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Abstract: Data-driven experiences using authentic research data enables students to engage in the scientific process while also promoting the development of quantitative literacy in undergraduate biology students. Increasing accessibility to research data through public repositories and curated datasets has enabled instructors to greatly enhance their classroom experiences both in teaching biological concepts and facilitating the development of student quantitative skills. The importance of these high-impact pedagogies is well-established and most instructors are aware of, and use, these resources. However, incorporating these pedagogies into the biology classroom is not ubiquitous. We created a survey to understand instructor use and perceptions around data-centric teaching practices. Additionally, we asked instructors about their knowledge and use of Open Education Resources to further investigate barriers to adoption of data-centric practices. The open educational resources (OER) life cycle, where instructors find and use resources, adapt the material for their own classroom and context, and then share their adapted work with others, has the potential for promoting more wide-spread dissemination the resource and the adapted work demonstrates clearly how others have been successful at implementing the resource. Most resources fall short of capitalizing on the full potential due to persistent gaps in completing the OER life cycle of the resource. Resources are used and often adapted in the classroom, but these adaptations are not as likely to be shared with the broader community of educators. Here we present the results of our survey on the use, adaptation, and sharing of data-driven resources in the context of OER, as part of our NSF-funded Research Coordination Network (RCN) Undergraduate Biology Education (UBE) Incubator Award.

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