computational Biology Education Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2002 Biocomplexity in Undergraduate Biology Education: From Hard Data to Hard Decisions Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2001 Microbes Count: Problem Posing, Problem Solving and Peer Persuasion in Microbiology Beloit College, Beloit, WI
2000 Developing Curricular Resources and Strategies for Introductory Biology Courses Beloit College, Beloit, WI
1999 Evolution: Laboratory, Field, and Computer Investigations Beloit College, Beloit, WI
1998 Persuasion in Biology Beloit College, Beloit, WI
1997 Biological Aftermath: What Can We Learn From Contemporary Mathematics Reform? Beloit College, Beloit, WI
1996   Beloit College, Beloit, WI
1995 Collaborative Learning, Peer Review, and Persuasion in Biology Education Beloit College, Beloit, WI
1994 Developing curricula and learning tools in genetics and molecular biology Beloit College, Beloit, WI
1993 Focus on ecology and evolution Beloit College, Beloit, WI
1992   Beloit College, Beloit, WI