ESF Roundtable Discussion Descriptions

Friday, March 24th, 2023 at 1:00 PM (Round 1)

Room: Grand Ballroom

Table 1

Active learning: How to get students involved better?

Presenter: Behzad Ghanbarian, Kansas State University

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: Teaching “Natural Disasters” for five years taught me different ways to get students involved in class discussions. In this class, I go beyond the course content and dedicate the first 10 minutes of each session to climate change, a topic that fascinates many students. Based on experience, each session of class may be started by sharing a 5-min video related to a topic that interests students followed up by a 5-min discussion. To motivate students to speak up and share thoughts, not only extra-credit points should be given but also an instructor may bonus students in other ways such as discount vouchers and coupons from favorite places on campus or in town. There are always bookstores, restaurants, and other places that are interested in helping by providing promotion coupons, etc.

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Table 2

Phenology Network and Citizen Science in a General Botany Course

Presenter: Leah Dudley, East Central University

Pedagogical Focus: Data-centric

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: The National Phenology Network (NPN) is a citizen science group that gathers phenological data and shares it. The NPN has an online integrated animal and plant-monitoring program called Nature’s Notebook (NN) which provides standardized protocols for phenological status monitoring and data management for animal and plant species nationwide. NPN resources will be introduced. A semester-long project using NN to observe tree phenology on campus will be described for an undergraduate General Botany course. The project description with supporting documents including formative (module quizzes, weekly observations) and summative assessment tools (Visualization Tool) will be shared.

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Table 3

Biomes Worldbuilding Learning Activity

Presenter: LeRoy Humphries, Southeastern Community College

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Assessment, Collaboration

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description:

This exercise is intended to be a student-active group project conducted over several weeks and culminating in a series of presentations to the class by each group introducing their world and the biomes found there. This activity is only limited by the student’s imaginations and creativity. It is designed to introduce students to the concept of biomes on Earth and allow them to apply this knowledge to a new world of their design. This work has been prepared for presentation to the Ecological Society of America.

The exercise is targeted to undergraduate science majors enrolled in second-semester Biology; however, it may be useful in other classes such as Ecology, Natural Resource Management, Fisheries Biology, etc.

This exercise underscores the fact that biomes are governed by precipitation and temperature regimes and cannot just be randomly located anywhere on a planet. Students are expected to recognize the environmental factors that determine where a particular biome can exist and must map their created world accordingly.

This activity is consistent with the 4DEE approach to ecology education. Examples of the four dimensions used in this exercise include:

The ecological hierarchy – Biomes and biological communities

Ecology practices – Modeling biomes, understanding ecological importance of biomes

Human/environment interactions – Understand how anthropogenic processes impact ecosystems and biomes; how biomes are interrelated

Cross-cutting themes – Systems

Lesson Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson students will:

Distinguish between the major types of biomes found on Earth.

List and explain the specific characteristics of biomes.

Create a “Biome Biography” for biomes found on a world of their creation using the provided template and relate those to biomes found on Earth.

Draw and label food webs for the biomes on their world using the provided template.

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Table 4

Using COVID-19 Real World Scenario to understand Fake Information.

Presenter: Cora Varas-Nelson, Pima Community College

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: Undergraduate students in the first two years of college, even if they do not pursue careers that will keep studying biology, will need to understand science and how to determine fake information. Fake information ‘fake news” is a large problem in the news, on social media platforms, even be found in fraudulent journals.
I aim to provide students with skills to engage in scientific reasoning, apply biological concepts, and increase their awareness about information, in this case using the great amount of misinformation about Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and how it has affected us all.

This module is to investigate a Covid-19 real-world scenario in which we will do a structured review and analysis of information about Covid-19 Vaccines and other vaccines in the past. Students will read and discuss the different viewpoints on vaccines with peers, reflect, and consider their own ideas and decide. In addition, the module will have a section where the students find information on their own before the class and then have a face-to-face discussion. Students will have information to read before class about SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) how fast we had vaccines in production. For instance, we can then review that it was reported in late 2019 in China as the cause of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic Li, Yaqing, et al. 2021.) Also, I would like to discuss the effects on public health, the economy and society. It took less than 3 years and by August 2021 the first Covid-19 vaccine was approved for people 16 years and older (FDA, 2021.)

