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| Feb 18 2012, 3:57 PM EST | mpwenderoth | 18 words added, 15 words deleted |
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dHome of the Biology Education Research Group at University of Washington.
Goals:
Create new methods for teaching Biology that will be adopted by faculty around the world,
Produce research based teaching methods.
Develop hypotheses concerning student learning in Biology that are testable.
Create guidelines for conducting rigorous biology education research.
Provide a forum to discuss effective teaching methods.
Create a network of faculty, grad students and post-docs across the UW tri-campuses to facilitate collaborations on grants and studies.
Create a certificate program in college science pedagogy for graduate students. This will serve as a pilot for a National Certification program by AAAS or HHMI.
Create mentored teaching opportunities for graduate students.
**********************************************
MAILING LIST
SABER web site ( Society for the Advancement of Biology Education)
************************************************
Winter 2012
Meetings: Wednesday 4-5 pm Hitchcock 218
Jan 11- Lara: Practice talk for job interview (research and teaching)
Jan 18- CANCELLED due to SNOW- will be rescheduled: Becca: Genetic drift concept inventory
Jan 25- Greg & Alison: CREATE journal club
Feb 1- Becca: Genetic drift concept inventory
Feb 8- Ben and Hannah:Lit review on Peer TAs/ Learning Assistants
Feb 15-Mary Pat - Bloom workshop- bring your exam questions.
Feb 22-Blooming Workshop part 2- bring your exam questions
Feb 29-Mary Pat- "What Cognitive Research Tells Us About Engaging Today's Undergraduate Students"
March 7- Bryan White- journal club (article from CBE Dec issue) and some research idea
Mar 7-
Spring 2012
Martha Groom- Discuss a study she is doing on science process skills
Autumn 2011
Meetings in HCK 218
Friday 3-4 pm
Oct 7- set agenda for Fall, meeting updates
19 members present
Oct 14- Scott Freeman- Climate Change exercise
Oct 21- Ben - discuss possible topics for his dissertation in Science Ed.
Oct 28-Alison and Mary Pat- recap of IS-SOTL meeting
Sally Hoskins- CREATE for reading the primary literature
New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability
glogster- on-line posters
Creative Commons
Nov 4- Planning Session for Best practices topic for winter ( topic, literature, videotaping, etc)
Nov 11- Veteran's Day
Nov 18- Karen- Use of Concept Mapping to assess student learning
Nov 25- Thanksgiving Holiday
Dec 2- Karen P. Review of Clicker literature
Dec 8-11- NSTA meeting in Seattle at Convention Center
Dec 9-Jenny Mc.- update on Concept Assessment in Physiology project.
********************************
SPRING 2011
Meetings in HCK 218- map to HCK
Wednesday 9-10 am
April 6- Anna Davis
Teaching Anatomy and Physiology at the Community College: Status Quo, Opportunities, and Research Questions revealed through development of an Open Course Library A&P course.
April 13- Carol Pollack from UBC & Joan Sharpe from Simon Frasier Univ. - Speaking about the First year program in BIology at UBC and SF and how they used Blooming Biology Tool to assess thier first yer program. They will also tell us about the 6 concept inventories their group is producing.
April 19- UW SOTL from 2-4:30 in Kane Hall
Thursday April 20- 9am Jennifer Loertscher, Seattle U "Development and Implementation of Biochemistry assessment instrument."
Jenny's slides are posted at the very bottom of this page
Northwest Regional POGIL meeting this summer in Oregon
April 27-Cristy Walcher- Experimental Design component of GATEWAY project.
April 29 - May 1- NWBIO at Yakima Community College. A great place to present your BER results and build partnerships with community college faculty.
May 4- Greg Crowthers- will discuss the NSF TUES I grant they plan to submit May 20 2011
May 11- Linda Martin-Morris- will discuss the Diversity Scholars program that she is involved with on cmpus
Tuesday May 17 4pm -- Julie Libarkin Seminar in Biology
May 18- Julie Libarkin will talk to BERG
May 25- Lara Shamieh from UW Pathology Dept- would like feedback on her Senior Seminar format
June 1- Michael Fleming ?
