scholarly journals Formation of the Inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research (iEMBER) Network: Building a Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. mr1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Tennial ◽  
Erin D. Solomon ◽  
Latanya Hammonds-Odie ◽  
Gary S. McDowell ◽  
Michael Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biology Education ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Biennial Conference ◽  
Network Building ◽  
Foundation Program ◽  
Future Events ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Interdisciplinary Networking ◽  
Equity And Inclusion

The Inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research (iEMBER) network is a newly forming national community of practice that engages diversity, equity, and inclusion stakeholders in interdisciplinary collaborative projects. iEMBER was initiated with incubator funding from the National Science Foundation program for Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education. In June 2017, biology education researchers, social scientists, biologists, and program and policy administrators, all with interests in diversity, equity, and inclusion, met to lay the foundation for the iEMBER network. iEMBER provides a distinct forum to coordinate efforts through networking, professional development, and the initiation of collaborative research. iEMBER advances science, technology, engineering, and mathematics reform focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion through the initiation of research teams at the iEMBER biennial conference and outreach efforts at discipline-specific meetings and conferences. The focus of iEMBER is on understanding how to create inclusive, supportive, and engaging environments to foster the success of all biology students and trainees. This report focuses on the structure of the iEMBER network, two takeaways that emerged from the 2017 conference (interdisciplinary networking/collaboration and intradisciplinary broadening participation strategies), and ways for prospective members to engage in ongoing dialogue and future events. Learn more at http://iember.org .

scholarly journals Defining and Measuring Students’ Interest in Biology: An Analysis of the Biology Education Literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. ar34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley A. Rowland ◽  
Eva Knekta ◽  
Sarah Eddy ◽  
Lisa A. Corwin
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Physical Object ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Mathematics Students ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
And Mathematics

Understanding how students develop biology interests and the roles interest plays in biology contexts could help instructors and researchers to increase science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students’ motivation and persistence. However, it is currently unclear how interest has been defined or measured in the biology education research literature. We analyzed this body of literature to determine how interest has been defined and used by the biology education research community. Specifically, we determined the extent to which previously published work drew on theories that conceptualize interest. Further, we identified studies that measured student interest in biology and characterized the types of measures used. Our findings indicate that biology education researchers typically describe interest as a relationship involving positive feelings between an individual and a physical object, activity, or topic of focus. We also found that interest is often not defined, theories involving interest are not often consulted, and the most common measures of interest only assess a single aspect of the construct. On the basis of these results, we make suggestions for future research seeking to examine biology students’ interest. We hope that this analysis can serve as tool for biology educators to improve their own investigations of students’ interest and measure outcomes of interest-generating educational activities.

scholarly journals Assessment of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences: A Meeting Report

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Corwin Auchincloss ◽  
Sandra L. Laursen ◽  
Janet L. Branchaw ◽  
Kevin Eagan ◽  
Mark Graham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Meeting Report ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Undergraduate Research Experiences ◽  
Foundation Program ◽  
Definition Of

The Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences Network (CUREnet) was initiated in 2012 with funding from the National Science Foundation program for Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education. CUREnet aims to address topics, problems, and opportunities inherent to integrating research experiences into undergraduate courses. During CUREnet meetings and discussions, it became apparent that there is need for a clear definition of what constitutes a CURE and systematic exploration of what makes CUREs meaningful in terms of student learning. Thus, we assembled a small working group of people with expertise in CURE instruction and assessment to: 1) draft an operational definition of a CURE, with the aim of defining what makes a laboratory course or project a “research experience”; 2) summarize research on CUREs, as well as findings from studies of undergraduate research internships that would be useful for thinking about how students are influenced by participating in CUREs; and 3) identify areas of greatest need with respect to CURE assessment, and directions for future research on and evaluation of CUREs. This report summarizes the outcomes and recommendations of this meeting.

scholarly journals Investigating Novice and Expert Conceptions of Genetically Modified Organisms

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. ar52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Potter ◽  
Sarah A. Bissonnette ◽  
Jonathan D. Knight ◽  
Kimberly D. Tanner
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Modification ◽  
Real World ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Molecular Behavior ◽  
Biology Majors

