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2022 Biology and Mathematics Educators (BIOME) Institute
Posters & WIPs
Posters & Beyond
Posters & Beyond is an opportunity to learn about models and resources that support sparking IDEAS in the STEM Classroom, and meet the BIOME community. Posters will be published as QUBES resources so you can review them on your own before having the chance to meet with poster presenters during Community Connections. These resources will remain posted on the site so you can return to them during the Fall Working Groups as well.
Works-in-Progress (WIPs)
Work-in-Progress Sessions (WIPs) are an opportunity to share early drafts of ideas and resources with colleagues for feedback. This concept is an adaptation of the Life Discovery Share Fair. Below are descriptions for the 2022 BIOME Institute WIPs. Review the descriptions and then meet with authors during Community Connections.
Poster and WIP presentations are listed with upcoming presentations first and grouped based on topics that will be discussed.
Wednesday July 20 - Bringing IDEAs into Science
The struggle is valid: Increasing students science identity and quantitative skills.
Denise Piechnik
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
Profile
WebsiteCo-authors: Elizabeth Hamman (St. Mary's College of Maryland); Rachel Hartnett (Mount St. Mary's University); Rebecca McHugh (University of Pittsburgh at Bradford); Sara Sawyer (Glenville University)
Description: STEM student success in biology is linked to affective learning attributed to non-conceptual experiences that influence beliefs about belonging in the classroom community, and beliefs held about their own abilities (Trujillo and Tanner 2014). In the interest of broadening student participation within the STEM fields, the Quantitative Skills and Science Identity (QSSI) group formed during BIOME 2021 to investigate the connections between identity and student perception of the value of quantitative skills. The goal of the study is to sample any perceived changes in introductory biology students’ science identity when a quantitative exercise is coupled with an activity that humanizes a scientist. We will use a QUBES resource that is a 50-minute lesson on visualizing and interpreting dead zone data, which also has an accompanying video interview with the scientist that collected the data. Before and after the QUBES lesson and interview video, study participants will complete assessments that gauge quantitative skills and characterize science identity. The BioSQuaRE quantitative assessment tool (Stanhope et al. 2017) was modified to assess data visualization and plot interpretation. Scientific identity, or characterizing the key constructs of the affective domain in learning, will be sampled using an assemblage of validated survey instruments from the education literature including: students’ sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and identity as a scientist. Upon IRB approval, we will conduct the study in introductory biology courses at four institutions during the 2023 academic year, however we are seeking interested participants from other institutions to increase the sample size. If you are interested, please contact Rachel Hartnett or any QSSI group member.
Towards a professional development approach to teaching undergraduate biology students the ins and outs of obtaining a summer research opportunity
Wilnelia Recart Gonzalez
University of San Diego
Author: Wilnelia Recart Gonzalez, University of San Diego
Description: Undergraduate research opportunities help foster a science identity and increase retention in STEM majors and transition into the STEM workforce. Moreover, these opportunities have stronger results for underrepresented minority students in STEM. However, while these opportunities are advertised and shared among faculty and students, there is less support for students to independently identify these opportunities, have the confidence to pursue them, and generate competitive applications. Professional development modules are used successfully in business, education, and engineering undergraduate curricula and, more recently, in biology. These modules aim for students to reflect on previous experiences obtained through their degree and associate these skills and experiences with their career goals. For example, the implementation of teaching portfolios in education curricula helps students translate content learned in class to a document that can be shown to potential employers. Similarly, a professional development approach can be incorporated when teaching students how to find and apply for undergraduate summer research experiences. For example, modules can be developed for students to identify biology interests, leverage databases and internship boards, communicate with scientists, build a resume, and create essays summarizing and demonstrating their interests and experiences. Here I present a module developed to introduce undergraduate students to the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. I then use this module to establish a framework for a Faculty Mentoring Network (FMN). This network will support faculty wanting to adapt and create modules to teach professional development skills to apply to summer undergraduate research programs successfully. To narrow the scope of our FMN, we will focus on NSF REU programs. In this FMN, we will also explore ways to assess how a student’s science identity changes through each of the developed modules via pre and post-student surveys. Through this FMN, faculty will learn and apply tools used in developing professional development modules in various learning settings, become part of a supportive network of like-minded instructors and mentors, and receive feedback and work towards the implementation of modules designed through this FMN.
