NASEM - Biological Collections Need National Strategy, Increased Investment
According to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), biological collections - living and natural history specimens, biological materials, and data in museums, stock centers, research centers, and universities - are in need of long-term financial sustainability, digitization, recruitment and support of a diverse workforce, and infrastructure upgrades. (Source: Eye on Education)
Source: Eye on Education - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Global Biodiversity Goals Not Being Met, Says UN Report
A new report from the United Nations (UN) concludes that the world has not met any of the targets set 10 years ago by the Convention on Biological Diversity for protecting nature. (Source: Eye on Education)
Source: Eye on Education - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Congress to Pass Stopgap Measure to Avoid Shutdown
With negotiations over COVID-19 pandemic relief stalled, lawmakers are looking to pass a stopgap funding bill to keep the government operational in the new fiscal year which starts on October 1. A stopgap funding measure is required because the House and Senate have not yet agreed on and passed appropriations bills to fund the government in fiscal year 2021. (Source: Eye on Education)
Source: Eye on Education - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
American Society of Human Genetics Denounces Unethical Use of False Genetic “Theories”
The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) has issued a statement reinforcing facts about human genetics and expressing strong opposition to efforts that bend genetics knowledge for social or political ends. (Source: Eye on Education)
Source: Eye on Education - September 28, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Community Colleges Giving Students a Framework for STEM Careers
Over the coming decade, our country will need one million more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals than was originally projected. That is the conclusion of a February 2012 report, Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-engage-to-excel-final_2-25-12.pdf), presented to President Obama by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
The report stresses the importance of exciting early on students who are potent...
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
Collaborations Grow through the Introductory Biology Project
When Elena Bray-Speth, assistant professor of biology at Saint Louis University, presented her case study on the evolution of fur color in mice, little did she know that someone in the audience had developed a case on the very same topic. That person was Jim Smith, principal investigator (PI) of Evo-Ed (http://lbc.msu.edu/evo-ed), a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project that currently houses four evolutionbased case studies. "Elena and I met just after her session and I showed her our cases," said Smith, who is a professor in the Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University....
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
Discovering the Biology Education Research Community
When Sarah Eddy began work on her doctoral thesis, she assumed that her main contribution would relate to her field of study—behavioral ecology and the sexual selection of salamanders—but one of her more significant discoveries had nothing to do with amphibians and everything to do with what was going on in the classroom. As a graduate teaching assistant at Oregon State University, she realized how important it was to her to see students truly improve their learning. "It was in trying to figure out how to help students achieve more that I discovered education research literature," she explained. Many biologists...
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
PULSE: Implementing Change within and among Life Science Departments
Many efforts are under way to support individual faculty-member development and course revision to achieve the outcomes described in the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Vision and Change: A Call to Action (2011) report. For their contribution, staff from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH-NIGMS) wanted to support systemic institutional change for entire departments. To that end, they formed the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE) to colla...
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
AIBS Study on Leading Change in Undergraduate Education
Advancing biology education has always been integral to the mission of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS). As part of AIBS's long-range planning process, the Education Committee was charged with identifying how this key part of the mission could be fulfilled most effectively. The Committee met in 2011 to discuss priorities for undergraduate biology education, to consider how to leverage efforts across the biological societies, and to identify what niche AIBS is best positioned to fill.
In December, the Committee made three recommendations to the Board of Directors, proposing that AIBS develop a prototype...
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
Networking to Boost the Skills of Graduate Teaching Assistants
When Elisabeth Schussler arrived at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, (UT) she used her knowledge of evidence-based teaching practices to revise the undergraduate biology laboratory curriculum. Unfortunately, she had little control over how the curriculum was delivered. Many graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) at UT have never taught before their appointment and are neither required nor have the time to attend professional development programs. "Ineffective teaching can derail good curriculum," says Schussler, who is an assistant professor and the director of biology teaching and learning. "If you don't have instruct...
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
The USDA Invests in Biology Education
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) might not come to mind when biology educators are searching for funding to support innovative projects, but the agency turns out to be a welcome partner in the field. In early 2013, the USDA joined other federal agencies and private funders in supporting the second Vision and Change in Biology Education conference. As Muquarrab Qureshi, assistant director of the USDA's Institute of Youth, Family, and Community, explained in an opening presentation, the USDA is concerned about the disparity between the high level of interest in science among younger students and the low number of coll...
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
How Kindling Catches Flame: U-MD Transforming Undergrad Biology Education
At lunchtime, during a busy fall-semester day at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), a conference room is soon filled with research and teaching faculty, laboratory instructors, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and education specialists. The diverse group gathers in the Biosciences Research Building on a regular basis to focus on one thing: improving students' conceptual understanding of host–pathogen interactions. Find out more here.
(Source: Eye on Education)
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
Meeting Undergraduate Life Science Education's Leadership Needs
To understand how to best support academic leaders who are working to improve undergraduate life science education, AIBS conducted a yearlong study, with support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. During the summer of 2013, AIBS interviewed administrators of 16 leadership development programs to learn about their offerings for life science faculty leaders. In the fall, AIBS conducted a followup survey, to which just over 550 individuals responded. To learn more, click here.
(Source: Eye on Education)
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
Essential Ingredients for Sustaining Undergraduate Research Programs
During Nitya Jacob's postdoctoral teaching fellowship, she conducted research with undergraduate students. From then on, the molecular biologist wanted student research to be integral to her career as an educator and scientist. When Jacob took a faculty position at Oxford College of Emory University, the 2-year school had no summer research program for students. To learn more, click here.
(Source: Eye on Education)
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
COPUS--Spreading the Word about Why Science Matters
What do a high school teacher, a former 76ers cheerleader, a hedge fund manager, a college professor, and a former shoe designer have in common? They all spent 3 days together at a remote field station in New Mexico, along with 20 others, working to improve the understanding of how science works, why it matters, and what scientists do. To learn more, click here.
(Source: Eye on Education)
Source: Eye on Education - January 23, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: BioScience Source Type: news