************************************************
SUMMER 2011
July 29-31- SABER national meeting- Minneapolis
*************************************************
WINTER 2011
Meetings in HCK 344
times alternate between 9am and 4 pm
Jan 12-- 4pm- Becca - attitude survey
Jan 19- 9 am-Michelle - Lexical Analysis and the Genetic Concept Assessment
Jan 26 - 4pm- Karen- poster she presented at SICB
Feb 2- 9 am- MPW- Testing Effect
Feb 9- 4pm- Brian B. Diversity in education
Feb 16 - 9 am- Maureen- A curriculum and database that guide students in developing and testing hypotheses in genetics.
Feb 23 - SPECIAL TIME_9am Dr. Charles Ofria (Biology seminar speaker- one of the architects of the AVIDA evolution computer program
Mar 2- 9am- Michelle S.- Statistical analysis of Genetic Concept Inventory responses.
Mar 9- 4pm- Jennie McFarland - present the Experimental Biology (EB) Poster on BERG as Learning Community
*****************************
Upcoming Deadlines
March 8th- submit abstracts to UW SOTL symposium held April 19 2-4:30 in Kane Hall.
April 29 - May 1- NWBIO at Yakima Community College. A great place to present your BER results and build partnerships with community college faculty.
******************************
Possible topics
ask Jennifer Loertscher from SU to give a talk.
Journals in which to publish
invite Phil Bell from School of Ed to talk
invite Paula Heron from Physics Education Group on campus
what are funding opportunities
how to do curricular assessment
PEERS- an ADVANCE/CELT program at UW
IRB approval
others?
AUTUMN 2010
Welcome back to the 2010-2011 academic year and another great year for Biology Education Research.
Meeting: 9-10 Thursdays in HCK 446
Oct 7 - Set the agenda for the quarter.
LInk to SABER web site.
Oct 14- Becca Price- UW Bothell- Discussion of Lawson Reasoning Test and different types of Nature of Science (NOS) surveys
handouts- PriceBERG below
handouts- two levels below
science article on student reasoning- ( see Science mag 2009)
article on student understanding of age of earth and evolution ( see cotner below)
Oct 21- Bloom workshop-- creating higher order free response and MCQ
Biology in Bloom: Implementing Bloom’s Taxonomy to Enhance Student Learning in Biology
Crowe, A., C. Dirks & M.P. Wenderoth
CBE- Life Science Education Vol. 7, 368–381, Winter 2008
Oct 28- Linda Martin-Morris & Mandi Schivell UW Seattle, Biology- POGIL activities for Biology
Nov. 4- Brian Buchwitz- UW Seattle- HHMI- Using primary literature to help students think like a scientist
Tuesday Nov. 9- Scott Freeman- UW Seattle, Promotion talk at Biology dept Seminar- Physics (PAA 102)
Nov 11- Veteran's Day ( Armistice Day)
Nov 18- Karen Chan- UW Seattle, Fisheries- Use of simulations in the classroom and NOS surveys
Nov. 25- Happy Thanksgiving
NEXT
Dec 2- Linda Martin-Morris--Structuring assignments to maximize team work in groups
Dec 9- Scott Freeman, Alison Crowe, Mary Pat Wenderoth-UW Seattle, Biology- Update on the Biology 180 Second Generation research project.
************************************************
WINTER 2011
*************************************************
SPRING 2010-- 9 am meeting - HCK 344
May 17- Teaching Tips Round table-- bring an idea that worked well in the classroom to share with your colleagues-- this will be a very practical session.
May 24-- Jenny McFarland from Edmonds CC will present an update on CABII ( Conceptual Assessment in Biology)
This is a NSF funded initiative that continues to develop a body of work on what are the key concepts in Biology and how best to assess them. article of interest.
May 31- Memorial Day-- NO meeting
June 1- last meeting of Spring
-------
Past SPRING meetings
April 5- UW SOTL abstracts- teaching innovations of BERG members
Jackie White and Mike presented the Tree of Life project that their Biol 490 course ( Telling Science Stories- Jen Reusink and Doug Ewing) created for the Biology 180 class diversity unit. The projects incorporates plants from the teaching collection of the Greenhouse and helps students gain a deeper appreciation of the evolution of plants. Students were required to fill out a survey after completing the Tree of Life project and Jackie and Mike presented an overview of these results. They will be presenting their work at the UW Teaching and Learning symposium on April 20 from 2-4:30 at the HUB.
April 12- Becca Price from Bothell will present the work she submitted to UW Teaching and Learning Symposium.
"Performing evolution: an artistic exploration of natural selection and the scientific method"
April 19-Brian Buchwitz will present some of the work he is doing with the HHMI Biology Scholar students ( freshman)
The Undergraduate Research Experience: A Developmental Approach to Program Design for Research-Intensive Universities
Brian J. Buchwitz and Barbara T. Wakimoto Department of Biology, University of Washington
Undergraduate research programs at colleges and universities vary widely in structure, criteria used to select participants, and type and duration of program support. Our aim is to design a program that is best suited for students and faculty mentors at large, research-intensive universities. Here we describe the design and assessment of the University of Washington-Howard Hughes Medical Institute Integrative Research Internship Program (UW-HHMI IRIP). The UW-HHMI IRIP differs substantially from the more common summer-only undergraduate research programs in its intentionally developmental and integrative approach. Key features include: selection of a diverse cohort of students who have had little or no previous research experience; a required seminar course to facilitate introduction to research culture and broaden students appreciation of different types of research fields in biology; and an extended period of support that includes part-time research for two academic quarters preceding full-time research in summer. To assess our program, we are using two national surveys, the Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE II) and the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment survey (URSSA) which report gains as perceived by the undergraduate researchers. We show that UW-HHMI IRIP participants report higher than average learning gains in 20 of the 21 areas measured by SURE II. To compare student gains as evaluated by faculty mentors, we are testing a new mentor survey developed through a collaboration between our HHMI program and those at Montana State University, Oregon State University, and University of Montana. Overall, our results indicate that the UW-HHMI IRIP is providing beginning undergraduate researchers with meaningful research experience and encouraging retention in research for at least one additional academic year.
April 26-Ursula Valdez- will discuss her Teaching and Learning Symposium poster.
"Partnering Students with Field Researchers as an Alternative for Hands-on Opportunities in a Class-based Tropical Ecology Course"
Opportunities for hands-on learning experiences are limited in class-based ecology courses for undergraduates. However, using field-based connections and student creativity it was possible to generate high motivation and engagement in a tropical ecology course. This is the follow-up on a project I started as a Huckabay teaching fellow in 2009. My Huckabay project focus was to design a tropical ecology course with components of active and participatory learning, as well as with the incorporation of student participation in real field-based research even if not in the field. In Summer 2009 I taught BIOL 497 Tropical Ecology and I applied innovative approaches to engage students in the topic. I offered a diversity of activities oriented to full participation of students during lectures and student-led discussions. Students learned basic principles of tropical ecology, and also developed in-class activities based on topics and readings assigned. In addition, students worked in research projects in partnership with researchers based in the field at the time. Two students and their field-based partner shared ideas, developed hypothesis and with data collected in the field answered research questions. Students explored on the community structure, behavior and parental relationships of birds in Ecuador and Peru, analyzed primate survey data in the Amazonian rainforest, elaborated molt schedules for birds in the tropical Andes and evaluated effects of urbanization on wildlife in Colombia. Besides working on scientific reports, students also communicated their findings in creative ways and targeting general public (through puppet shows, games, designing children books and others). I conducted assessments of student knowledge pre-and-post course sessions, as well as I received formal feedback from students by the middle of the quarter that was timely incorporated to improve the efficiency of the educational approach. Course reviews were highly positive, and BIO 497 will be offered again in summer 2010