Science Sprints for Undergraduate Research Days
Jennifer Kovacs
Agnes Scott College
I am an evolutionary ecologist by training and am broadly interested in insect behavior, microbiomes, and genome evolution. My current project explores the role that bacterial and fungal genes integrated into insect genomes play in their insect hosts’ evolution and the ecology of their insect hosts. This project is funded by an NSF RUI award and supports the research of multiple undergraduate researchers here at Agnes Scott.
I hold a Ph.D. in Applied Biology from Georgia Tech. After defending my Ph.D., I completed my post-doctoral training at Emory University as an NIH-funded Teaching and Research Fellow through the Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) program. I continue to be deeply invested in my undergraduate teaching and students. I have several publications and ongoing projects focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning, with a particular focus on bringing authentic research experiences into the classroom at all women’s and minority-serving institutions.
During my downtime, I can often be found in the woods chasing after my twin boys while collecting “special” sticks and rocks. I also enjoy poking around in my garden and wild foraging, especially nuts, berries, and mushrooms.
Science Sprints for Undergraduate Research Days
Version: 1.0
Check out the introduction video!
Description: After participating in the 2021 Science Sprint working group, I planned and executed a one-day Science Sprint focused on exploring urban ecology and social and environmental justice. Specifically, during the sprint, students used R and QGIS to explore the present day effects of racist mortgage lending practices, known as "redlining", on bird biodiversity in five major metropolitan cities across the east coast at four timepoints. In addition to learning R and GIS, participants also took part in conversations around environmental justice, urban planning, and data analysis. Data collected and analyzed during the sprint was used to construct a research poster that was presented by several participants at our institution's annual undergraduate research day the following week.
The Genomics Education Partnership: Democratizing Genomics Research Experiences Nationwide
Katie M. Sandlin
Genomics Education Partnership & BioQUEST
Check out the poster below!
The Genomics Education Partnership: Democratizing Genomics Research Experiences Nationwide
Version: 1.0
Check out this introduction video!
Description: The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP; thegep.org) is a nationwide faculty-driven collaboration of 250+ members working to ensure all students, regardless of institution type, funding, available resources, or circumstances have access to bioinformatics and genomics research via Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). Members of the GEP teach at 200+ colleges and universities across the United States and Puerto Rico, of which 31% are Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and 13% are Community Colleges (CCs). No research infrastructure is needed to participate in the GEP and the research projects are accessible 24/7 through the internet; thus, GEP is zero cost for students, faculty, and institutions. More than 1,100 GEP students have contributed as co-authors on published scientific research papers and GEP is currently working with microPublication to develop a pipeline that will also allow students to publish individual gene model reports. GEP supports attendance at conferences and workshops for members and their students; during the past academic year, GEP was represented at more than 20 including four focused on STEM equity. During Spring 2022, GEP piloted six pieces of curriculum that were translated into spanish and plans to further expand the initiative. GEP recently published a web page of more than 100 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)-focused instructional resources covering a gamut of topics. GEP students can access a Virtual Teaching Assistant (TA) for real-time support seven days a week. As a group, the TAs are as diverse as the general population so no matter what background a student may have, there is someone to connect with them in the Virtual TA group. The GEP is actively recruiting new members, especially faculty at CCs and MSIs. Supported by NSF IUSE-1915544 and NIH IPERT-R25GM130517.
Wednesday July 20 - OER in the Inclusive Classroom
Join the Natural History Education Community!
