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2010 Learning Interventions Institute: Apply Now  

The deadline for applications for the 2010 Institute for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Student Interventions is 15 October 2009. The Institute will be held 11-14 January 2010 at ASM headquarters in Washington, D.C. The three-and-a-halfday Institute is intended for participants who want to conduct research about how and why students, particularly those from diverse backgrounds, advance in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines as well as the interdisciplinary, biomedical, and behavioral sciences.  

Twenty-two attendees participated in the 2009 Institute. In a post-Institute survey, 100% of participants said they would recommend the Institute to a colleague. Don't miss this great opportunity to network and learn with like-minded colleagues! For application and eligibility requirements, please visit the Learning Interventions Institute tab at www.facultyprograms.org.  

ASM Residency Program and SoTL Institute Assist Educators in Assessing Student Learning Outcomes  

"How do you know if questions are isomorphic?" tweets Julie Reynolds from a conference room at ASM's Washington, D.C., headquarters. "Expert peer review can help validate that questions are sufficiently in a manner similar." Reynolds, an instructor in the biology department at Duke University, was one of 21 participants who came to formulate questions about student learning at the 2009 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Institute on 15-18 July.  

The three-and-a-half-day Institute is the kickoff event for the Research Residency portion of the Biology Scholars Program (BSP). The program, established by ASM and the National Science Foundation (NSF), provides a community of practice, consultation, resources, and tools for biology faculty who are (i) increasing their understanding of evidence-based research in biology education learning and (ii) enhancing their skills in the design and implementation of experiments that assess student learning.  

The typical Research Residency Scholar is a biology researcher-educator who is curious about student learning and asking questions about the effectiveness of his or her teaching approaches. "I have begun a research program focused on assessing the effectiveness of various pedagogies and instructive technologies at promoting learning goals, but I would like to take my work to the next level," explains Reynolds in her BSP application. "To do this, I would like to become more familiar with the science education literature and with best practices in science education research."  

The year-long residency uses a virtual model; after attending the multiday SoTL Institute, Scholars complete most of their residencies at their home institutions via several e-learning and community-building follow-up activities facilitated by Research Residency Steering Committee members Alix Darden (University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City), William Cliff (Niagara University, Niagara University, N.Y.), Carol Hurney (James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.), Jenny Knight (University of Colorado, Boulder), Loretta Taras (Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, N.Y.), and Mary Pat Wenderoth (University of Washington, Seattle). The Scholars' presentation of their research results at the ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators (www.asmcue.org) concludes the formal program; however, the new relationships and collaborations are expected to endure.  

Upon completion of the Residency, Scholars are able to develop hypotheses to explore student learning in biology, design experiments using their classes to test the hypothesis, identify existing resources regularly used to assess student learning, understand methods of collecting and interpreting data used to measure student learning, understand institutional review board requirements for conducting research on students, and identify appropriate venues for publishing their research.  

The NSF-funded Biology Scholars Program supports biology faculty from all sectors of higher education and all subdisciplines of biology. Be a part of the program by applying to be a Scholar. The deadline to apply for the 2010 Research Residency is 1 March 2010, with applications being accepted beginning in November 2009. The Residency will start with a SoTL Institute planned for 14-17 July 2010 in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.biologyscholars.org (and for the rest of Reynolds' Twitter conversation, go to http://twapperkeeper.com/bioscholar/).  

Conference for Undergraduate Educators Wows the West  

Microbiology and biology educators saw old friends and met new ones from countries around the globe-India, Tasmania, Nigeria, Argentina, to name just a few-at the 2009 ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE). The conference, with the theme Microbes: Fueling Drug Development, Bioenergy, Epidemics, Student Learning, and Life!, was held 28-31 May 2009 at Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colo.  

At ASMCUE, an interactive, four-day conference, educators learn and share the latest information in microbiology and biology as well as the most effective teaching strategies. It's "a conference for and by educators," says Donald Breakwell (Brigham Young University), conference steering committee chair. The ASMCUE program includes poster presentations and plenary, concurrent, and exhibit sessions for participants who are all focused on the same goal-improving teaching and learning in the biological sciences.  