May 3 -Kimberly Sheldon will have a further discussion about the work she presented at UW Teaching and Learning Symposium:
"Integrated Interdisciplinary, International, Inter-Institutional Education: An Evaluation of the IGERT Program for Training Graduate Students"
Global environmental challenges transcend disciplinary, institutional, and political boundaries. Future environmental leaders must be trained accordingly. To be effective, they will need to collaborate successfully with an interdisciplinary, culturally and institutionally diverse group of colleagues. Traditional graduate school programs in the sciences, however, are not designed with this in mind. To address these limitations, the National Science Foundation (NSF) developed the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT). Each IGERT program must integrate research across disciplines and institutions, and promote an international perspective. Despite this mandate, many IGERT programs fail. The IGERT program at the University of Washington titled Multinational Collaborations to Challenges in the Environment (MCCE) systematically and rigorously integrated interdisciplinary, international, and inter-institutional training. MCCE brought together students from traditionally unrelated disciplines who worked across institutional boundaries and were required to collaborate abroad during their second year of funding. Here, using the MCCE IGERT model of education as a case study, we show how integrated approaches to graduate education enhanced students' abilities to address multifaceted environmental challenges.
May 10- Antonio Lazcano- Departmental seminar speaker on Tuesday
Abstract: The heterotrophic origin of life proposed by Oparin and Haldane in
the 1920’s was part of a Darwinian framework that assumed that living
organisms were the historical outcome of a gradual transformation of
lifeless matter. This idea was strongly opposed by the geneticist H. J.
Muller, who argued that single genes or DNA molecules represented primordial
living systems. Their debates represent not only contrasting views of the
nature of life itself, but also major ideological discussions that reached a
surprising intensity in the years following the 1953 Miller experiment,
which demonstrated the ease with which organic compounds could be
synthesized under putative primitive conditions. During the years following
the Miller experiment, attempts to understand the origin of life were shaped
scientifically by the development of molecular biology and, in
socio-political terms, by the atmosphere created by Cold War tensions.
May 17- Teaching Tips Round table-- bring an idea that worked well in the classroom to share with your colleagues-- this will be a very practical session.
May 24-- looking for a volunteer to present.
May 31- Memorial Day
WINTER 2010
Feb 22- 9 am meeting - HCK 344
grant opportunities
meeting dates for Spring
open classrooms for Spring
**** we have posted (below) a list of grants and projects that BERG members are involved with.
IF you would like to get involved with any of these efforts please contact Mary Pat Wenderoth or Scott Freeman
March 1- 9am meeting 9am
undergraduate students working with Scott Freeman would like to present a study they are developing. They would like BERG's feedback and critique.
there are two papers by Cohen posted below that will serve as background for this project
March 8- 9 am meeting
Scott Freeman gave an overview of a newly-funded NSF CCLI grant awarded to BERG members to compare the effectiveness of different active learning strategies in helping students master difficult concepts in evolutionary biology
Goals:
Create new methods for teaching Biology that will be adopted by faculty around the world,
Produce research based teaching methods.
Develop hypotheses concerning student learning in Biology that are testable.
Create guidelines for conducting rigorous biology education research.
Provide a forum to discuss effective teaching methods.
Create a network of faculty, grad students and post-docs across the UW tri-campuses to facilitate collaborations on grants and studies.
Create a certificate program in college science pedagogy for graduate students. This will serve as a pilot for a National Certification program by AAAS or HHMI.
Create mentored teaching opportunities for graduate students.