Molly Phillips
iDigBio, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
Contact information: mphillips AT flmnh DOT ufl DOT edu Twitter: @StellarSquirrel
Molly is a biologist with a background in evolution, ecology, and natural history, which includes five years of experience working in natural history collections. As the Education and Outreach Coordinator, Molly is responsible for coordinating and implementing the E&O activities of iDigBio and communicating and facilitating coordination and networking among the TCNs in order to promote, encourage, develop, and implement relevant E&O and related Broader Impact activities.
Join the Natural History Education Community!
Version: 1.0
Co-Authors: Anna Monfils, Central Michigan University; Jennifer Bauer, University of Michigan; Elizabeth Leith, University of Wisconsin- Madison; Molly Phillips, Florida Museum of Natural History; Julia Robinson, Hefner Museum of Natural History; Jessa Waters, Sam Noble Museum
Description: Natural History Collections offer a wealth of resources for educators and learners. To this end, digitization makes specimens, and the data and images associated with them, more accessible to a wide audience. However, educators and learners must know that resources exist, where to get those materials and how to use them. We, as collections professionals, must promote our outreach materials, make them readily available, and provide the background knowledge for accurate and safe use of specimens, data and supporting resources. The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections Education Committee formed in 2020 to help develop, support, and promote formal (K-12, Undergraduate and Graduate) and informal education, and outreach relative to natural history collections and biodiversity science as informed by natural history collections. One of the first initiatives was an establishment of a QUBESHub site to aggregate natural history educational resources, published as Open Educational Resources, or OER called the Natural History Education Portal. Anyone can add an OER resource to this portal. Sharing the resource as an OER on QUBESHub means the resource will be assigned a DOI and will have usage metrics available. The SPNHC Education Committee also hosts an annual Natural History Education DemoCamp. The goal of the NHE DemoCamp is to share, discover, and discuss educational materials that have a framework in natural history. These initiatives will be presented.
From Questions to Stories: Contributing to the Development of OERs
Shuchismita Dutta
RCSB Protein Data Bank, Rutgers University
I am a structural biologist, dedicated to promoting a molecular view of biology. I enjoy visualizing biomolecular structures, learning about their interactions and understanding their functions in atomic detail. I am also interested in pedagogy, visual thinking, spatial reasoning, and topics related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
Check out their introduction video that reviews the main ideas that will be discussed during their presentation.
Resources to Explore: Fundamentals of Biochemistry (Libretext) OER textbook and Molecular CaseNet
Co-authors: Henry Jakubowski, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, MN; Shuchismita Dutta, Rutgers University, NJ
Description: A new biochemistry textbook, Fundamentals of Biochemistry, is in its final stages of writing and its chapters are now available as an interactive Open Education Resource (OER) for use in your classroom. This textbook covers a full year of biochemistry. Although it is organized in a fashion similar to regular print text, to facilitate adoption in your classroom, the textbook is unique in many ways. It has over 400 interactive molecular visualization frames that allow students to explore structure/function relationships using data from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) and the iCn3D visualization software. It has interactive graphs in which users can change constants (rate, equilibrium, enzyme kinetic) and see immediate updates in the displays. You can even model the kinetics of simple enzyme reactions (e.g., reversible non-catalyzed conversion of reactant A to product P) or complex pathways (e.g., MAP Kinase signaling cascade or glycolysis) in Vcell models, so that users can change inputs and see the effects on progress curves (concentration vs time) for all chemical species in the pathway.
While all the text, interactive molecular visualizations, reaction plots, and models for the Fundamentals of Biochemistry textbook will be completed by September 2022, the authors need your help in developing end-of-chapter and chapter-embedded questions. Since the book is an OER, we are seeking community input to add two kinds of problems to the book. One type would be based on the research literature and could involve exploration of structure/function relations at the interface between chemistry and biology. In addition to writing these questions you can collaborate with Molecular CaseNet to develop your question/idea into a molecular case study and publish it for broader use (as an OER). The second type uses quantitative questions based on the interactive graphs and Vcell models of metabolic and signal transduction pathways. These quantitative analyses may also be included as a part of a molecular case study. Your contributions will help customize the textbooks to meet the demands of your own class and also give you authorship on molecular case studies and related lessons that you create. Join the session to learn more, brainstorm, get involved in the project.