"Of the 275 participants at this year's conference, 51% were first-time attendees, and there were 16 international attendees representing 11 countries," says Breakwell.  

The 2009 conference continued the tradition of attracting some of the best plenary speakers in microbiology. Caroline Harwood (University of Washington) discussed bacteria for bioenergy, Thomas Schmidt (Michigan State University) addressed the "Microbial Basis for Life on Earth," Ian Orme (Colorado State University) shared results of his research on tuberculosis, Kim Lewis (Northeastern University) discussed biofilms and drug discovery, and 2008 Carski Foundation Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Awardee Jeffrey Pommerville (Glendale Community College) encouraged participants to become better classroom educators.  

In addition to the plenary sessions, there were "Learn Something New" sessions, which focused on updates in the field of microbiology; "Try Something New" sessions, which focused on pedagogical approaches; attendee-submitted Microbrew sessions, featuring best practices; and poster sessions featuring 47 posters about teaching microbiology and biology.  

"The conference was highly successful, as proven by the evaluation data received from participants," says Marjorie Kelly Cowan (Miami University), chair of the ASM Committee on Undergraduate Education, which sponsors the event. In this year's postconference survey, attendees praised ASMCUE for its focus on teaching, learning, and networking opportunities. "This is a great forum for college faculty to network and share ideas," said one respondent. "It always comes at such a great time of year, too, when I need a shot of teaching enthusiasm to prepare for next semester."  

Conference organizers seriously consider these survey results. Based on comments from participants last year, several enhancements were instituted in 2009. "Nuts & Bolts" sessions, which present tools and resources to enhance faculty knowledge and professional development goals, were introduced; a special travel award for attendees who presented at both the ASM General Meeting and ASMCUE was funded; and exhibit and poster-viewing hours were extended.  

The 17th ASMCUE will be held 20-23 May 2010 in San Diego, Calif. Abstract submissions open on 1 November 2009, and conference registration (online at the ASM eStore) opens 1 January 2010. For details, visit www.asmcue.org.

 

ASMCUE Travel Awards

ASMCUE offers several travel awards to support the conference attendance of exceptional educators who are learning about undergraduate education research and new instructional pedagogies. The 2009 ASMCUE travel award recipients are listed below.

Faculty Enhancement Program Travel Awardees

Donna Hazelwood, Dakota State University, Madison, S.D.
Yolanda Serrano-Núñez, Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón
Janie Sigmon, York Technical College, Rockhill, S.C.
Robert Thornton, Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody, Ga.

ASMCUE Textbook Travel Awardee

Andrew V. Greene, Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio

Early-Career Travel Awardees

Melanie DiClaudio, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Adrienne Dolberry, Salem State College, Salem, Mass.
Julianne Grose, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Rachel Horak, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
Kai Hung, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston
Daniel Isaac, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
Kara Lukin, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colo.
Heather Seitz, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kans.
Amy Siegesmund, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash.
Wei Wu, William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo.

ASMCUE/GM Travel Assistance Program Awardees

Patricia Baynham, St. Edward's University, Austin, Tex.
Sue Katz, Rogers State University, Claremore, Okla.
Betsy Martinez-Vaz, Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minn.

ASM Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship Awardees

Katie Busch, Davidson College, Davidson, N.C.
Jordan Frisch, Dakota State University, Madison, S.D.
Kristen Ruckman, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.
Ashley Scott, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Jessica Thibeault, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, Conn.

ASM-UNESCO Train-the-Trainers Scholarship for International Educators Awardees

Vivien Amonkar, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India
Uchechi N. Ekwenye, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria
Erum Khan, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
Juta Kroica, Riga Stradin University, Riga, Latvia
Juana Ortellado-Canese, Universidad Nacional de Asuncio´n, Asuncion, Paraguay
Verónica Beatriz Rajal, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Salta, Argentina
Armen Trchounian, Yerevan State University and Russian-Armenian State University, Yerevan, Armenia
Sylvia Uzochukwu, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria