Implementing Vision and Change Using Concept-Driven Teaching Strategies

Implementing Vision and Change Using Concept-Driven Teaching Strategies


Welcome to the Feb. 8, 2014 ASBMB-sponsored regional workshop at UCSB.

Your hosts: Duane Sears and Ann WrightKeynote address: Vicky Minderhout

Funded by an NSF RCN-UBE (Research Coordination Networks – Undergraduate Biology Education) grant (2010): “Promoting Concept Driven Teaching Strategies

in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology through Concept Assessments”

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Announcements If you don’t already have one, please pick up a copy of

the workshop booklet provided for everyone. It includes more detailed information about this workshop, its participants, and the activities. It also includes as several articles relevant to this meeting that many of you might find interesting and useful as a science educators.

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The first page of the booklet outlines the meeting agenda and you will see that we will are scheduled to be quite busy until 5:30 pm.

However, there will be lunch break from 12:30-1:30 and coffee break from 3:30-3:45.


NSF-Funded ASBMB project: Background & overview

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Just out: ASBMB’s Accreditation Program

http://www.asbmb.org/accreditation/

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http://www.asbmb.org/accreditation/


ASBMB-sponsored workshops and meetings.

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Since 2010, 12 workshops have held around the country and up to this point, 4 have been planned for 2014, including this one.

With registration numbers around 30 per workshop in the first two years, roughly 500 science educators have participated in these workshops including K-12 science teachers, graduate students and postdocs, and faculty from small colleges and large universities.

In more recent years, registration numbers have grown to between 50 to 70 per meeting, including this one with 53 registered.


These specific aims in the RCN grant have been or are being addressed in these workshops.

Specific Aim 1 (year 1): Identify foundational concepts in terms of core knowledge and foundational principles, research, and skills.

Specific Aim 2 (years 2-3): Create a taxonomy of these foundational concepts and skills, and link them to topics outlined in the undergraduate curriculum recommendations of ASBMB.

Specific Aim 3 (years 3-4): Develop and evaluate appropriate assessment tools for the topics identified in Specific Aim 1.

Specific Aim 4 (years 4-5): Create a toolkit that can easily be accessed by the academic community.

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What do our students need to know and how do we know if they know what we want them to know?

BiochemistryMolecular Biology

BiologyProvides the relevance:

Concepts and Skills

Physics

Provides physical models: Allied Field

ChemistryProvides the methods and

molecular perspective: Concepts, Skills, Allied Field

NO NCH

NC N OC

H3C H3C

CH2COO COO

CH3 CH3CH2

H HH H H HH

Mathematics

Provides the means to evaluate and predict: Allied Field

Adapted from a slide made by Prof. Hal White, U. Del.

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Today’s workshop activities and goals.Group formation according to learning objectives (11:00 to 11:30 pm) Each participant selects one of the top learning objectives identified by the survey and is thus assigned to one group with no more than 4.

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1st group activity (11:30 to 12:30 pm) – Groups refine their selected learning goal and specific learning objective in sufficiently explicit language for the purposes of designing an assessment and learning strategy.

2nd group activity (1:30-2:30 pm) – Groups develop an assessment and associated scoring rubrics to measure student learning of your refined specific learning objective.

3rd group activity (2:30- 3:30 pm)- Groups Develop a student centered strategy designed to promote student learning of your refined specific learning objective either in the context of a classroom or laboratory activity. Finalize and electronically submit your completed alignment table created during the 3 group activities.


Workshop Flowchart – part 1

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1. BEFORE 11 am, participants should look over the learning objectives written on the board and identify TWO objections you would be msot interested in working on during the three workshop sessions.

2. AT 11 am, participants will sign up for just 1 of 12 groups . NO MORE than 3 or 4 participants will be assigned PER GROUP. NO MORE than 2 groups will work on the SAME learning objective.

3. By writing your participant number (on the back of your name badge) next to just one learning objective shown on the white board here, you will select the one group you will be in the entire day (no switching); the learning objectives were identified from the survey.

4. After all 12 groups have been formed, each group will be given a THUMB DRIVE with a “blank” design template Word document that your group is asked to complete by the end of the 3rd session. The drive also has a Word document with the list of learning objectives so each group can COPY & PASTE their objective into the template.


Workshop Flowchart – part 2

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5. The group members should find a good place to set up and work during the 3 workshop sessions.

6. Each group needs to assign one individual to each of these tasks:RECORDER – This individual will record information in the template.REPORTER – This individual will report on the group at 4:30 pmRESEARCHER – This individual find relevant online info.ROVER (optional) – This individual will assist where needed.

7. At 4:30 each REPORTER will give a 5-6 min summary of the groups design template.

8. At 5:30 pm, the RECORDERs will turn in their thumb drives to me for my post-meeting report

Goals: The workshop activities are designed to help guide you through the stepwise creation of (1) specific learning goals, (2) assessments, and (3) learning strategies that target your learning goal. Eventually, ASBMB hopes to use the templates to help in the development of searchable and vetted online resource for instructors and educational researchers to use.


