This newsletter is for BIOME 2023 participants and some materials may be password protected.
Greetings from the BioQUEST Team!
In this Issue:
P.S. If you’re coming across this newsletter on the QUBES website or on social media, you can subscribe here to keep in touch!
2023 Working Group September Updates
Group members: Sarah Straud, Margaret Goodman, Michael Sitvarin, Katie Sandlin, Christin Monroe, Carlos Goller
September Summary
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We are working as a hybrid Working Group and FMN. We have established some topics that some folks will be developing resources to support and others looking to use podcasts in their courses.
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We are focusing on working together to support development of a resource, development of a podcast, or using a podcast with resource in an existing course.
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We have established our biweekly meeting time and are moving forward with that. \
Working Group Connections
We are not working with any other groups, but if there ideas or activities we could support with a podcast episode, poles let us know!
Reach out to Phil Gibson to learn more!
Group members: Bharti Kaushik, Ashley Poole, Carlos Goller, Heather Rissler, John Starnes, Mary Mulcahy, Pankaj Mehrotra, Sheela Vemu, Stacey Kiser, Usha Sankar, Cora Varas-Nelson, Davida Smyth, Justin Pruneski, Laurel Lorenz
September Summary
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We've talked about strategies to receive and provide feedback. Some of us listened to related podcasts from Hidden Brain. The episode Learning For Your Mistakes discusses research that shows that feedback hurts less when we separate feedback from our ego. The episode The Truth About Honesty discusses how providing constructive feedback is essential for helping people grow.
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Recently, Pankaj shared with us an assessment tool that helps students provide constructive feedback to one another. The tool is called Kritik. We share it here in case anyone else finds it useful.
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When it comes to group work in our courses, some of us are rethinking how to bring more meaning to our group work. Mary shared a valuable resource from Iowa State about when to use group work.
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As members of our working group establish how to use Project Leadership in our courses, we are experimenting with using Project Leadership to help with our own professional development. We are working out different roles and responsibilities for members of our team to take on each week. We will then explore what it is like to provide feedback to one another. We hope to use it to bring awareness to our own leadership development and to gain experience into our student’s perspective of using Project Leadership.
Working Group Connections
There is potential intersections between thinking about how AI can help people either write feedback or analyze feedback
Wanted Ads
As a group, we are thinking about faculty development by implementing Project Leadership with faculty teams such as our BIOME working groups. We're working on writing role descriptions with the goal of distributing the responsibilities amongst all of our team members. If you have ideas that would be helpful for your Biome or other faculty teams, please share with Laurel Lorenz (llorenz@princeton.edu).
Reach out to Laurel Lorenz for more information!
Group members:
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Implementation: Molly Phillips, Mary Mulcahy, Pankaj Mehrotra, Shawn Krosnick
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Finishing module WIPs (Works in Progress): Makenzie Mabry, Siobhan Leachman, Jennifer Girón, Bunmi Aina
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Storytelling module: Adania Flemming, Karina Sanchez, Jen Kovacs
What have we worked on so far?
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Implementation: We have discussed group member's plans for implementing this semester, started assessment questions, and brainstormed another activity linking the introduction module to Scientist Spotlights.
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Storytelling: Brainstormed learning objectives and discussed various sources of information about underrepresented scientists including Scientist Spotlights, BioGraphI, Black in Natural History Museums, and Biodiversify. Karina Sanchez shared resources she has developed on science identity as well!
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Finishing module WIPs: The group has a rough draft of the activity and background information for the Bionomia module and is seeking feedback on it from the other members of the hidden figures group.
What are our plans going forward?
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Implementation: Implement one or more modules from the Hidden Figures CURE this semester, and possibly create an extension, or contribute to the storytelling module.
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Storytelling: Create a module draft to share with the wider hidden figures group by the end of the semester.
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Finishing module WIPs: Working to complete the instructor guide for the Bionomia module and starting the Wikidata module.
Working Group Connections
Wanted Ads
Storytelling modules! Anyone already use Scientist Spotlight in their classroom?
Reach out to Molly Phillips to learn more!
Group members: Tamara Basham, Kristen Butela, Brittany Cavazos, Melissa Haswell, Sharon Homer-Drummond, Jennifer Katcher, Melanie Lenahan, Sondra LoRe, Laurel Lorenz, Michelle McWhorter, Ann Showalter, Cora Varas-Nelson, Shawn Zeringue-Krosnick, Sarah Prescott, and Deb Rook.
September Summary
Deb, Sarah and Sharon are happy to answer questions and a little more information can be found on our group page.
Group members: Cora Varas-Nelson, Jen Kovacs, Michael Sitvarin, Rhonda Hughes-Seefeldt, Tamara Basham, Derek Sollberger
What have we worked on so far?
What are our plans going forward?
Wanted Ads
We have a voracious appetite for information about how artificial intelligence may be changing the academic landscape.
Reach out to Derek Sollberger with any questions!
Below are the multiple working groups that were working out of the Blueprint Project:
QUBES Corner
Have you updated your profile yet? Check out this knowledge-based article on “Updating my Profile” that walks through steps for how to make changes to your email, password, profile picture, affiliation, interest, and more! Completed profiles help others learn about you, find out more about your interests, and how to get connected with you. All to help us build our BQ community!
Have any questions? Come visit us during office hours, or email info@bioquest.org!
Connect With Us
Have questions about BIOME or beyond? Join us for BioQUEST’s open office hours Wednesdays at 12:00 PM ET & Thursdays at 2:00 PM ET. Visit this page for Zoom and other info!
Podcasting in STEM Education
Assessing Collaboration and Leadership Skills with Project Leadership
Inclusive STEM Teaching Project MOOC and Learning Community 
