The field of biology is witnessing unprecedented innovation, driven by major advancements in technologies like next-generation sequencing, gene editing, and drones. These breakthroughs are crucial for addressing pressing issues in human health and the environment.
However, despite this progress, there is a growing disconnect among students in higher education. Many perceive traditional higher education as lacking relevance, creating an existential gap. And rightly so.

I believe active learning requires disruption of what is termed the “Guest-Host relationship” commonly employed in classrooms. In this paradigm, students (as guests) are expected to adhere to the instructor’s (the host’s) guidelines for how teaching and learning should proceed. Alternatively, when a student’s own values and learning goals are reflected in course curriculum, there is a shift in the student’s role from guest to collaborator.

Education research has shown conclusively that undergraduates learn and retain more with active learning. In this interactive seminar, I will share with you some of the different ways I use evidence-based active and inclusive learning strategies to help students learn scientific concepts, to develop their critical thinking skills, and to create equitable and inclusive learning environments in classrooms small and large.

Students arrive in our classroom from a wide range of backgrounds; there is therefore very little that we can assume of our students’ prior experiences. How best can we draw students in and then meet them where they are at? Teaching is arguably about equity and inclusion, as a practice. My approach starts by first asking students to extend grace and kindness to themselves and to others – from there, I use student-centered learning and evidence-based practices to promote equity across the biology curriculum, regardless of class size.

Given the rich diversity of knowledge, experiences and identities among our students, what strategies can we employ to ensure classes – both small and large – are both welcoming and engaging? My classroom methodology centers around evidence-based practices, vulnerability, and deliberate intention: from engaging every student through active learning to spurring critical thinking via ethical dilemmas and infusing lessons with societal context to address historical and contemporary inequities.

Join us for our winter 2024 grad student seminar series!

Presenting...
We need more time!: Temporal information aids emulation of emergent systems
By: Jacob Evarts (Bagheri Lab)

A Fishy Feeling: Development and Maturation of Touch-sensing Merkel Cells in Zebrafish
By: Erik Black (Rasmussen Lab)

Understanding fruit attraction in the Aedes aegypti mosquito
By: Melissa Leon Norena (Riffell Lab)

Join us for our winter 2024 grad student seminar series!

Presenting...
FLP'ing the script: Investigating the protein signaling underlying developmental responses to environmental signals
By: William Albers (Imaizumi Lab)

Ancient (Miocene) temperate forests and climate change in the PNW
By: Alex Lowe (Stromberg Lab)

Agent-Based Modeling of Lateral Root Development
By: Sophia Jannetty (Bagheri Lab)

Recent innovations in biology education research focus on promoting equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by humanizing biology. Research from my lab on this topic can be split into two broad avenues of inquiry, including the impacts of (1) promoting counter-stereotypical role models on student outcomes and (2) contextualizing societal and ethical considerations into biology curricula with ideological awareness.

Stronger metacognition, or knowledge and regulation of thinking, is linked to increased learning, problem solving, and academic achievement. Metacognition has primarily been studied using retrospective methods, but these methods limit access to students’ in-the-moment thoughts and actions. Using in-the-moment methods of think aloud interviews and discourse analysis, we investigated first year life science students’ individual metacognition while they solved challenging problems and upper-division biology students’ social metacognition during small-group problem solving.

There is a mental health crisis among undergraduate and graduate students in the sciences, owing to the extraordinary percentages of students who report anxiety and depression. These conditions disproportionately affect students who the scientific community is trying to recruit and retain, including women, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ students, and students with disabilities.