Lesson Learning Goal:
Students will identify and critique scientific issues relating to society or ethics

Students should be able to:
• Identify consistencies and inconsistencies when provided with appropriate background information.
• When presented with information, identify both scientific and societal ethical aspects.
• Explain how biological concepts connect to real-life situations.
• Value the importance of using scientific knowledge to make decisions.
• Evaluate claims based on scientific reasoning, process, and legitimacy.
• Use visual and verbal tools to explain concepts and data.
• Recognize how biology concepts relate to students’ lives and use the information to make informed decisions.

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Table 5

A Place for Storylistening in the 4th Dimension of 4DEE: Augmenting Scientific Data

Presenter: Anne Cross, Tulsa Community College

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: The purpose of this Education Share Fair presentation is to evaluate the use of storylistening to advance ecological reasoning in the 4DEE framework and to advance antiracism and DEI in STEM classes. The participants will gain hands-on experience in: 1) storylistening; 2) using the CER framework to capture narrative evidence; and 3) assessing the value of storylistening to 4DEE. Our focus will be to determine whether narrative evidence elicited from storylistening benefits or detracts from the scientific evidence concerning an ecology-based target topic from DataClassroom, “Plastic, not so Fantastic.” Participants will gain practice in storylistening and consider its role in 4DEE. Participants will use the CER (Claim-Evidence-Reasoning) framework to record narrative evidence and to compare it to scientific evidence on the target topic. And finally, participants will evaluate storylistening as way to address antiracism and DEI. I will lead a brief learning activity on the process of- and skills to conduct effective storylistening. Participants will then voice their individual stories on the target topic to the assembled group. We will actively listen to others’ stories, identify key evidence in each story, and compile the evidence using a modified CER (Claim-Evidence-Reasoning) framework (DataClassroom) to create a common narrative. The now powerful narrative elicited from active storylistening equals and enhances data and other scientific evidence. I expect an “aha” moment when the participants realize how narrative evidence may be used to better inform ecological reasoning in the 4DEE framework while concomitantly expanding student participation and advancing antiracism and DEI. I will use two resources. 1. Dillion, S. and C. Craig. 2021. Storylistening: Narrative Evidence and Public Reasoning. Routledge, New York. 213 pgs.: 2. Hawley, J. 2016. “Plastic not so fantastic: What makes one country a bigger plastic waste generator than others? DataClassroom: https://about.dataclassroom.com/ready-to-teach/plastic-not-so-fantastic

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Table 6

Lank Back and Renewable Energy

Presenter: Tamara Basham, Collin County Community College District

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Collaboration

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: To mitigate climate change, the United States must transition from a fossil-fuel powered economy to renewable energy sources. Accessing and storing energy from renewable sources requires mined materials. Some proposed mines for these materials occur on federally protected land that is sacred to Indigenous Americans. Mining these spaces will alter them forever and will have large impacts on the surrounding environment. However, the economic and social benefits to local communities and the country could be substantial. Additionally, mining these materials will support the country’s efforts to increase renewable energy production. In this activity, students are introduced to the Land Back Movement and the ethical challenges associated with renewable energy use. Using the proposed Resolution Copper Mine at Oak Flat, Arizona, as a case study, students are encouraged to consider their own environmental ethics and the ethical challenges associated with renewable energy use. Students are introduced to the basic concepts of environmental ethics in a lecture before conducting this activity. Students then watch two videos on their own before the next lecture meeting. The first video introduces the Land Back Movement and discusses how Indigenous American views of their environment compare with those of Mainstream America. The second video reports on the issues surrounding the proposed Copper Mine in Arizona and includes interviews with the various stakeholders in the conflict over the mine. During the next class meeting, students engage with their classmates in small groups to consider and answer provided discussion questions. At the end of their discussion, students are asked to determine whether they think the mine at Oak Flat should be permitted. During the last twenty to thirty minutes of class, student groups share their determinations with the class. This activity is designed to be conducted during a 50 to 75-minute class period.

