Support

Helpful resources collected by social justice FMNs that formed from BIOME 2020 working groups.

Communication is among the 21st Century skills our students will need to succeed in their careers. The importance of communicating scientific information within and beyond the classroom has only been heightened by the pandemic. Students can practice communicating scientific ideas with their peers through poster sessions, presentations and other means, which reinforces content knowledge while developing communication skills. These skills can also be applied to communicating outside the classroom (i.e. public presentations, outreach, social media, crowdsourcing).

A complete scientific worldview relies upon interdisciplinary scientific practices. For example, in addition to the clear connections with chemistry and physics, biology has become increasingly quantitative and data intensive, making statistics, programming, and data science an integral part of biology practice.

Vision and Change (2011) urged faculty to use overarching concepts to provide a framework for understanding the relevance of narrower details about processes, and in the BIOME Institute this year, we will be focusing on practices and resources that help build scientific worldviews.  

More information about open educational resources (OERs) and open educational practices (OEP).

Inclusive teaching practices include a wide range of ideas, including using open education resources and practices, promoting a sense of belonging, and using Universal Design for Learning practices, all of which make the classroom more welcoming and productive for all students. Awareness of the need for inclusive teaching practices has grown during the pandemic. Many of us have been learning more about these practices by reading books, attending webinars, or engaging in community discussions, and some of us have been able to try out these practices in our teaching.

Resources for reviewing and improving the accessibility of educational resources.