Terry L. Derting

What We Say Is Not What We Do: Effective Evaluation of Faculty Professional Development Programs

Professional development (PD) workshops designed to help faculty move from teacher- to learner-centered science courses for undergraduates are typically evaluated with self-reported surveys that address facultys satisfaction with a workshop, what they learned, and what they applied in the classroom. Professional development outcomes are seldom evaluated through analysis of observed teaching practices. We analyzed videotapes of biology faculty teaching following PD to address three questions: (1) How learner centered was their teaching? (2) Did self-reported data about faculty teaching differ from the data from independent observers? (3) What variables predict teaching practices by faculty? Following PD, 89% of the respondents stated that they made changes in their courses that included active, learner-centered instruction. In contrast, observational data showed that participation in PD did not result in learner-centered teaching. The majority of faculty (75%) used lecture-based, teacher-centered pedagogy, showing a clear disconnect between facultys perceptions of their teaching and their actual practices.

Immune Response, Not Immune Maintenance, Is Energetically Costly in Wild White‐Footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus)

Understanding the cost of immune function is essential for more accurate characterization of energy budgets of animals and better understanding of the role of immunity in the evolution of life‐history strategies. We examined the energetic cost of maintaining a normally functioning immune system and mounting a mild immune response in wild male white‐footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus). To evaluate the cost of maintaining immunocompetence, we compared resting and daily metabolic rates (RMR; DMR) and masses of body organs of mice whose immune systems were suppressed by cyclophosphamide with those of control mice. To evaluate the cost of mounting an immune response, we measured RMR, DMR, and organ masses in mice whose humoral and cell‐mediated immune responses had been stimulated by injections of sheep red blood cells and phytohemagglutinin, respectively. Immunosuppression resulted in a significant reduction in circulating leukocytes, by 225%, but no significant effect on metabolic rates or organ masses. Immunochallenged animals showed no significant differences in metabolic rates compared with control animals but did exhibit significantly smaller dry masses of the small intestine and testes, by 74% and 22%, respectively. We concluded that the cost of maintaining the immune system was minimal. In contrast, there was a significant energetic cost of mounting an immune response that, depending on its magnitude, can be met through reductions in energy allocation to other physiological systems.

Learner-Centered Inquiry in Undergraduate Biology: Positive Relationships with Long-Term Student Achievement

We determined short- and long-term correlates of a revised introductory biology curriculum on understanding of biology as a process of inquiry and learning of content. In the original curriculum students completed two traditional lecture-based introductory courses. In the revised curriculum students completed two new learner-centered, inquiry-based courses. The new courses differed significantly from those of the original curriculum through emphases on critical thinking, collaborative work, and/or inquiry-based activities. Assessments were administered to compare student understanding of the process of biological science and content knowledge in the two curricula. More seniors who completed the revised curriculum had high-level profiles on the Views About Science Survey for Biology compared with seniors who completed the original curriculum. Also as seniors, students who completed the revised curriculum scored higher on the standardized Biology Field Test. Our results showed that an intense inquiry-based learner-centered learning experience early in the biology curriculum was associated with long-term improvements in learning. We propose that students learned to learn science in the new courses which, in turn, influenced their learning in subsequent courses. Studies that determine causal effects of learner-centered inquiry-based approaches, rather than correlative relationships, are needed to test our proposed explanation.

Metabolism and Food Availability as Regulators of Production in Juvenile Cotton Rats

Recent studies have shown positive relationships between mass-specific rates of basal metabolism (BMR) and production rates for interspecific comparisons of mammals. This study investigated associations between BMR and production rates by determining whether simultaneous increases in BMR and production occur at the individual level. Growth, reproductive development, and food-processing rates of juvenile Sigmodon his- pidus with naturally occurring or experimentally elevated levels of BMR and with ad libitum or restricted food availability were compared. When food was readily available, elevated BMR was associated with higher ingestion rates, faster and more efficient growth, and earlier sexual development. When food was restricted, elevated BMR was associated with severely reduced mass gains. These results suggest that basal metabolism, either directly or indirectly, contributes to mammalian rates of production.

Changes in Gut Capacity with Lactation and Cold Exposure in a Species with Low Rates of Energy Use, the Pine Vole (Microtus pinetorum)

Interspecific differences in the adaptive capacity of the gut may contribute to interspecific differences in rate of energy use and life‐history traits. We tested the hypothesis that changes in gut capacity when energy demands are elevated are similar in species with low average rates of energy use compared with a species with higher average rates of energy use. We measured changes in gut capacity in Microtus pinetorum, a species with low average rates of energy use, and compared these with published data of changes in gut capacity of other rodent species with higher average rates of energy use. We quantified food ingestion, daily metabolic rate, resting metabolic rate, and gut organ masses, lengths, and functional volumes in nonre‐producing, lactating, and cold‐exposed females. Cold‐exposed females had significantly higher, and lactating females moderately higher, mass‐independent daily metabolic rates than control females. No significant changes in the mass or length of the intestinal organs occurred with cold exposure. Length, but not mass, of the gut was significantly greater in lactating females and functional volume was greater in cold‐exposed females, compared with control females, independent of body mass. These changes in gut capacity were much less extensive than those reported for other rodent species. Interspecific differences in gut capacity were not attributable to differences in rates of ingestion and energy need among species. A large adaptive capacity of the gut or maintenance of a large reserve capacity may be a requirement for high rates of energy use and may contribute to the positive interspecific correlations that exist between rates of growth and reproduction and energy use for maintenance metabolism.