The aspiration of biology education is to give students tools to apply knowledge learned in the classroom to everyday life. Genetic modification is a real-world biological concept that relies on an in-depth understanding of the molecular behavior of DNA and proteins. This study investigated undergraduate biology students’ conceptions of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) when probed with real-world, molecular and cellular, and essentialist cues, and how those conceptions compared across biology expertise. We developed a novel written assessment tool and administered it to 120 non–biology majors, 154 entering biology majors, 120 advanced biology majors (ABM), and nine biology faculty. Results indicated that undergraduate biology majors rarely included molecular and cellular rationales in their initial explanations of GMOs. Despite ABM demonstrating that they have much of the biology knowledge necessary to understand genetic modification, they did not appear to apply this knowledge to explaining GMOs. Further, this study showed that all undergraduate student populations exhibited evidence of essentialist thinking while explaining GMOs, regardless of their level of biology training. Finally, our results suggest an association between scientifically accurate ideas and the application of molecular and cellular rationales, as well as an association between misconceptions and essentialist rationales.

scholarly journals RQA integrated with ADI: Empowering biology students’ ability in posing higher-order thinking skills questions

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Astuti Muh Amin ◽  
Duran Corebima Aloysius ◽  
Siti Zubaidah ◽  
Susriyati Mahanal
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Higher Order Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Higher Order Thinking Skills ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
South Sulawesi

Questions serve as an element that can be used to access and stimulate students’ thinking ability. This research aimed at analyzing the students’ ability to pose Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions during the learning process. This research was a survey research using a descriptive quantitative approach. The samples used in the research were biology education students of UIN Alauddin Makassar and Universitas Muslim Maros, South Sulawesi with the total of 92 students. The instrument used in this research was an observation sheet of questioning skills for the biology pre-service teachers. The results of this research showed that the implementations of RQA, ADI, and RQA integrated with ADI learning strategies were dominated with HOTS questions, while the learning using the conventional learning strategy was dominated with the Lower-Order Thinking Skills (LOTS) questions. The percentages of the HOTS questions in the learning using RQA, ADI, RQA integrated with ADI, and the conventional learning strategy were 60.53%, 55.71%, 64.91%, and 19.35% respectively.  This finding indicates that the RQA integrated with ADI strategy contributes the significant impact in stimulating students’ ability in posing HOTS questions in the classroom.

scholarly journals Integration of Simas eric with google classroom: enhancing biology students motivation and scientific writing

Biosfer ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ericka Darmawan ◽  
Muhammad Radian Nur Alamsyah ◽  
Karunia Galih Permadani ◽  
Sekar Jati Pamungkas ◽  
Setiyo Prajoko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Scientific Writing ◽  
Learning Motivation ◽  
Learning Models ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Motivation And Learning ◽  
Improve Student Learning

This research aims to improve the motivation and student scientific writing skill (SCWS) by applying the integration of Simas eric and Blended learning models. This study is a classroom action research method conducted in one of the classes in the biology education program for the National student scientific week (PIMNAS) project of biology education Program, Universitas Tidar. The results of the study were analyzed descriptively. The results showed an increase in students’ motivation and learning outcomes. Students’ learning motivation on average increased by 10.59% and SCWS on average increased by 33.28%. The results of this study can be an alternative reference for lecturers or educators as an effort to improve student learning motivation so that the learning outcomes obtained can increase. Therefore, the integration of Simas eric with google classroom can enhance students’ motivation and SCWS Subjects at the biology students.

scholarly journals Undergraduate Biology Students’ Teleological and Essentialist Misconceptions

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Stern ◽  
Kostas Kampourakis ◽  
Catherine Huneault ◽  
Patricia Silveira ◽  
Andreas Müller
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Psychological Essentialism ◽  
Biological Phenomena

Research in developmental psychology has shown that deeply-rooted, intuitive ways of thinking, such as design teleology and psychological essentialism, impact children’s scientific explanations about natural phenomena. Similarly, biology education researchers have found that students often hold inaccurate conceptions about natural phenomena, which often relate to these intuitions. In order to further investigate the relation between students’ conceptions and intuitions, we conducted a study with 93 first year undergraduate students in biology. They were asked to express their level of agreement or disagreement with six misconception statements and to explain their choices in a two-tier test. Results showed a tendency for students to agree with teleological and essentialist misconceptions. However, no association was found between students’ teleological and essentialist conceptions as expressed in their agreement or disagreement with the various misconception statements. Moreover, we found evidence of a variable consistency across students’ answers depending on the misconception considered, which indicates that item features and contexts may have an effect on students’ answers. All together, these findings provide evidence for considerable persistence of teleological and essentialist misconceptions among students. We suggest future directions for thinking, studying, and analyzing students’ conceptions about biological phenomena.