Thursday July 21 - Case Studies and Accessibility
Collaborative case writing and field testing with Molecular CaseNet brings together discipline specific expertise for innovative pedagogical tools in the classroom.
Swati Agrawal
University of Mary Washington
Co-authors: Swati Agrawal, University of Mary Washington; Didem Vardar, Boston University; Serena Yu Boston University; Shuchismita Dutta, Rutgers University
Description: Over the last few years, several faculty and their students have worked with the Molecular CaseNet group to create authentic case studies. These molecular case studies (MCS) use an interesting story as a hook , followed by exploration of biochemistry of one or more molecules of interest. They can be useful in teaching about macromolecule structure and function and also for improving biomolecular visualization and analysis in undergraduate and graduate level classes. Several unique collaborations have stemmed from discussions and workshops facilitated by the Molecular CaseNet group. The “Malaria and Maria” case was originally drafted by a group of students in Dr. Varadar Ulu’s Biochemistry class in Fall 2020 at Boston University. This student authored MCS replaced the in-person laboratory student projects during the COVID-19 remote instruction period in Fall 2020. The case examines the structure of the enzyme Lactate Dehydrogenase, a key player in anaerobic metabolism. Dr. Vardar used this case to teach her Biochemistry class at Boston University. Since the case uses Malaria, a neglected tropical disease as a hook, it was also a good fit for the Molecular Parasitology class taught by Dr. Agrawal at University of Mary Washington. In Spring 2022 the case was piloted in both these universities by faculty with expertise in Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Parasitology. Their experiences in piloting this case study helped develop several discipline specific versions of the case, improved the case overall, and its learning outcomes.
HITS: A network to create inquiry-based case studies that make high-throughput approaches and discovery accessible
Carlos C. Goller
North Carolina State University
I am a Teaching Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and teach in the Biotechnology Program (BIT, biotech.ncsu.edu) at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. My research interests include molecular microbiology, metagenomics, high-throughput discovery, epidemiology, history of disease, science education, and outreach activities. I am also interested in teaching with technology and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
See what students in the courses I teach do by visiting:
go.ncsu.edu/htd ==> High-throughput Discovery course
go.ncsu.edu/bitmetagenomics ==> Metagenomics course
go.ncsu.edu/yme ==> Yeast Metabolic Engineering course
go.ncsu.edu/delftia ==> Undergraduate Research and Open Science work
go.ncsu.edu/bits ==> new course we are developing on Biotechnology and Sustainability (spring 2022)
Learn more about me at: ccgoller.com
Check out this introduction video!
Co-authors: Carlos Christopher Goller, North Carolina State University; Sabrina Robertson, UNC-Chapel Hill
Description: What is high-throughput discovery? How can students learn about high-throughput approaches through case studies?
Molecular biology techniques are increasingly utilizing automation and miniaturization to test numerous samples or conditions simultaneously. High-throughput (HT) approaches include massively parallel sequencing of DNA, synthesis of numerous nucleic acids and peptides, automated microscopy, microfluidics for single-cell analyses, small molecule screening using robotics, and genome-scale phenotypic characterization using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technologies. These approaches produce a wealth of results, often labeled ‘big data.’ However, there are limited easily adaptable educational case studies that address authentic high-throughput approaches using real data. We believe well-designed accessible educational case studies focusing on HT approaches and using original datasets empower students to learn current approaches and exercise quantitative reasoning in data analyses.