Energy Demand, Diet Quality, and Central Processing Organs in Wild White-Footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus)

Abstract To understand the importance of plasticity of central processing organs (i.e., stomach and intestinal organs) to animals in the wild, field studies of changes in organs and their relationships with variable environmental conditions and energy demands are needed. We determined relationships among diet quality, indicators of energy demand, sizes of central processing organs, and rate of nutrient uptake in free-living white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in western Kentucky. Moderate winters and dry summers characterized the study site. In contrast to studies conducted in more extreme environments, we found limited differences in the sizes and function of central processing organs among seasons. Masses, but not lengths of intestinal organs or the rate of glucose uptake, differed among seasons. Heart and spleen masses, but not masses of the lungs, kidneys, or liver, also differed among seasons. Differences in the amount of food ingested and percentage of protein in the diet were likely contributors to seasonal differences in intestinal organ masses. Lactation was associated with heavier masses of all central processing organs and increased rate of glucose uptake, but not with heavier masses of vital organs. Greater size and function of intestinal organs during lactation was attributed primarily to high energy demand and secondarily to diet. We postulated that large changes in size and function of central processing organs in free-living mammals occur during intense, but not moderate, changes in energy demand and diet composition and are dependent on the type of energy demand incurred.

Breaking the Cycle: Future Faculty Begin Teaching with Learner-Centered Strategies after Professional Development

The authors investigated the extent to which postdoctoral fellows believed in and implemented evidence-based pedagogies after completion of a 2-yr professional development program, FIRST IV. Postdocs reported greater use of learner-centered compared with teacher-centered instruction, and video ratings further documented learner-centered instruction.

Positive effects of testosterone and immunochallenge on energy allocation to reproductive organs

A number of studies have suggested the incompatibility of simultaneous increases in immune and reproductive functions. Other research has indicated that immune responses may be modulated depending on the relative benefits of increased survival and prospects for current and future reproduction. We tested the hypothesis that energy allocation to reproductive and other organ systems is not affected by testosterone level and energy expenditure on immune functions. Adult male white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) with or without elevated testosterone levels and with or without immunochallenges were tested. Testosterone treatment was associated with reduced humoral immune response indicating immunosuppressive effects, reduced masses of gastrointestinal organs, reduced corticosterone level, increased kidney and seminal vesicle masses, and increased hematocrit. Immunochallenge was associated with increased resting metabolic rate and testes and seminal vesicle masses. Reproductive organ masses were greatest in immunochallenged mice with exogenous testosterone. Simultaneous increases in energy allocation to immune and reproductive structures may be an adaptive response that would enhance survival and current prospects for reproduction.

Undergraduate Views of Academic Misconduct in the Biological Sciences

T HE study of ethics and ethical problems in the sciences has become increasingly common in undergraduate education. In addition to traditional courses offered by departments of philosophy, numerous institutions now incorporate the study of ethics into science courses and/or offer a specific science course on ethics. A virtual flood of texts on ethics, as it relates to scientific topics, are now on the market. While numerous publications examine scientific misconduct in the professional world, few address these issues in the context of preprofessional students and their actions as scientists in the classroom, particularly at the secondary and undergraduate level. A report on ethically questionable behavior among graduate students and their faculty revealed that such behavior was widespread in some graduate departments (Swazey, Anderson & Lewis 1993). It is probable that similar misconduct exists amongst students during their earlier education. The purpose of

Assessing faculty professional development in STEM higher education: Sustainability of outcomes

New faculty sustained the implementation of learner-centered courses in biology following professional development. We tested the effectiveness of Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching IV (FIRST), a professional development program for postdoctoral scholars, by conducting a study of program alumni. Faculty professional development programs are critical components of efforts to improve teaching and learning in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines, but reliable evidence of the sustained impacts of these programs is lacking. We used a paired design in which we matched a FIRST alumnus employed in a tenure-track position with a non-FIRST faculty member at the same institution. The members of a pair taught courses that were of similar size and level. To determine whether teaching practices of FIRST participants were more learner-centered than those of non-FIRST faculty, we compared faculty perceptions of their teaching strategies, perceptions of environmental factors that influence teaching, and actual teaching practice. Non-FIRST and FIRST faculty reported similar perceptions of their teaching strategies and teaching environment. FIRST faculty reported using active learning and interactive engagement in lecture sessions more frequently compared with non-FIRST faculty. Ratings from external reviewers also documented that FIRST faculty taught class sessions that were learner-centered, contrasting with the teacher-centered class sessions of most non-FIRST faculty. Despite marked differences in teaching practice, FIRST and non-FIRST participants used assessments that targeted lower-level cognitive skills. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of the FIRST program and the empirical utility of comparison groups, where groups are well matched and controlled for contextual variables (for example, departments), for evaluating the effectiveness of professional development for subsequent teaching practices.