1 / 43

Implementing Vision & Change - Innovations to the Undergraduate Life Science Curriculum

Implementing Vision & Change - Innovations to the Undergraduate Life Science Curriculum. April Hill University of Richmond. Why Change? What’s the Urgency?. STEM Pipeline --- Leaking Badly. Why Change? What’s the Urgency?. Loss of students post-freshman Biology

dolph
Download Presentation

Implementing Vision & Change - Innovations to the Undergraduate Life Science Curriculum

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Implementing Vision & Change - Innovations to the Undergraduate Life Science Curriculum April Hill University of Richmond

  2. Why Change? What’s the Urgency? STEM Pipeline --- Leaking Badly

  3. Why Change? What’s the Urgency? • Loss of students post-freshman Biology • 80% underrepresented • 60% for all others • US needs 1 million new STEM degrees for the next decade to maintain global leadership (PCAST, 2012) • 1 Trillion dollars (est) has been spent on educational reform with little full-scale change

  4. Vision and Change Report (V&C) Focus on Faculty and Departments • Design Programs Based on Learning Outcomes • Innovative, Student-Centered Pedagogy • Integration of Authentic Research Experiences • Assessment of Student Success • Professional Development at All Institutional Levels • Resources and Tools

  5. Implementation of V&C • Core Concepts • EVOLUTION • STRUCTURE & FUNCTION • INFORMATION FLOW, EXCHANGE AND STORAGE • PATHWAYS AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF ENERGY AND MATTER • SYSTEMS

  6. Implementation of V&C • Core Concepts • Competencies • ABILITY TO APPLY THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE • ABILITY TO USE QUANTITATIVE REASONING • ABILITY TO USE MODELING AND SIMULATION • ABILITY TO TAP INTO THE INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF SCIENCE • ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE AND COLLABORATE WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES

  7. Implementation of V&C • Core Concepts • Competencies • Student-Centered, Inquiry-Based Learning • ENGAGE STUDENTS AS ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS • USE MULTIPLE MODES OF INSTRUCTION

  8. Implementation of V&C • Core Concepts • Competencies • Student-Centered, Inquiry-Based Learning • Institutional Support • SUPPORT FOR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT • FACULTY RECOGNITION • STUDENT ENGAGEMENT • INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT

  9. Implementation of V&C • Core Concepts • Competencies • Student-Centered, Inquiry-Based Learning • Institutional Support • National Biology Community Engagement

  10. PULSE: Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

  11. How to get the Nation’s Biology Community to Engage in V&C? • PULSE • 40 Leadership Fellows; with leadership experience in driving educational change • Growing community of 1000+ stakeholders • Driving Vision and Change at the Department level • PULSE is an Inclusive National Effort • Anyone can join (Students, faculty, administrators) • PULSE is backed by Give it a PULSE! Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

  12. How does PULSE work? • Representation of Leadership Fellows • Liberal arts colleges • Comprehensive universities • Research universities • Community colleges • Role of Leadership Fellows • Produce roadmaps for Departmental change • Engage community for feedback • Refine strategies for change

  13. How can you get involved? • Join the PULSE Community (www.pulsecommunity.org) • Participate and Communicate

  14. PULSE Leadership Fellows Working Groups • Raising the PULSE – Public awareness campaign

  15. Works in Progress LOCAL IMPACT MAP

  16. PULSEAcademia ShiladSen (Macalester College)

  17. PULSE Leadership Fellows Working Groups • Raising the PULSE – Public awareness campaign • Taking the PULSE – Assessment rubric and recognition/accreditation framework

  18. Inquiry based courses • Student centered • Learning goals rather than voluminous content • Real world examples • Frequent feedback on student progress • Scientifically based course design to enhance the learning environment • Passionately engaged faculty, students, and administration A “model” department

  19. 1) Departmental self assessment What will the rubrics be used for? Where is my department on the path to adopting V & C? Applicable to all institution types. 2) Recognition / certification / accreditation? Longer term. Why is this important?

  20. PULSE Leadership Fellows Working Groups • Raising the PULSE – Public awareness campaign • Taking the PULSE – Assessment rubric and recognition/accreditation framework • Faculty Networks – Developing resources for faculty development www.pulsecommunity.org

  21. PULSE Leadership Fellows Working Groups • Raising the PULSE – Public awareness campaign • Taking the PULSE – Assessment rubric and recognition/accreditation framework • Faculty Networks – Developing resources for faculty development • PULSE Ambassadors – Training PULSE members to work as departmental facilitators

  22. Vision & Change at UR

  23. Vision & Change at UR • Revision of first-year life science courses • Students learn how modern scientists derive important and answerable questions • Students learn to design, execute and evaluate experiments (requires strong quantitative reasoning) • Students learn to communicate to scientists • Students learn to find and use information in scientific databases. • Students will demonstrate knowledge about a real-world biological question or problem.

  24. Pedagogical Approach • Student-engaged • Inquiry-driven • Outcome-oriented

  25. Integrated Quantitative Science (IQS)

  26. PKAL- FIDL: http://www.nimbios.org/ifiles/KeckPKAL_IDL.pdf

  27. Vision and Change Report (V&C) Focus on Faculty and Departments • Design Programs Based on Learning Outcomes • Innovative, Student-Centered Pedagogy • Integration of Authentic Research Experiences • Assessment of Student Success • Professional Development at All Institutional Levels • Resources and Tools

  28. An Integrated Science Curriculum for First Year Students

  29. IQS-1 • THEME: Antibiotic Resistance • Mathematical models of disease spread • Agent-based simulation models to study disease transmission/ antibiotic resistance • Conformational flexibility of antibiotic molecule: computer-aided molecular visualization & simulation /VSEPR, VB, MO, energetic analysis • Semester-long project: Are bacteria present in marine sponges that are resistant to antibiotics and producers of novel antimicrobial compounds?

  30. IQS-2 • THEME: Signaling • Understanding signaling in the immune system upon activation by an inflammatory response • Use of genetic algorithm techniques to generate potential solutions to the traveling salesperson problem • Kinetics of drug binding to wild type and multidrug resistant strains of HIV-1 protease: experimental & computational project • MRI (rotational motion). Gyroscopic motion angular velocity, cross product, angular momentum, torque. Resonance, relaxation

  31. Lessons learned • Allow the idea to come from the faculty and to allow • us to define what we need to make it work. • Allow ample time for both development and • implementation • Focus on group unity and community building activities • Ultimate faculty development

  32. Challenges • “Full” integration of the material • Team teaching with 5 faculty members from • different disciplines • Small departments- development/early • implementation stages • Computer science • Student selection

  33. JCST, 2012

  34. IQS Students Took More Science Courses

  35. IQS Students: more courses, more research

  36. IQS outcomes

  37. IQS outcomes

  38. IQS outcomes

  39. Enrollment trends for HHMI/NSF- defined underrepresented students in STEM

  40. Acknowledgments

More Related