The NSF-funded High-throughput Discovery Science & Inquiry-based Case Studies for Today’s Students (HITS) Research Coordination Network addresses this gap. HITS brings together interdisciplinary groups of HT researchers and instructors to produce authentic HT case studies that can be implemented in a variety of courses, allowing students to analyze real data and learn valuable quantitative skills. Since 2018, fifty faculty Case Fellows, numerous case study experts, and HT researchers have formed interdisciplinary groups to design, improve, and implement HT case studies. HITS has also worked to create resources for those developing HT cases in courses or as student projects. Using QUBES, groups have created new cases for broad curricula and continue to design, adapt, and share HITS resources. Join us at go.ncsu.edu/hits and help design, develop, use, and share HITS cases in your courses!
Applying UDL Principles to Cases
Brian Bill
Mississippi State University
Susan Gass
Dalhousie University, Earth and Environmental Science
Pat Marsteller
BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium
Pat is currently Faculty Development Ambassador for BioQUEST and Emeritus Faculty from Emory University! Pat Marsteller directed the Emory College Center for Science Education and was a faculty member in the department of Biology at Emory. She studied evolution of animal behavior for her MS degree at University of South Carolina and evolution and quantitative genetics for her PhD at the University of Florida. She worked with alligators for her MS thesis, investigating whether they could use the sun, the moon and the stars to navigate. Her dissertation research focused on a quantitative genetic analysis, using with fruit flies as a model system, to investigate genetic and environmental influence on life history patterns and traits such as longevity and quantity and timing of reproduction. She has taught courses evolution, Darwin and the idea of evolution and many other courses over her 30 years of college teaching. She also works with college and pre-college faculty on developing curriculum materials and on using active learning strategies in the teaching of science and mathematics. She is the PI of the ScienceCasenetwork and NeuroCaseNet and a helper on HITS and Molecular CaseNet.
Pat’s grand project is to prepare Faculty of the Future to teach well, to be creative, to be excellent mentors. She believes that we all have a responsibility to educate the public about science. Her other grand project relates to increasing diversity in science...She is in charge of special programs to increase success for underrepresented groups, women and first genration students at undergraduate, graduate, postdoc and faculty levels. support for these initiatives comes from NSF, HHMI, and NIH. She is co-PI of the Emory Initiative for Maximizing Student Development project, among many projects that support student research.
Draft Undergraduate STEM Education 2040: An Optimists Perspective
The intersecting crises of 2020 (covid, antiracist protests and climate change) finally led faculty groups and funders to a social justice agenda for STEM education. Thousands of faculty read Ibram Kendi’s How to be an Antiracist and began to realize that open education resources (OER) and open pedagogy (OP) were needed to address the racial and ethnic disparities in health, impacts of climate change, and institutional practices. A revolution began!
Graduate and postdoctoral programs added Social Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to professional development programs. NSF reinstated the GK12 program and created a new Graduate-Undergraduate curriculum development program. Institutions moved from general statements about social justice and serving all students to investing in reward systems and data tools to assess progress toward a just system that serves society. All types of institutions, community colleges, liberal arts institutions and research focused institution have over these years established networks and partnerships and formal transfer agreements. Faculty tenure and promotion guidelines were revised to include public scholarship and reflection on open pedagogies and professional development in applying social justice principles. Discipline based education faculty were hired (on tenure track) in nearly every department. Since that watershed year our faculties have become more diverse and our curricula have changed.
The movement to integrate research into STEM courses developed into a movement to include students as co-creators of curricular materials. Faculty worked together across departmental boundaries to assess content, curricular frameworks, and applications of each course and program to society. Science literacy, data literacy, and application to social issues took priority.
Revised materials called for all people to be represented in texts and OER materials. and current research.
As a result, now in 2040 students not only feel welcomed as learners but enabled to be content creators and researchers from the first course. From the first course, students now learn to critique and evaluate knowledge claims. Our STEM courses are better coordinated and they incorporate visualization, research design and models, but they also examine the ethics of scientific practices and the social justice implications of historical and future science and application. Our faculties are more diverse and representative and thus constantly bring new perspectives to our teaching and research missions.
