RCN-UBE Incubator: Creating a Network of Undergraduate Biology Education Researchers

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

The fastest growing sub-disciplinary group within the emerging field of science faculty with education specialties is biology. Yet, these faculty are isolated and fragmented across the sub-disciplines of biology, and there is no one meeting or society where biology faculty come together to exchange ideas, set research agendas, and build collaborations. We will begin to address this issue by organizing a workshop to lay the groundwork for establishing a leadership, vision and network to promote and maintain scholarly work in biology. We will identify the major advances in biology education research in the past 5-10 years, and determine the major research questions of the field, how to support and advance high quality and rigorous hypothesis-driven research, and how best to learn from the work of our colleagues in STEM education research. The outcomes of this meeting will be a paper documenting the proceedings, a wiki to facilitate networking, and a draft of a full RCN-UBE proposal to create a new society, Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research, SABER. Intellectual Merit: The efforts in the field of biology education research are not as focused as similar research efforts in other science disciplines. We lack a common database (such as PubMed) where our research findings and those of the learning sciences are reported, which leads to duplication of effort and lack of a common foundational knowledge. This workshop will address these and other infrastructural issues as well as set an agenda for future biology education research. Broader Impact: Coordination of research efforts will foster faster advances in how college student learn biology, which will benefit current and future undergraduates, particularly underrepresented minorities, who leave the basic and life sciences at a much greater rate than other college disciplines. By advancing our understanding of how best to help students learn biology, we may be able to stem this loss of talent in biology. This project is supported jointly by the Biological Sciences Directorate and the Division of Undergraduate Education.