**********************************************
MAILING LIST
Join the Biology Education Research Group mailing list to receive reminders about BERG meetings and other education-related meetings:
To post a message to the Biology Education Research Group mailing list, send email tobiology_education_research_group@u.washington.edu
************************************************SABER web site ( Society for the Advancement of Biology Education)
************************************************
Winter 2012
Meetings: Wednesday 4-5 pm Hitchcock 218
Jan 11- Lara: Practice talk for job interview (research and teaching)
Jan 18- CANCELLED due to SNOW- will be rescheduled: Becca: Genetic drift concept inventory
Jan 25- Greg & Alison: CREATE journal club
Feb 1- Becca: Genetic drift concept inventory
Feb 8- Ben and Hannah:Lit review on Peer TAs/ Learning Assistants
Feb 15-Mary Pat - Bloom workshop- bring your exam questions.
Feb 22-Blooming Workshop part 2- bring your exam questions
Feb 29-Mary Pat- "What Cognitive Research Tells Us About Engaging Today's Undergraduate Students"
March 7- Bryan White- journal club (article from CBE Dec issue) and some research idea
Mar 7-
Spring 2012
Martha Groom- Discuss a study she is doing on science process skills
Autumn 2011
Meetings in HCK 218
Friday 3-4 pm
Oct 7- set agenda for Fall, meeting updates
19 members present
Oct 14- Scott Freeman- Climate Change exercise
Oct 21- Ben - discuss possible topics for his dissertation in Science Ed.
Oct 28-Alison and Mary Pat- recap of IS-SOTL meeting
Sally Hoskins- CREATE for reading the primary literature
New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability
glogster- on-line posters
Creative Commons
Nov 4- Planning Session for Best practices topic for winter ( topic, literature, videotaping, etc)
Nov 11- Veteran's Day
Nov 18- Karen- Use of Concept Mapping to assess student learning
Nov 25- Thanksgiving Holiday
Dec 2- Karen P. Review of Clicker literature
Dec 8-11- NSTA meeting in Seattle at Convention Center
Dec 9-Jenny Mc.- update on Concept Assessment in Physiology project.
********************************
SPRING 2011
Meetings in HCK 218- map to HCK
Wednesday 9-10 am
April 6- Anna Davis
Teaching Anatomy and Physiology at the Community College: Status Quo, Opportunities, and Research Questions revealed through development of an Open Course Library A&P course.
April 13- Carol Pollack from UBC & Joan Sharpe from Simon Frasier Univ. - Speaking about the First year program in BIology at UBC and SF and how they used Blooming Biology Tool to assess thier first yer program. They will also tell us about the 6 concept inventories their group is producing.
April 19- UW SOTL from 2-4:30 in Kane Hall
Thursday April 20- 9am Jennifer Loertscher, Seattle U "Development and Implementation of Biochemistry assessment instrument."
Jenny's slides are posted at the very bottom of this page
Northwest Regional POGIL meeting this summer in Oregon
April 27-Cristy Walcher- Experimental Design component of GATEWAY project.
April 29 - May 1- NWBIO at Yakima Community College. A great place to present your BER results and build partnerships with community college faculty.
May 4- Greg Crowthers- will discuss the NSF TUES I grant they plan to submit May 20 2011
May 11- Linda Martin-Morris- will discuss the Diversity Scholars program that she is involved with on cmpus
Tuesday May 17 4pm -- Julie Libarkin Seminar in Biology
May 18- Julie Libarkin will talk to BERG
May 25- Lara Shamieh from UW Pathology Dept- would like feedback on her Senior Seminar format
June 1- Michael Fleming ?
************************************************
SUMMER 2011
July 29-31- SABER national meeting- Minneapolis
*************************************************
WINTER 2011
Meetings in HCK 344
times alternate between 9am and 4 pm
Jan 12-- 4pm- Becca - attitude survey
Jan 19- 9 am-Michelle - Lexical Analysis and the Genetic Concept Assessment
Jan 26 - 4pm- Karen- poster she presented at SICB
Feb 2- 9 am- MPW- Testing Effect
Feb 9- 4pm- Brian B. Diversity in education
Feb 16 - 9 am- Maureen- A curriculum and database that guide students in developing and testing hypotheses in genetics.