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Table 7

Lab Assessment of Biological Courses that use OER

Presenter: Thomas Kalluvila, Milwaukee Area Technnical College

Pedagogical Focus: Assessment

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: The purpose of this resource is to adapt new assessment tools to lab classes.

Learning objectives:

1. To present the existing lab assessment tools to the group.
2. To share the new lab assessment resources available as OER for the course.
3. To get feedback from the group to improve the assessment tools.

Concepts or teaching skills participants will gain: This resource will introduce participants to OER assessment tools for lab classes available in OER platforms such as Openstax, Libretext and ADAPT.

Methodology: The resource will be presented to the group, will share printed materials to the group and get feedback from the group.

Materials of the resource:

https://openstax.org/subjects/view-all

https://libretexts.org/

https://adapt.libretexts.org/

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Friday, March 24th, 2023 at 1:00 PM (Round 2)

Table 1

Course-Based Undergraduate Research experience for underrepresented Biology major students

Presenter: Anita Mandal, Edward Waters University

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Assessment

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: In my Ecology class, generally we cover all the basic information about interaction of biotic and non-biotic factors. I am planning to include how pathogens effects on individual, population and community, how species interaction with abiotic factor affects the processes of disease. There are lots of literature available on ecology of disease based on cultural, socio-economic to prevent or produce disease in the population or community. I would like to generate an awareness in my students so that they can make their community aware about the diseases caused by different pathogen in the environment.

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Table 2

Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience for Students Under-represented in Biology (CURESUB)

Presenter: Prabir Mandal, Edward Waters University

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Assessment, Collaboration

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: Undergraduate attrition from science fields is a significant problem in the United States; less than 40% of U.S. students (and 20% of students from underrepresented groups) who start university with an interest in STEM actually graduate with a STEM degree. Attrition from science fields contributes to a shortage of available science and health professionals and teachers, and represents lost investments for students. Science attrition is particularly pronounced in underrepresented groups, which are needed to diversify perspectives. The objective of this proposal is to initiate, develop, and implement the course-based undergraduate research experience for students underrepresented in biology. Incorporating research experiences in undergraduate curriculum is a major goal of this proposal. First generation and underrepresented student populations may be further constrained by a lack of awareness of the benefits of undergraduate research and other barriers. Advances in technologies and informatics used to generate and process large biological data sets (OMICS) are promoting a critical shift in the study of biomedical sciences.

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Table 3

Goldenrod Ball Gall Ecology Lab: Investigating a tri-level trophic system to test the predictions of natural selection

Presenter: Christine Barlow, Ivy Tech Community College

Pedagogical Focus: Field ecology research lab activity

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: Developing robust lab activities for undergraduate biology majors that engage students in field ecology, statistical analysis, scientific literature and scientific writing is challenging.  In this presentation I will share an ecology lab for sophomore-level biology majors that I have developed over the last few years in Northeast Indiana.  In this lab students investigate relationships between goldenrods (Solidago sp.), gall makers (Eurosta solidaginis, a fly) and the parasitoids (Eurytoma obtusiventris, and Erytoma gigantea, wasps) and inquilines (Mordellistena unicolor, a beetle) that exploit the gall maker at a local natural area.  In this system, the fly (E. solidaginis) only attacks certain goldenrod species, and the wasps only attack this fly larvae.  Considering that the gall is an “extended phenotype” of the gall maker, we expect that natural selection will select for gall characteristics that will maximize survivorship of the gall maker.  Students test this prediction using data that they gather in one lab meeting in the field.  Two weeks before getting out into the field, students are introduced to the basic ecology of this tri-level trophic system and then are assigned readings that introduce students to scientific research of this system.  Next students are introduced to the purpose and methods of our lab activity and are challenged to generate their own hypotheses in response to insights gained from the assigned readings.  Students work together to gather galls in the field and return to the lab to investigate gall contents.  Students are responsible for statistically analyzing the class data and writing a professional lab report.

