How is GDCB working to improve recruitment and retention of students in our majors?

Science Education Reform and Outreach—GDCB, Biology, and Beyond—

A National Conversation aboutScience Education Reform

• With the internet at their fingertips, students place little value on facts or definitions.

• If we want to engage students, retain them in science majors, and prepare them to succeed, we must teach them to learn to understand, analyze and synthesize information, and enable them to apply that information to address real-world problems.

GDCB co-administers three undergraduate majors: • Biology Program (650+ majors; with the EEOB Dept); • Genetics Major (160 majors; with the EEOB and

BBMB Depts); • Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

undergraduate major (with the Computer Science and Math Depts).

Enrollment in introductory Biology courses increased over 14% in 2011.

• 1200+ students per year in BIOL 212 (Cell and Molecular Biology)

• >60 different undergraduate majors

In CY2012, over half of the GDCB faculty will teach to classes with enrollments greater than 150.

Record EnrollmentsChallenges Present Opportunities for Large Impacts

National Academies Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education in Biology

• Phil Becraft-National Academies Education Fellow• Other fellows and attendees

• David Oliver, Diane Bassham, Jeff Essner, Jim Colbert

Howard Hughes Medical Institute—• Engaging Young Scientists During Their First Two

Years at College• http://www.las.iastate.edu/lasnews/HHMI12.shtml• http://www.las.iastate.edu/LASnews/hhmiogilvie.shtml • Active participation by faculty in:

• BIOL 212-Faculty Learning Community-Innovations in Introductory Biology Courses—12 GDCB faculty

• BIOL 256L-Barb Krumhardt – Physiology students develop hypotheses for further investigation of concepts covered in lab, propose experiments, conduct them and present results

• BIOL 313L-Mike Muszynski, Alexis Campbell, Claudia Lemper

Science Education Reform Initiatives

Science Education Reform InitiativesPULSE—Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education

• Joint effort by NSF, HHMI, and NIH.• 40 Leadership Fellows charged with developing and implementing

a framework for systematic change in undergraduate life science education.

SABER—Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research• GDCB has sent 5 participants and posters to the 1st and 2nd National

Meetings

LAS Computer Advisory Committee Grants• Leveraging Technological Innovations to Increase Student

Engagement and Learning in Large Enrollment Introductory Biology Courses—Coffman and the Biology 212 Faculty Learning Community

• Meta!Blast interactive application for undergraduate teaching and learning of complex science concepts—Wurtele and Bassham

Meta!Blast-A 3D Action Adventure Game Exploring the Biology of a Cell

• Funded by NSF and NIH• Honorable mention-2011 International

SciViz contest• Currently being adapted to align with

learning goals of BIOL 212.• Outreach to India

o Posters on display in 8 science museums

o Video exhibit at Science City, Calcutta (>1.5 million visitors per year), opens Nov. 2012. Eve Wurtele and Diane Bassham

Carolyn Lawrence-USDA-ARS, GDCB

Assessments of Student Learning Long-term analysis of student retention in STEM majors Determining student attitudes towards scientific

disciplines Tracking of student demographics may provide

indications of effectiveness of recruitment efforts

Are these reforms making differences in student learning and retention in STEM majors?

Science Education Reform and Outreach—GDCB, Biology, and Beyond—

NSF Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Proposal—• Improving Student Learning and STEM Retention:

Implementation of Innovative Approaches that Engage and Train Life-Long Learners in Large Format Introductory Biology Classrooms—Coffman, Addis, Reason