Recap: QB@CC Meeting at HHMI

The Quantitative Biology at Community Colleges (QB@CC) project had its second in-person network meeting in February at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Maryland. With 36 active participants, including 14 new members, the event was an amazing success. After a day and a half of keynotes, workshops, and a good amount of social time, five incubator groups were created to come up with new materials to share with the community. Read on to learn more about the project, learn about the recent meeting, and learn how you can get involved!

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Quantitative Biology at Community Colleges (QB@CC) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) supported project that began in 2019.The long-term goal of QB@CC is to drive the disciplinary expectation that all biology courses should significantly enhance student's quantitative skills. QB@CC does this by providing educational materials and professional development for faculty. The network has generated and continues to add to an extensive collection of Open Education Resources (OERs) that may be used by anyone. They also offer professional development programming to address many of the challenges in teaching quantitative skills. Although this network focuses on community college faculty, most of the materials generated are appropriate for lower level biology courses in four-year institutions.

    In February, the team came together for their second and final in-person network meeting. Originally scheduled for 2022, the meeting was rescheduled due to the COVID pandemic. Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), through BioInteractive Senior Director Dr. Laura Bonetta, hosted the event, including some of the best food we’ve ever had at a conference!

    Though the room was filled with steering committee members and returning participants, the majority of attendees were new to the program and had not interacted with QB@CC before. These new participants brought additional excitement to the proceedings, and it was amazing to watch as new relationships were formed.

    The workshop portion of the conference lasted a day and a half and consisted of hands-on workshops presented by steering committee members (including one virtually!), and two keynote addresses. Dr. Celeste Carter’s talk “NSF ATE Investments in Quantitative Biology in 2-year Institutions of Higher Education” helped to put the QB@CC project into a broader perspective and was a great way to kick off the conference. On the second day, we heard from American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) community leaders Dr. Julie Phelps and Dr. Sidra Van De Car, who spoke on connections between mathematics and biology in their talk “What comes first: mathematics or biology? Nope, they go together!”

    At the end of the meeting, our participants came together to brainstorm module topics that will include biology and math components that they will create throughout the semester. Five incubator groups were created and are being led by veteran incubator participants. These modules will come out in the next few months and can be found on the QB@CC Modules page. Additionally, you can join QB@CC to keep up  with the next opportunities, including module-creation Incubators and adapt-and-adopt Faculty Mentoring Networks, happening this fall, and a workshop at the BIOME Institute!