Susan Musante

Critical Conversations: The 2008 Biology Education Summit

ABSTRACT Representatives from 44 scientific societies and biology education organizations converged in Washington, DC, for the 2008 Biology Education Summit, co-organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

What Is Important to Biological Societies at the Start of the Twenty-First Century?

Research in the life sciences is a large, diverse enterprise conducted by hundreds of thousands of individuals, who are supported by thousands of organizations, including academic departments; research institutes; museums; state and federal government agencies; state, regional, and local associations; and a host of consortia and coalitions. Among those organizations, scientific societies have played an integral role in advancing biological research for centuries. However, the twenty-first century has ushered in a series of economic, social, and technological changes, the impacts of which are changing the fundamental nature of how these societies fulfill their roles and are threatening the continued existence of some of those organizations (Travis 2010). Conversations in the community of biological scientists—especially in the executive councils of scientific societies—have suggested to the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) that individual societies are facing acute challenges and that these might be widespread. Indeed, AIBS itself is experiencing challenges that echo those being discussed by its member organizations. Declines in AIBS’s individual membership counts, along with the changing economics of the scientific enterprise and especially that of academic publishing, have raised significant questions about the sustainability of many of our

Summer Research Experiences for High School Teachers

www.biosciencemag.org July 2006 / Vol. 56 No. 7 • BioScience 569 T others might be concerned about adding to their already long list of responsibilities, David Carr says that spending a summer mentoring a local high school teacher through a research project was completely worthwhile. Carr, acting director of the University of Virginia’s Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce, was looking for an innovative way to interact with local teachers. He applied for a supplement to his National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant through the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program, and as a result Carla Gorman, from nearby Sherando High School in Stephens City, joined Carr’s research team during the summer of 2003. Anyone with an NSF grant in the biological sciences can apply for a supplement (www.nsf.gov/bio/supp.jsp) and invite students or teachers to be involved in his or her research project. The RET supplements provide a unique professional development opportunity for a K–12 educator to participate in what NSF describes as a “research experience at the emerging frontiers of science in order to bring new knowledge into the classroom.” Most of the supplemental funds go directly to the teacher as a stipend, and the rest can help offset expenses for materials and supplies. “You can get a real payback from teachers’ involvement,” says Carr, who also regularly mentors undergraduates during the summer. He found Gorman highly capable and motivated. Her research results were excellent and will be included in Carr’s next NSF proposal. Carr encourages his colleagues to apply for an RET supplement to their NSF research, and suggests using existing connections to local school districts to find the right teacher. “Working with an adult can definitely lead to something creative and significant,” he adds. For Gorman, the summer started off as quite a challenge. She finished up the school year and immediately plunged into Carr’s world of plants: mating mechanisms, inbreeding, and interactions with natural enemies. “It was almost overwhelming,” she recalls, “but doing new research was an incredible learning experience.” Although she received some guidance from Carr and often worked alongside one of his undergraduate students, Gorman had to find many answers on her own. Figuring out the protocol for the lab work required much trial and error, and the experiments took a significant amount of time and effort. She drew on skills developed years ago during her college independent research project, and was reminded of how much she really enjoys field biology. The experience also clearly reinforced the importance of giving biology students actual problems to solve. “Far too often teachers use prepared labs that go straight to the solution,” says Gorman, and “then we wonder why students don’t enjoy the thrill of science. If there wasn’t a problem to solve in the first place, where is the thrill of discovery?” The excitement of doing science is exactly what inspired Lisa Weise to accept Richard Triemer’s RET-sponsored invitation to work in his Michigan State University (MSU) lab for the summer. “Discovering new organisms, learning about all of the types of euglenoids, and sequencing DNA while sitting side by side with a busy research scientist who took the time to work with me was terrific,” says Weise, a biology teacher at Holt High School in Holt, Michigan. Triemer, chair of the plant biology department at MSU, sees the RET work as an investment in the future. He believes that students who are given the opportunity to participate in scientific research before college will be better prepared for college-level biology courses and more likely to pursue science degrees. But teachers need to have the skills and tools to facilitate scientific research. “Although they are asked to teach biology,” says Triemer, “many high school teachers are not trained or offered the opportunity to do scientific research.” The teachers who join Triemer’s lab become part of a supportive research community, discussing challenges, solving problems collaboratively, and gaining essential scientific skills and knowledge. Triemer and his colleagues also benefit from the interactions, learning teaching tips and techniques from the high school teachers. “We can sit down and talk about why something might be boring,” he says, “and ask how we might be able to make things more exciting.” Weise has incorporated the research experience into her biology curriculum. She now supplements her cell biology and evolution units with organism-collecting field trips to local ponds. Her students identify the organisms and match them with genetic sequences in GenBank, the National Institutes of Health’s genetic sequence database. They use software to visualize phylogenetic trees showing the relationships between the organisms. Weise is currently writing up the lessons she developed and posting them on the Internet for the benefit of other teachers. Sharing the research experience with her students was an essential outcome of RET for Weise, who says that her students now see her as a scientist as well as a teacher. Gorman agrees that this is a huge benefit to participating in the RET program. “It’s really important for teachers to gain credibility with students,” she says, “so that they see their teacher as a biologist who can bring real examples into the classroom.”