 

 

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Table 4

DataVersify: Integrating scientist profiles with data literacy

Presenter: Melissa Kjelvik, Michigan State University

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Collaboration, Data-centric

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: The majority of scientists featured in educational resources do not reflect the diversity within the scientific community, nor do they match the identities of students reached by these resources. DataVersify materials aim to highlight scientist role models and their stories alongside data literacy instruction. In this presentation, I will share beta versions of DataVersify activities that we used in a nation-wide study. Our research examined which elements of a scientist profile were most beneficial to students who identify as being part of a traditionally underrepresented identity in STEM. While we have tested the ideas and components of these materials, they need further revision and refinement to be a seamless product that can be easily incorporated into courses.

Specifically, I will introduce an activity that pairs a Project Biodiversify (www.projectbiodiversify.org) scientist profile with a Data Nugget (www.datanuggets.org) activity written by the same scientist. (https://datanuggets.org/dataversify/). These merged data literacy activities were created with authentic data collected by scientists from a variety of historically excluded backgrounds.

I will present an activity featuring Biz Turnell, which begins with a profile about their academic and personal identities. The profile includes a question-and-answer interview about their experiences in science and gives information about their personal lives to humanize scientists beyond their careers. The activity then introduces Biz’s research using fruit flies to learn more about oxidative damage and describe a specific project that they worked on. Students then use an authentic dataset to answer the scientific question “How does the level of antioxidants or ROS in reproductive cells affect female fruit flies’ reproductive success?” by constructing an evidence-based explanation. Students then connect back to the core scientific concepts and consider future steps that could be investigated.

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Table 5

Making “sense” out of surface area to volume relationships

Presenter: Jenise Snyder, Ursuline College

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Collaboration, Data-centric

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: Using a multimodal approach, students will explore the non-linear aspect of the surface area to volume relationship in a general biology course.  Using their senses of taste and/or sight with different size candies that are coated (i.e. Reese’s Peanut Butter cups), student will determine how smaller cells and larger cells differ in these relationships.  Students will identify the major ingredients as representing either surface area or volume, and identify their preference for small or large candies based on their size.   In small groups, small and large circular cell areas and volumes will be calculated and relationships will be established.  Cellular structures related to surface area (membrane) and the cell volumes (organelles) will be reviewed as well as the importance of being small.  Concepts of multicellularity will be discussed. Examples along the biological hierarchy are provided and the relationship between structure and function will be discussed.

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Table 6 

Using an Internal Couse Narrative to Improve Student Outcomes in Introductory Organismal Biology

Presenter: Thomas McCabe, The University of Texas at El Paso

Pedagogical Focus: Course Design

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: Despite calls for improvements to introductory student conceptual understanding in topics like ecology and evolution, there is a consistent record of data showing less than desired gains to student outcomes. The purpose of this alternative course framework is to create a narrative progression through introductory biology concepts that guides students in their learning towards improved understanding of organismal biology concepts. The framework is aligned with an increasing progression through biological levels of scale accompanied by frequent callbacks and rhetorical framing by the instructor to motivate students towards a more unified understanding of biological concepts. Participants will be presented with a model syllabus for the organization of topics and an outline of rhetorical points to guide students through the process of integrating concepts through the duration of the course. Practically, this is not a demand to rewrite current iterations of introductory organismal biology, but to consider how a reorganization of ideas may aid students conceptual understanding of concepts in ecology and evolution. The model course structure will be presented alongside other recommendations for curricular reform that have been empirically shown to increase student outcomes in introductory level biology courses, especially those that are high-enrollment. Finally, a short commentary will be presented for a proposed assessment plan to measure impacts to student conceptual understanding of introductory organismal biology.