Feb 23 - SPECIAL TIME_9am Dr. Charles Ofria (Biology seminar speaker- one of the architects of the AVIDA evolution computer program
Mar 2- 9am- Michelle S.- Statistical analysis of Genetic Concept Inventory responses.
Mar 9- 4pm- Jennie McFarland - present the Experimental Biology (EB) Poster on BERG as Learning Community
*****************************
Upcoming Deadlines
March 8th- submit abstracts to UW SOTL symposium held April 19 2-4:30 in Kane Hall.
April 29 - May 1- NWBIO at Yakima Community College. A great place to present your BER results and build partnerships with community college faculty.
******************************
Possible topics
ask Jennifer Loertscher from SU to give a talk.
Journals in which to publish
invite Phil Bell from School of Ed to talk
invite Paula Heron from Physics Education Group on campus
what are funding opportunities
how to do curricular assessment
PEERS- an ADVANCE/CELT program at UW
IRB approval
others?
AUTUMN 2010
Welcome back to the 2010-2011 academic year and another great year for Biology Education Research.
Meeting: 9-10 Thursdays in HCK 446
Oct 7 - Set the agenda for the quarter.
LInk to SABER web site.
Oct 14- Becca Price- UW Bothell- Discussion of Lawson Reasoning Test and different types of Nature of Science (NOS) surveys
handouts- PriceBERG below
handouts- two levels below
science article on student reasoning- ( see Science mag 2009)
article on student understanding of age of earth and evolution ( see cotner below)
Oct 21- Bloom workshop-- creating higher order free response and MCQ
Biology in Bloom: Implementing Bloom’s Taxonomy to Enhance Student Learning in Biology
Crowe, A., C. Dirks & M.P. Wenderoth
CBE- Life Science Education Vol. 7, 368–381, Winter 2008
Oct 28- Linda Martin-Morris & Mandi Schivell UW Seattle, Biology- POGIL activities for Biology
Nov. 4- Brian Buchwitz- UW Seattle- HHMI- Using primary literature to help students think like a scientist
Tuesday Nov. 9- Scott Freeman- UW Seattle, Promotion talk at Biology dept Seminar- Physics (PAA 102)
Nov 11- Veteran's Day ( Armistice Day)
Nov 18- Karen Chan- UW Seattle, Fisheries- Use of simulations in the classroom and NOS surveys
Nov. 25- Happy Thanksgiving
NEXT
Dec 2- Linda Martin-Morris--Structuring assignments to maximize team work in groups
Dec 9- Scott Freeman, Alison Crowe, Mary Pat Wenderoth-UW Seattle, Biology- Update on the Biology 180 Second Generation research project.
************************************************
WINTER 2011
*************************************************
SPRING 2010-- 9 am meeting - HCK 344
May 17- Teaching Tips Round table-- bring an idea that worked well in the classroom to share with your colleagues-- this will be a very practical session.
May 24-- Jenny McFarland from Edmonds CC will present an update on CABII ( Conceptual Assessment in Biology)
This is a NSF funded initiative that continues to develop a body of work on what are the key concepts in Biology and how best to assess them. article of interest.
May 31- Memorial Day-- NO meeting
June 1- last meeting of Spring
-------
Past SPRING meetings
April 5- UW SOTL abstracts- teaching innovations of BERG members
Jackie White and Mike presented the Tree of Life project that their Biol 490 course ( Telling Science Stories- Jen Reusink and Doug Ewing) created for the Biology 180 class diversity unit. The projects incorporates plants from the teaching collection of the Greenhouse and helps students gain a deeper appreciation of the evolution of plants. Students were required to fill out a survey after completing the Tree of Life project and Jackie and Mike presented an overview of these results. They will be presenting their work at the UW Teaching and Learning symposium on April 20 from 2-4:30 at the HUB.
April 12- Becca Price from Bothell will present the work she submitted to UW Teaching and Learning Symposium.