Teaching Students with Disabilities: Applying and Learning Scientific Habits of Mind

J Hatch, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Minnesota (UMN) and associate curator of fishes at the Bell Museum of Natural History in Minneapolis, has been a scientist for over 25 years. During his career, he has applied innovative thinking and persistence in tackling myriad scientific challenges. When Kate Jirik, a student with severe physical disabilities, enrolled in his introductory biology course, Hatch was suddenly faced with a new set of challenges. The course involved a significant amount of lab work, and since Jirik had severe motor limitations and was legally blind, she would be unable to participate in the same way that other students did. According to Jirik, however, “I didn’t want to be included if that meant sitting on the sidelines watching science go by. I want to be an active participant in what is happening.” While pondering this dilemma, Hatch questioned the fundamental purpose of the lab. “I discovered that the basic goal was to have students understand the process of science,” says Hatch, not merely accomplish physical tasks. With this as their guiding principle, Jirik and Hatch worked together to establish course modifications. These included not only changes that accommodated her physical limitations, such as the use of an assistant in the lab and extra time to complete worksheets, but also ones that emphasized Jirik’s intellectual strengths.“Accommodations don’t always need to overcome a weakness or inability,” emphasizes Jirik. Hatch created new ways for Jirik to show that she understood the lab concepts, and Jirik proceeded to accomplish her goal of completing the course as an active participant. A second benefit of this approach was that other students, with or without disabilities, had alternative ways to learn and demonstrate their understanding. “About 6 percent of all undergraduate students have a disability, many of which are unreported, and the most common of these are learning disabilities,” says Sheryl Burgstahler, director of the program called DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) at the University of Washington. DO-IT’s goal is to increase college and career opportunities for students with disabilities through innovative programs and resources. An entire section of the DO-IT Web site is devoted to the needs of postsecondary educators, staff, administrators, and students (www.washington.edu/doit/Resources/postsec. html) and includes a searchable database with frequently asked questions and case studies. Because disabilities are so widespread and wide-ranging, DO-IT encourages institutions to create learning environments that benefit a broad group of people by following the principles of “universal design.” “The goal is not to lower the standards,” says Burgstahler, “but to design programs and environments which allow all to participate, to the greatest extent possible.” The universal design of instruction (UDI) principles are in a brochure published on the DO-IT Web site (www.washington.edu/ doit/Brochures/Academics/instruction.html). The first principle of UDI is to create an inclusive environment. “Attitude plays a huge part of the disabled student–faculty partnership,” says Burgstahler. She encourages faculty to not immediately assume students will fail because they don’t look as if they can succeed. “I think it is important for faculty to not have preconceived negative ideas about the abilities of students with disabilities,” agrees Jirik, now a PhD student in the history of science and technology program at UMN. Jirik recognizes that there are things she simply cannot do, but “if the focus is on those things, then the possibility of a positive experience is pretty remote.” The principles of UDI are equally relevant and important in lab and fieldwork settings, where some students with disabilities may face the most challenging environmental obstacles. Determining the intended learning outcomes before figuring out course logistics is a vital first step in the process of accommodating students with disabilities (see “Field Work Resources” at www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/ Strategies/Academic/Fieldwork/fieldwork_ resources.html). It takes time to modify courses, implement new teaching strategies, and meet individual students’ needs. And the more time spent on courses, the less time there is for research. Therefore, stresses Hatch, “institutional support is essential, especially for untenured faculty at research institutions.” Burgstahler encourages faculty to be openminded and give students with disabilities a chance to succeed, and to consult the students for guidance on how they can best be included in activities. “It is important for all people to take science courses, since so much of our world revolves around science and technology,” adds Jirik. “When you exclude certain groups of people, you exclude them from an important part of the world.” And who knows, the next Stephen Hawking or Geerat Vermeij may be in your class right now.