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Table 7

Training Materials for the NEON Plant Diversity Sampling Protocol

Presenter: Rhea Esposito, National Ecological Observatory Network

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Assessment, Data-centric

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) collects data at 81 field sites across the U.S. using standardized aquatic and terrestrial observational protocols, and the protocols and data generated are publicly available through our website, neonscience.org. We train hundreds of field ecologists to implement these protocols each year at our field sites, and are considering making the materials we use for training publicly available as well. Because these training materials are closely tied to NEON protocols and are not standalone modules, they would be most valuable in conjunction with using NEON procedures as part of a curriculum and for those working with NEON data in their classrooms. In this session, a NEON curriculum developer and a NEON trainer will present on the Plant Diversity protocol training as a model for all our trainings. Each training includes a presentation that provides an overview of the sampling procedure, as well as the background and value of the data collected. Trainings also include a guide to a trainer-led module involving hands-on practice with the procedure that an educator would implement. The trainer-led module is followed by a quiz, which is available online or can be given in person. The final step is a field or lab assessment with the trainer using a standardized assessment checklist. We would like to gather feedback from the educational community about the potential for using these materials in classrooms, particularly related to what aspects of our training would be valuable for classroom use, how they might fit into an existing curriculum, and what potential barriers for use might be. We are also looking for volunteers who might want to be involved in this effort as it develops.

Authors: Rhea Esposito, Liz Knapp, Monique Kerstein

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Saturday, March 25th, 2023 at 2:45 PM (Round 1)

Room: Grand Ballroom

Table 1 

Hybrid teaching in Biology post Covid-19

Presenter: George Belcourt, Stone Child College

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: The hybrid approach to teaching in the classroom is not a new idea as many colleges have offered online courses for years. The hybrid classroom specifically for me came from the need to educate students while being asked to stay home during the Covid-19 outbreak. The approach I specifically used, combined a flipped classroom (a technique in which students are given reading or other pre-assigned work to complete before class) as well as extensive use of Microsoft Teams to be able to meet with students in some form of a face-to-face compacity, this as well allowed students to interact with each other while still following the quarantine protocol. The use of virtual labs such as those provided through Labster also allowed for students to complete lab work requirements while following the quarantine protocol. The important part of using the hybrid classroom is providing multiple avenues for individual learning types. This gives the student the best chance for success.

Using Microsoft teams not only allowed for face-to-face meetings in real time but also provided a teams page specific to the course the student was taking. This allowed for materials and documents to be shared not only from myself but from other students as well. Overall I found that about 75% of students that participated in the hybrid classroom did well as they could work at their own pace as well as found a learning style that worked best for them. The other 25% preferred the traditional classroom and lab as this structure worked better for the way they learn.

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Table 2

A proposed introduction to ethology exercise at the Aquarium of Niagara

Presenter: Simon Bird, Aquarium of Niagara

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Data-centric

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: All animals exhibit species-specific behaviors and adaptive behavioral traits. Ethology is the study of behavior with the goal of understanding both individual species and interacting species in ecological communities. Given the many direct and indirect impacts of human activity on species, populations, community and ecosystems, ethological knowledge is vital for helping protect and conserve animal populations and the ecological systems they exist in. This is particularly true of captive breeding and animal rescue efforts, as well as for conservation in the wild.

This high-school and introductory undergraduate level exercise aims to provide students an introduction to ethology and an understanding of animal behavior through observation, data recording and analysis of aquatic animals. As part of a new initiative to expand the Aquarium of Niagara’s field trip activities and expose students to the science of and career paths in conservation, this exercise adheres to the 5E principles of Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Extension, and Evaluation. Students will be able to engage with animals on exhibit, explore and explain the behaviors they observe and record, and extend their knowledge through pre- and post-field trip exercises and guided discussion, and evaluate the learning process and meaning of their new knowledge. This resource is just one example of new student activities currently being developed at the AON that connect to the UN’s Sustainability Goal 14, Life Under Water, and ’30 by 30′ initiative.

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Table 3

Redlining and Environmental Justice

Presenter: Janel Ortiz, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Collaboration, Data-centric

Audience: Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: In this lesson, we explore the inequity that exists in environmental health and nature because of changes we, humans, have made in our environment. Typically, people who have access to nature are generally healthier and have reduced incidences of respiratory illnesses (e.g., asthma), decreased blood pressure, and decreased chance of depression. Unfortunately, highly urbanized areas have higher impervious surfaces and less greenspace leading to higher temperatures and reduced opportunities for outdoor health benefits often affecting minoritized and low-income communities. These communities are also impacted by redlining which is the systematic denial of various goods or services (typically financial) to residents of certain areas based on their race or ethnicity. Redlined zones, historically, were areas that were outlined ranging from letters “A” being “better” to “D” being “worse” and were generally associated with specific socio-economic groups. The module’s main activity focuses on redlining and environmental health, which is meant to emphasize the differences in access to nature based upon where people live. The students utilize a map with information on redlined zones in various U.S. cities. The map also shows percentage of tree cover, race, poverty level, and land surface temperature within the zones. Using this map, each student group will analyze their assigned city to see how these factors influence a person’s access to nature (i.e., green spaces such as green belts, parks, etc.) and to determine emerging patterns related to greenspaces, tree cover, minority population, median house value, and impervious surface. Students will witness the historical practice of redlining and its lingering effects of environmental (in)justice that affects our minoritized communities through mapping, predictions, reading, and discussion.