"Performing evolution: an artistic exploration of natural selection and the scientific method"
April 19-Brian Buchwitz will present some of the work he is doing with the HHMI Biology Scholar students ( freshman)
The Undergraduate Research Experience: A Developmental Approach to Program Design for Research-Intensive Universities
Brian J. Buchwitz and Barbara T. Wakimoto Department of Biology, University of Washington
Undergraduate research programs at colleges and universities vary widely in structure, criteria used to select participants, and type and duration of program support. Our aim is to design a program that is best suited for students and faculty mentors at large, research-intensive universities. Here we describe the design and assessment of the University of Washington-Howard Hughes Medical Institute Integrative Research Internship Program (UW-HHMI IRIP). The UW-HHMI IRIP differs substantially from the more common summer-only undergraduate research programs in its intentionally developmental and integrative approach. Key features include: selection of a diverse cohort of students who have had little or no previous research experience; a required seminar course to facilitate introduction to research culture and broaden students appreciation of different types of research fields in biology; and an extended period of support that includes part-time research for two academic quarters preceding full-time research in summer. To assess our program, we are using two national surveys, the Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE II) and the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment survey (URSSA) which report gains as perceived by the undergraduate researchers. We show that UW-HHMI IRIP participants report higher than average learning gains in 20 of the 21 areas measured by SURE II. To compare student gains as evaluated by faculty mentors, we are testing a new mentor survey developed through a collaboration between our HHMI program and those at Montana State University, Oregon State University, and University of Montana. Overall, our results indicate that the UW-HHMI IRIP is providing beginning undergraduate researchers with meaningful research experience and encouraging retention in research for at least one additional academic year.
April 26-Ursula Valdez- will discuss her Teaching and Learning Symposium poster.
"Partnering Students with Field Researchers as an Alternative for Hands-on Opportunities in a Class-based Tropical Ecology Course"
Opportunities for hands-on learning experiences are limited in class-based ecology courses for undergraduates. However, using field-based connections and student creativity it was possible to generate high motivation and engagement in a tropical ecology course. This is the follow-up on a project I started as a Huckabay teaching fellow in 2009. My Huckabay project focus was to design a tropical ecology course with components of active and participatory learning, as well as with the incorporation of student participation in real field-based research even if not in the field. In Summer 2009 I taught BIOL 497 Tropical Ecology and I applied innovative approaches to engage students in the topic. I offered a diversity of activities oriented to full participation of students during lectures and student-led discussions. Students learned basic principles of tropical ecology, and also developed in-class activities based on topics and readings assigned. In addition, students worked in research projects in partnership with researchers based in the field at the time. Two students and their field-based partner shared ideas, developed hypothesis and with data collected in the field answered research questions. Students explored on the community structure, behavior and parental relationships of birds in Ecuador and Peru, analyzed primate survey data in the Amazonian rainforest, elaborated molt schedules for birds in the tropical Andes and evaluated effects of urbanization on wildlife in Colombia. Besides working on scientific reports, students also communicated their findings in creative ways and targeting general public (through puppet shows, games, designing children books and others). I conducted assessments of student knowledge pre-and-post course sessions, as well as I received formal feedback from students by the middle of the quarter that was timely incorporated to improve the efficiency of the educational approach. Course reviews were highly positive, and BIO 497 will be offered again in summer 2010
May 3 -Kimberly Sheldon will have a further discussion about the work she presented at UW Teaching and Learning Symposium:
"Integrated Interdisciplinary, International, Inter-Institutional Education: An Evaluation of the IGERT Program for Training Graduate Students"
Global environmental challenges transcend disciplinary, institutional, and political boundaries. Future environmental leaders must be trained accordingly. To be effective, they will need to collaborate successfully with an interdisciplinary, culturally and institutionally diverse group of colleagues. Traditional graduate school programs in the sciences, however, are not designed with this in mind. To address these limitations, the National Science Foundation (NSF) developed the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT). Each IGERT program must integrate research across disciplines and institutions, and promote an international perspective. Despite this mandate, many IGERT programs fail. The IGERT program at the University of Washington titled Multinational Collaborations to Challenges in the Environment (MCCE) systematically and rigorously integrated interdisciplinary, international, and inter-institutional training. MCCE brought together students from traditionally unrelated disciplines who worked across institutional boundaries and were required to collaborate abroad during their second year of funding. Here, using the MCCE IGERT model of education as a case study, we show how integrated approaches to graduate education enhanced students' abilities to address multifaceted environmental challenges.