Our classrooms are now more open spaces that support the evidence based active learning practices and enable collaborative teams to create new knowledge. Our institutions intersect closely with local communities and our students investigate and solve problem with local community groups.
From the very first course, we teach students to think like scientists, to evaluate and weigh evidence, to communicate clearly and to place scientific data in context. Instead of focusing on science as a body of knowledge, we allow students to inquire, investigate and communicate. Inquiry-based approaches such as problem-based learning (PBL) and investigative case-based learning (ICBL) have documented success in enhancing conceptual understanding and increasing skills in problem solving, critical thinking, communication and self-assessment. By using complex, authentic problems to trigger investigation in lab and library, our students develop critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative skills. These methods allow students to experience science integrated with other disciplines such as mathematics (graphs, statistics), history (social, economic and political context of the issue), and language arts (conveying research results) and enhance their capacity for creative and responsible real-world problem solving. Inquiry science courses integrate ethical dimensions of science. Debates on cloning, DNA testing, limits of prediction, and potential perils as well as benefits of science deepen understanding for all students. Combining such approaches with practice in communicating science to different audiences creates engaged scholars and a scientifically literate public.
We have made great strides in moving from incremental interventions to systemic, structural and lasting change. Our majors now provide a more diverse STEM workforce and generate new ideas that are improving health, quality f life and discovery for all peoples and parts of the globe. Our non-majors leave still loving and exploring science and they learn to critique and evaluate knowledge claims about health, vaccines and evolution. Our STEM courses are better coordinated and they incorporate visualization, research design and models, but they also examine the ethics of scientific practices and the social justice implications of past
We have not yet solved all the inequities in K-12 or undergraduate education or in health disparities in local communities, but we have come a long way. The experiments in education are now bolder, the future looks more just, more equitable and more creative.
OK...How's that???
Prior to arriving at Emory in 1990, Pat taught at large state universities and tiny liberal arts colleges. This experience gave her the opportunity to teach nearly every course in Biology. She loves teaching because transmitting the joys (and trials) of the process of science to students gives them the tools for lifelong learning and discovery. Science is not merely a body of accumulated facts and theories, but an exhilarating process of discovery. Good teachers are constant learners, inventing, creating and discovering new ways to facilitate learning. As her friend John Jungck says, “teachers must move from the position of sage on the stage to guide on the side.” Learning is an active process- students are not vessels into which we pour our accumulated wisdom; they are participants is generating, constructing and linking knowledge by placing new content in the context of what they know and by developing critical analysis skills so that they can generate reasonable hypotheses, test them, analyze carefully and draw reasonable conclusions. Good teachers and good students should “Question Authority” as the bumper sticker on her door suggests. Don’t just believe! Delve into it, connect, apply, and make it your own!
Pat is a member of the Biology faculty and the NBB faculty and directs the Hughes Undergraduate Science Initiative and our Emory College Center for Science Education. She is the oldest of 11 kids. She is married to Fred Marsteller, who is a consultant in Biostatistics and Research Design. Her son Sean was the founding Director of LearnLink. He and his wife now live in Canada.