Foundational Skills (Survey Question #8) Group

IDs The top 2 survey selections for the Foundational Skills learning objectives and the learning goals they support. Response Percent

Response Count

D(1-2) Given an experimental observation, students should be able to develop a testable and falsifiable hypothesis. 27.3% 12

E(1-2) Given a hypothesis, students should be able to identify the appropriate experimental observations to be measured, as well as appropriate control variables. 38.6% 17

Top 8 learning objectives you selected in the online pre-meeting workshop survey

Foundational Concepts (Survey Question #7) Group

IDs The top 3 survey selections for the Foundational Concepts learning objectives and the learning goals they support. Response Percent

Response Count

A(1-2)

Students should be able to describe what a mutation is at the molecular level, and how it comes about, be able to predict how changes in a nucleotide sequence can influence the expression of a gene or the amino acid sequence of the gene product (protein) and be able to translate these findings into a conclusion about how said mutation would impact the general fitness of an organism or population.

24.4% 10

B(1-2)

Students should be able to summarize the different levels of control (including reaction compartmentalization, gene expression, covalent modification of key enzymes, allosteric regulation of key enzymes, substrate availability and proteolytic cleavage), and relate these different levels of control to homeostasis.

19.5% 8

C(1-2)

Students should be able to compare and contrast the potential ways in which the function of a macromolecule might be affected and be able to discuss examples of allosteric regulation, covalent regulation and gene level alterations of macromolecular structure/function.

19.5% 8

Allied Fields (Survey Question #9) Group

IDs The top 2 survey selections for the Allied Fields learning objectives and the learning goals they support. Response Percent

Response Count

F(1-2) Students should be able to recall concepts of energetics and order, and apply them in the context of biological macromolecules. 13.6% 6

G(1-2) Students should be able to recall concepts of thermodynamics, and apply them in the context of thermal processes at the molecular level. 9.1% 4

H(1-2) Students should be able to recall principles of chemical structure (i.e., covalent bonds, polarity, the hydrophobic effect, hydrogen bonds and other non-covalent interactions), and apply them in the context of the dynamic aspects of molecular structure.

50.0% 22

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BAMBEd publications with learning objectives.

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Part 1: Introduction: (These are found in your meeting booklets.)Carla Mattos, Margaret Johnson, Hal White, Duane Sears, Cheryl Bailey and Ellis Bell. “Foundational Concepts and Underlying Theories for Majors in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.” Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ. 41:287-8 (2013).

Part 2: Foundational Concepts:John T. Tansey, Teaster Baird, Jr., Michael M. Cox, Kristin M. Fox, Jennifer Knight, Duane Sears, and Ellis Bell. “Foundational Concepts and Underlying Theories for Majors in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.” Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ. 41:289-96 (2013).

Part 3: Skills:Harold B. White, Marilee A. Benore, Takita F. Sumter, Benjamin D. Caldwell, and Ellis Bell. “What Skills Should Students of Undergraduate Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Programs Have Upon Graduation?” Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ. 41:297-301 (2013).

Part 4: Allied Fields: Ann Wright, Joseph Provost, Jennifer A. Roecklein-Canfield, and Ellis Bell. “Essential Concepts & Underlying Theories from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Majors.” Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ. 41:302-8 (2013).


Resource: Reverse Design

Template

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This template is can be found as a Word file with this name

on the thumb drive.

“Alignment LocationAbbr LastNameA LastNameB LastNameC.docx”


Resource: Suggested literature resources.

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This template is can be found as a Word file with this name

on the thumb drive.

“Regional Handout - Literature Resources.docx”


Resource: Concatenated Bloom’s taxonomy.

http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/story.php?title=blooms-taxonomy-thinking

(1)

(2)

(3)

Combined levels

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This resource page can be found in your workshop booklet.

http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/story.php?title=blooms-taxonomy-thinking


Bloom’s Taxonomy www.teach-nology.com

(1)

(2)

(3)

Combined levels

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http://www.teach-nology.com/


Ann Wright, workshop co-host and DBR.

Ann is a Professor of Biology at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.

In addition to her responsibilities as a biology professor, Ann has become a very respected and accomplished “DBR,” or design-based researcher, in the areas of science education that we will discuss today.

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She has included the following article in the workshop booklet:David R. Krathwohl. A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An Overview, Theory into Practice 41:212-18 (2002)

Later on this morning, she will introduce the rational for these workshop activities: “Backward design: A framework for building your course.”


Vicky Minderhout, my other co-host and keynote speaker.

Vicky is a Professor of Chemistry and Dept. Chair at Seattle University in Seattle, Washington.

Vicky is an expert practitioner of POGIL, or “Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning,” whereby students learn by doing and instructors instruct by guiding rather than lecturing. (See ACS Symposium on POGIL in booklet.)

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Later Vicky will discuss “Effective teaching practices and assessment strategies that promote learning in undergraduate biochemistry.”

She has co-authored (with Jenny Loertscher) a POGIL-based textbook, Foundations of Biochemistry, Pacific Crest publisher.

In 2011, Vicky was one of only 27 faculty chosen nationwide for the 2011 Washington State “Professor of the Year” award from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Documents

Implementing Vision and Change Using Concept-Driven Teaching Strategies