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Table 4

When do lilacs bloom? Exploring real-world data in the classroom

Presenter: Sarah Jones, Chicago Botanic Garden

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Collaboration, Data-centric

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: This activity aims to build student data literacy skills by facilitating student exploration of an authentic dataset from Budburst (budburst.org). Budburst is a nationwide citizen science program whose participants collect data on the timing of seasonal changes in plants (phenology) to inform climate science. In this activity, students will use a series of graphs to explore inter- and intra-annual variability in the timing of flowering in a deciduous tree. They will generate ideas about how both natural and methodological factors could drive this variability. Finally, they will perform an exercise that guides them to form new research questions based on the data.

By the end of this activity students will have practiced a variety of data literacy skills, primarily (1) recognizing and describing variability in real-world datasets and (2) describing visual patterns in data and (3) generating new research questions based on data.

This activity will work as a stand-alone activity, or it can be paired with others (under development) that guide students to generate and evaluate claims about how abiotic factors influence plant phenology.

The lesson plan will encourage educators to use active learning strategies by (1) building in plenty of opportunities for discussion/collaboration and (2) by asking students to generate their own ideas and conclusions from ‘messy’, complex datasets (as opposed to leading them to one ‘right’ answer).

Materials: This activity requires no special materials to carry out with students. Graphs and a lesson plan for this activity will be presented to share fair participants.

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Table 5

Creating a One-page Role-Playing Game for Understanding Organismal and Ecological Concepts

Presenter: Darcy Ernst, Evergreen Valley College

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Assessment, Collaboration

Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: This resource guides students in creating a one-page role-playing-game (RPG) based on an organism and its role in an ecological community. Students will research the life history and interactions of an organism and create their own RPG that can be played by other students in the class.

The primary learning objective of this activity aligns with a major learning objective for our course in Organismal Biology & Biodiversity at Evergreen Valley College: Evaluate the relationships among organisms and their environments incorporating ecological and evolutionary principles including the concepts of niche and adaptation.

This resource could be used as an assignment or an assessment, and could be an individual or group assignment. The resource will give students some examples of RPGs from other sources (popular on social media and in gaming circles), a template for their RPG, and discuss how these could be applied to organisms and biological systems. Students will do research and create their RPGs, either individually or in groups, and then play through other students RPGs. Instructors can create an online folder to compile class RPGs and share them with other students. This resource could be used as an in-class activity, an assignment for an in-person class, or an online assignment (group or individual).

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Table 6

Redesigning Undergraduate Environmental Microbiology Lab to Include Authentic Inquiry Based Learning.

Presenter: Philips Akinwole, DePauw University

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Data-centric

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: Generally, introductory microbiology laboratory courses are designed such that students participate in structured or “cookbook” laboratory activities and many of these students have no clues of what they are doing and struggle to critically analyze their results. In order to give my students the opportunity that would engage them in the process of scientific research and ownership of their learning experiences, I developed a comprehensive Environmental Microbiology Laboratory course. This initiative promotes scientific critical and creative thinking, incorporating an independent research module within the course curriculum to strengthen core microbiology concepts and skills. Integrating inquiry-based labs using Biolog Ecoplate allowed students to be engaged through applying scientific processes to develop hypotheses, design experiments, utilize quantitative reasoning, and effectively communicate results. The analysis or data obtained from Ecoplate is termed the “community level physiological profiling,” of bacterial diversity. The goal is to allow students to develop and test hypotheses about environmental microbiology. Students will choose hypotheses that are testable with the EcoPlate; a 96- well plate containing 31 important carbon substrates that allows rapid determination of the metabolic diversity of the bacterial community. After incubation of bacterial soil solutions, the plate returns a unique set of positive (purple) and negative (clear) reactions that allows students to assess bacterial community variations in different samples. Feedback from students showed they enjoyed developing their own experiment with the EcoPlates and appreciate data generated. During the fair at the LDC conference, I will present the practicality and procedure for using the Ecoplates, required resources and possible research topics (microcosm or fieldwork), data analysis (heatmap, diversity index, percent C -utilization, principal component analysis). Participants will also have access to examples of Excel sheets for calculation and graphing and examples of student projects/poster presentations.