Lisa Rezende
University of Arizona
Melissa Zwick
Stockton University
Co-authors: Elaine Beaulieu,U Ottowa; Brian Bill, Mississippi State; Denise Flaherty, Eckerd College; Sue Gass, Dalhousie U; Lisa Rezende, U of Arizona; Melissa Zwick, Stockton Unversity
Description: We will present lessons learned and modifications to five different cases and then lead a discussion on how to get started with UDL and cases. One case, involved understanding cell energy cycles and the importance of glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. This is for first year undergraduate cell biology students and can be adapted for biochemistry upper-level students. Modifications include simple changes in color, text, iconography and scaffolding to better support neurodiverse learners. Another case study about persister cells and quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa infections for a 3rd year undergraduate course in general microbiology. Modifications include text and image accessibility issues and for indicating time and difficulty for each activity within the case study. One case, about Cancer and information literacy, used the mapping exercise to make decision on restructuring the case and develop alternatives for instructors using the case for different classes or levels. Another will address strategies to increase student engagement using a Skin and Soft Tissues laboratory for a large number if students as an example. strategies used for the redevelopment of the case study The Canadian Canola Controversy: The Role of Genetically Modified Organisms in Agriculture. The case uses the jigsaw technique where students representing different stakeholder groups come together to make recommendations on how GM crops in Canada should be regulated. modifications include more details in terms of classroom management to help the case adhere more consistently to the principles of UDL We will then open to discussion from the audience and invite future participation.
Thursday July 21 - Technologies for Building Equitable Communities
QUBES Platform: An education gateway for professional development, OER sharing, and project support
Sam S Donovan
BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium
I am the Director of Outreach and Strategic Engagement with the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium. I have over 25 years of experience teaching introductory biology, ecology, and evolution courses. I'm also on the leadership team of the QUBES project and I spend a lot of my time thinking about how to bring new teaching and learning resources into classrooms.
QUBES: An education gateway for professional development, OER sharing, and project support
Version: 2.0
Co-authors: Jeremy Wojdak (Radford University), Kristin Jenkins (BioQUEST), M. Drew LaMar (College of William and Mary)
Description: The Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education & Synthesis (QUBES; qubeshub.org) project has adopted a “scientific gateways” model to accelerate undergraduate biology education reform. As such, QUBES provides an accessible and integrated cyberinfrastructure that makes it possible to coordinate and streamline the work of a diverse and distributed community of biology educators. The QUBES services include an online professional development model (faculty mentoring networks – FMNs), an open educational resources publication and versioning platform, diverse types of community hosting, workshop support, and access to cloud-based computational resources. The integration of these functionalities within a single gateway provides important opportunities for both individual faculty and education projects to engage with the professional community and amplify their scholarship. We argue that professional participation through a scientific gateway reflects a more robust and sustainable set of strategies for reforming undergraduate STEM education.
This is a recycled poster.
Sparking IDEAS using Slack and Polly in an online learning community
Sarah Prescott
BioQUEST - Executive Director / UNH - Assoc. Prof./Chief Editor-GCTLC
At BioQUEST, I was the PI on the QB@CC and Online4Bio projects that were completed most recently. I have also co-facilitated learning communities in collaboration with the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project. I am working on several other pedagogical projects. The first is a collaborative project with the American Chemical Society's Green Chemistry Institute (ACS-GCI) involving the development of two General Chemistry modules on Equilibrium using the principles of Green Chemistry, Systems thinking, and the UN Sustainability Design Goals (UN SDGs). My collaborator, David Laviska, and I hope to pilot the first of our modules soon and are continuing to work on a second module.
On a personal note, I am an avid gardener and homesteader. We own 22 acres of land in Troy, Maine (near Unity), where we are planning our future homestead. I adore cows (esp. highland cattle), and our dream is to have a couple of mini cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and of course, ducks and chickens. We also plan to have a mini-orchard, and I am looking at using permaculture and restorative agriculture methods in our design. Currently, we have 10 chickens, 2 rabbits, 3 dogs, and 8 ducks.
Hear my Name
Description: Building an inclusive community in the asynchronous online classroom can be challenging. I have been using various online tools to spark connection and engagement in several of my online courses over many years, including Peerwise, Twitter, and more recently, Slack. A new project involves using Slack and Polly (polling tool within Slack) to promote engagement and inclusion in my STEM courses. During this presentation I will show the preliminary outcomes of several assignments and structures I have set up within my Chemistry and Biochemistry courses and Slack channels to bring all students into the course conversation.