May 10- Antonio Lazcano- Departmental seminar speaker on Tuesday
Abstract: The heterotrophic origin of life proposed by Oparin and Haldane in
the 1920’s was part of a Darwinian framework that assumed that living
organisms were the historical outcome of a gradual transformation of
lifeless matter. This idea was strongly opposed by the geneticist H. J.
Muller, who argued that single genes or DNA molecules represented primordial
living systems. Their debates represent not only contrasting views of the
nature of life itself, but also major ideological discussions that reached a
surprising intensity in the years following the 1953 Miller experiment,
which demonstrated the ease with which organic compounds could be
synthesized under putative primitive conditions. During the years following
the Miller experiment, attempts to understand the origin of life were shaped
scientifically by the development of molecular biology and, in
socio-political terms, by the atmosphere created by Cold War tensions.
May 17- Teaching Tips Round table-- bring an idea that worked well in the classroom to share with your colleagues-- this will be a very practical session.
May 24-- looking for a volunteer to present.
May 31- Memorial Day
WINTER 2010
Feb 22- 9 am meeting - HCK 344
grant opportunities
meeting dates for Spring
open classrooms for Spring
**** we have posted (below) a list of grants and projects that BERG members are involved with.
IF you would like to get involved with any of these efforts please contact Mary Pat Wenderoth or Scott Freeman
March 1- 9am meeting 9am
undergraduate students working with Scott Freeman would like to present a study they are developing. They would like BERG's feedback and critique.
there are two papers by Cohen posted below that will serve as background for this project
March 8- 9 am meeting
Scott Freeman gave an overview of a newly-funded NSF CCLI grant awarded to BERG members to compare the effectiveness of different active learning strategies in helping students master difficult concepts in evolutionary biology
Mary Pat and David Haak discussed their on-going project looking at the role of metacognition in student performance. See papers by Kember posted below.
We also had a discussion about the use of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL). See papers below.
AUTUMN 2009
October 15 3-4 pm -- Alison Crowe and Patty Montano will discuss the study workshop they developed for Biol 200 ( use of Bloom's and metacognition)
November 19, 3-4 pm - Alison Crowe and Mary Pat Wenderoth will report on what they learned at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning ( IS-SOTL) held in Bloomington , IN Oct 22-25, 2009. ( 650 in attendance)
October 15 3-4 pm -- Alison Crowe and Patty Montano will discuss the study workshop they developed for Biol 200 ( use of Bloom's and metacognition)
November 19, 3-4 pm - Alison Crowe and Mary Pat Wenderoth will report on what they learned at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning ( IS-SOTL) held in Bloomington , IN Oct 22-25, 2009. ( 650 in attendance)
SUMMER 09
Monday July 13 at 10 am -- Scott will present ideas for "experiments in education"--HHMI
Thursday August 13 at 10 am-- Clarissa Dirks ( The Evergreen State College) and Mary Pat will talk about Science Process Skills survey and results
Thursday Sept 10 at 4pm-- Michael Fleming will discuss what he learned about ecology education at the ESA meeting
Monday July 13 at 10 am -- Scott will present ideas for "experiments in education"--HHMI
Thursday August 13 at 10 am-- Clarissa Dirks ( The Evergreen State College) and Mary Pat will talk about Science Process Skills survey and results
Thursday Sept 10 at 4pm-- Michael Fleming will discuss what he learned about ecology education at the ESA meeting