scholarly journals Influence of incentives on performance in a pre-college biology MOOC

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhang Jiang ◽  
Adrienne E. Williams ◽  
Mark Warschauer ◽  
Wenliang He ◽  
Diane K. O'Dowd
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Male Students ◽  
College Preparatory ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
College Biology ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
And Mathematics

<p>There is concern that online education may widen the achievement gap between students from different socioeconomic classes. The recent discussion of integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) into formal higher education has added fuel to this debate. In this study, factors influencing enrollment and completion in a pre-college preparatory MOOC were explored. University of California at Irvine (UCI) students of all preparation levels, defined by math Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score, were invited to take a Bio Prep MOOC to help them prepare for introductory biology. Students with math SAT below 550 were offered the explicit incentive of an early change to the biology major upon successful completion of the MOOC and two additional onsite courses. Our results demonstrate that, among course registrants, a higher percentage of UCI students (&gt;60%) completed the course than non-UCI registrants from the general population (&lt;9%). Female UCI students had a greater likelihood of enrolling in the MOOC, but were not different from male students in terms of performance. University students entering with low preparation outperformed students entering who already had the credentials to become biology majors. These findings suggest that MOOCs can reach students, even those entering college with less preparation, before they enter university and have the potential to prepare them for challenging science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses.</p>

Message from the Guest Editors

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Tezer
Keyword(s):  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Physics Education ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Near East ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
High Quality Research ◽  
Related Field ◽  
Science And Technology Education ◽  
And Mathematics

It is the great honor for us to edit proceedings of “3rd World Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (SCI-MATH-2017)” held on 28-30 August 2017, at the Bahcesehir University Besiktas Campus Istanbul, Turkey. This privileged scientific event has contributed to the field of educational sciences and research for three years. As the guest editors of this issue, we are glad to see variety of articles focusing on the Physics Education, Chemistry Education, Biology Education, Science and Technology Education, Mathematics Education, Computer and Instructional Technologies Education, Environmental Education, Teacher Training, E-Learning and etc. Furthermore, the conference is getting more international each year, which is an indicator that it is getting worldwide known and recognized. Scholars from all over the world contributed to the conference. Special thanks are to all the reviewers, the members of the international editorial board, the publisher, and those involved in technical processes. We would like to thank all who contributed to in every process to make this issue actualized. A total of 34 full papers or abstracts were submitted for this conference and each paper has been peer reviewed by the reviewers specialized in the related field. At the end of the review process, a total of 13 high quality research papers were selected and accepted for publication. I hope that you will enjoy reading the papers. Guest Editors Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Tezer, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus Editorial Assistant Zeynep Genc, Msc. Near East University, North Cyprus


scholarly journals Early Engagement in Course-Based Research Increases Graduation Rates and Completion of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Degrees

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. ar20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacia E. Rodenbusch ◽  
Paul R. Hernandez ◽  
Sarah L. Simmons ◽  
Erin L. Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Stem Major ◽  
Research Initiative ◽  
And Mathematics

National efforts to transform undergraduate biology education call for research experiences to be an integral component of learning for all students. Course-based undergraduate research experiences, or CUREs, have been championed for engaging students in research at a scale that is not possible through apprenticeships in faculty research laboratories. Yet there are few if any studies that examine the long-term effects of participating in CUREs on desired student outcomes, such as graduating from college and completing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) major. One CURE program, the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), has engaged thousands of first-year undergraduates over the past decade. Using propensity score–matching to control for student-level differences, we tested the effect of participating in FRI on students’ probability of graduating with a STEM degree, probability of graduating within 6 yr, and grade point average (GPA) at graduation. Students who completed all three semesters of FRI were significantly more likely than their non-FRI peers to earn a STEM degree and graduate within 6 yr. FRI had no significant effect on students’ GPAs at graduation. The effects were similar for diverse students. These results provide the most robust and best-controlled evidence to date to support calls for early involvement of undergraduates in research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document