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Biology Scholars to Lead National Reform Effort
A Test of Leadership (The Spellings Report), published in 2006, calls for reshaping higher education demanding accountability and transparency in colleges and universities. The report challenges colleges and universities to change from a system based on reputation to one based on performance. In response, the life sciences professional societies established the Biology Scholars Program to enhance biologists’ understanding and practice of evidenced-based teaching and learning. The Program is a multiyear leadership program for college biology faculty to bring about reforms in undergraduate education.
The Program is based on independent, but intertwined virtual residency programs, where faculty employ rigorous evaluations of their own teaching with the goal of publishing results demonstrating improved student learning in the laboratory or classroom and leading colleagues in national efforts to sustain undergraduate biology education reform. The Research Residency focuses on developing biologists’ knowledge and skills in evidenced-based research in learning biology; it emphasizes the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL). The Transitions Residency moves biology faculty who are conducting scholarly work in student learning and advances their performances to publish in biology and/or science education journals and on-line collections; it provides opportunities to work with editors from the leading biology education journals. Each of these residencies provides opportunities to network with other national leaders naturally helping biology faculty to develop as leaders in building communities, transforming professional societies and institutions and sustaining reform efforts.
The Virtual Residency Model
The Biology Scholars Program utilizes the virtual residency model, a format that combines intensive, face-to-face, multi-day training institutes followed by on-going learning communities using electronic communications. Once accepted into a residency program and prior to each training institute, Biology Scholars participate in community building activities, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the face-to-face training. After the training institutes, Scholars are required to participate in regularly scheduled follow-up activities planned throughout the residency. The Program culminates when Scholars have achieved their own professional goals outlined in their initial proposal.
Who Can Apply?
Participation in the Biology Scholars Program is by application. Depending upon one's development toward scholarly work in biology education, potential applicants should apply to the residency that best suits their development. The Research Residency seeks biologists who have been trained in effective teaching strategies for biology education and are curious about student learning. Competitive applicants are individuals who are asking questions about the effectiveness of their teaching approaches. The 2010 Research Residency begins with a four-day intensive Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Institute planned for July 14 - 17 in Washington, DC.
The Transitions Residency seeks biologists who are (i) conducting classroom research on learning, (ii) ready to share their preliminary results, and (iii) prepared to evaluate whether their work is ready for publication and, if not, why not. Competitive applicants have completed their preliminary studies, collected preliminary data, conducted preliminary analysis of their data, and possibly presented their work to colleagues locally, regionally, nationally or even in virtual venues. The 2010 Transitions Residency begins with the Science Education Research to Publication Institute planned for June 14 - 16 in Washington, DC.
The Need for Preparing Faculty for Life Beyond 2010
The 2002 report, BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists called for sweeping changes in undergraduate biology education from the previous 20 years. To be competitive for employment opportunities and advance training, biology students need a stronger foundation in the quantitative sciences, opportunities to practice experimental design and draw connections to other disciplines. Learning today is more active and approaches to problem solving more interdisciplinary. Opportunities for engaging in independent projects and conducting research are being introduced across the undergraduate curriculum.
The 2006 Spellings Report called for reshaping higher education demanding accountability and transparency in colleges and universities. The report challenges colleges and universities to change from a system based on reputation to one based on performance. Regional accreditation bodies require colleges and universities to identify student learning goals followed by assessments providing evidence that students at graduation have achieved appropriate knowledge and skills. In one university system, advancement is based upon ones’ “scholarship that promotes and improves student learning and achievement in the schools and in the university.”
Principal Investigators
The principal investigators on the Biology Scholars NSF Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program grant are:
Amy Chang, Director, Education Department, American Society for Microbiology (Principal Investigator)
Spencer Benson, University of Maryland College Park, MD(Co-Principal Investigator)
Alix Darden, The Citadel, Charleston, SC(Co-Principal Investigator)
Heidi Elmendorf, Georgetown University, Washington, DC (Co-Principal Investigator)
Kathy Takayama, Brown University, Providence, RI (Co-Principal Investigator)
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