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Saturday, March 25th, 2023 at 2:45 PM (Round 2)

Table 1

Enhance the use of OER in STEMM education for Equity & Diversity

Presenter: Carl Morency, Milwaukee Area Technical College

Pedagogical Focus: Collaboration

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division

Description: The cost of textbooks has been one of the major challenges faced by college students affecting the completion of courses and graduation. Then the pandemic happened that exacerbated the already existing textbook price crisis. A survey conducted by the  U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) among more than 4,000 students at 82 colleges and universities across the nation found out an astonishing 82% of the students reported hunger during pandemic and were unable to afford coursework materials. The survey also found out that 65 percentage of the surveyed students skipped buying a textbook. Courses run with zero textbook costs results in higher completion rate and provide all students a fair chance to succeed in higher education.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely available learning materials that can be copied, edited and shared. This can be done freely and legally by using an open license. Considering the diverse socioeconomic student populations of MATC OER courses ensure all students have access to the text book online on day one. Distance education has become a norm due to the pandemic. As OER is designed to primarily access online, it has become a better choice than printed course materials.

During the pandemic, our students had to find new ways of balancing their responsibilities (school, family and work etc.). The technology benefited learners by enabling them to learn outside the classroom with virtual feedback.  Educators had to find new ways to make learning more engaging. Having access to OER materials provided an opportunity to create No cost or low-cost learning possibilities for our students.

An instructor who has taught at Gen Ed pathway of our college for several years said “As an instructor teaching in the Second Chance Pell Program with incarcerated students, I find OER invaluable. OER is the only way curriculum and content can be shared with non-traditional students not on campus. I have been privileged to work with many of these students and marvel at their determination and commitment to SPC3 only possible through OER. OER represents an equitable, affordable, and accessible model of education. OER should be accessible to all students. The needs of our students are not monolithic and neither should the delivery systems we use to engage them. We must embrace new delivery systems of sharing information and differentiating the curriculum to ensure  equity, access, and affordability for all.”

Proposed Activity:

1. Provide faculty the opportunity to explore existing OER materials for their courses and replace textbook with OER resulting in savings to students.

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Table 2

Data science module using EJ screen

Presenter: Alison Haupt, CSU Monterey Bay

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Data-centric

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: This project was borne out of a recent NCEAS workshop on harnessing diversity in data science. We are building a data science module that can be adapted to multiple levels (lower division/GE, upper division, and capstone/graduate). We plan to use the EPA Environmental Justice Screen tool as the base for the module so students can example environmental data science questions with data related to their area. We plan to provide necessary background information (readings, lectures) and tools to access the EJ Screen data and visualize potential local impacts.

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Table 3

Understanding the evolutionary relationships of cool, parasitic flatworms.

Presenter: Lori Tolley-Jordan, Jacksonville State  University

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division, graduate

Description: Onezoom.org is a fantastic tool for teaching about the evolution and diversity of life from introductory biology to graduate level courses due to the easy-to-use platform, fantastic graphics, and information sources easily viewed on a mobile device. This tool is a great way for instructors to interact with students in large lecture courses or for students to have an interactive experience while in an asynchronous, online learning environment. In addition, this website is well integrated with data sources such as the National Center for Biological Inventory (NCBI), the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), and Open Tree of Life (OToL) that can be used to show distributions and ecological information about organisms or more complex questions appropriate for upper division and graduate level students. As all the tools presented in Onezoom.org are open source, no extra fees are needed for the full integration of this tool in teaching the diversity of life. Here, I will share an exercise on the diversity of parasitic flatworms that applies to non-majors’ Introductory Biology along with a modified version of the same exercise that can be used as a springboard for project-based learning in upper-division and/or graduate level courses. This scalable exercise has been used in the Introduction to Biology II courses and a Graduate level Animal evolution course regularly taught by the author. To date, no assessment data have been collected, but anecdotal observations show marked improvements in interest and understanding of evolutionary relationships. Further iterations of this exercise should include assessment, and input from other educators on effective assessment methodologies or changes to the activity are requested and encouraged.

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Table 4

Monitoring and Controlling Quorum Sensing in Bacterial for Bioremediation

Presenter: Olanrewaju Johnson, Navajo Technical University

Pedagogical Focus: Collaboration

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: Multidisciplinary bioremediation is an in situ efficient and cost-effective remediation technology for heavy metals and radioactive contaminants. In this session, attendees will learn complementary microscopic and spectroscopic analytical tools, including infrared-induced synchrotron radiation to characterize and monitor bacterial growth kinetics, biofilm exopolymeric substances (EPS) known as biofilm, and their contributions and challenges to bioremediation and other technological applications.

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Table 5

Using Soil Fungi Next Generation Sequencing Data to Study Wildfire Resiliency

Presenter: Savanah Senn, Los Angeles Pierce College

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Data-centric

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: How can we engage students to look deeper into life in the soil? How are fungal communities associated with post wildfire resiliency? The Pierce College Plant Science program has developed a course-based undergraduate research project for Soil Science students.  Faced with the challenges of COVID-19 emergency remote education, the project was adapted to an online environment. This lab exercise is an active learning introduction to techniques used to analyze soil microbiome data.  Students will also learn about forming hypotheses, what kind of questions can be answered with this data, and practice the scientific method.

     Considering more open-ended questions and experiments fosters innovation and welcomes diverse points of view.  UC CalEDNA (University of California Environmental DNA program) provides low-cost kits and sequencing and hosts Ranacapa (Kandlikar 2021). This activity has been tested in a lower division undergraduate general education science live zoom online course.  It may be appropriate for plant science, soil science, ecology, or forestry related courses.  This exercise engages students in cutting edge data analysis by connecting the molecular ecology of soils to current events that affect our daily lives.

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Table 6

Laboratory activity to explore the functional diversity of fungi

Presenter: Claudia Stein, Auburn University at Montgomery

Pedagogical Focus: Collaboration, Hands on lab activities

Audience: Undergraduate: Lower Division, Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: As part of an introductory level Biology course that covers basic ecology concepts and the diversity of life (tree of life) I am developing a laboratory activity that introduces students to the diversity and the importance of fungi for the environment including human well-being. The lab activity will be designed for one laboratory session (2-2.5 hours) but will be easily expandable for use in higher level courses that go over multiple weeks. I plan on presenting a lesson plan with instructors notes on how to run the lab activities.

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Table 7

Integrating Innovative Research Projects into Teaching Biostatistics

Presenter: Qingxia Li, Fisk university

Pedagogical Focus: Active Learning, Collaboration

Audience: Undergraduate: Upper Division

Description: It is often difficult to maintain student engagement in statistics coursework. Flipped classroom approaches have gained popularity for providing lecture content outside of class and active learning approaches during class time. However, documentation for the development of statistics flipped classroom coursework materials is sparse. Moreover, cross-university collaborations are rare in this subject area. Therefore, we will present the products and processes we employed to create course content and outcome measures for a cross-university flipped classroom biostatistics course. We will adopt the same biostatistics textbook and cover the same topics at both Fisk University and Tennessee State University. The research team has explored biological datasets and adopted a dataset generated from a field experiment that was designed to test the effects of crop variety (four varieties) and planting density (three densities) on mung bean growth, physiology, and yield using a randomized block design with three blocks. A course project is designed to include commonly used statistical methods such as descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and regression to analyze this dataset.  Regarding outcomes, we created a comprehensive quiz as the primary outcomes measure but included STEM career and interest measures to detect changes in student attitudes. We also created record-keeping forms to help assure course content is delivered as intended.

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