2016 NABT Biology Education Research Symposium

Friday, November 4, 2016 in Denver, Colorado

Presentations for the 8th Annual NABT Biology Education Research Symposium were accepted through a double blind peer review process that was open to biology educators and researchers at all levels. The NABT Four-Year University & College Section Research Committee Co-Chairs were Erin Baumgartner, Western Oregon University, Monmounth, OR and Kristy Daniel (Halverson), Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.

We extend a special thank you to our reviewers for their time and detailed feedback.

2016 Presentations

Authentic Research Experience in the Introductory Biology Laboratory Improves Student Perception of Laboratory Skills, Knowledge and Interest in Scientific Research

Jacqueline S. McLaughlin, David E. Favre, Suzanne Weinstein, The Pennsylvania State University, and Christine M. Goedhart, Citrus College 

ABSTRACT: Authentic undergraduate research laboratory experiences are essential to aid in the implementation of science education reform mandates and to effectively train a new generation of biology students who can think critically. These types of experiences have been shown to improve student comfort with, and perceptions of, science and to increase student persistence within the discipline, particularly for underrepresented student populations. Here we present assessment data on a unique four-step pedagogical framework that allows students to develop scientific thinking and practices while authentically engaging in the scientific process. This framework was used to transform a sophomore-level introductory biology laboratory course for biology majors at a 4-year college branch campus and an honors introductory biology laboratory course for non-majors at a 2-year college. The goal of the transformation was to provide students with the opportunity to experience scientific research in the manner in which professional research scientists conduct it through devising, designing, executing, interpreting, and communicating their experimental results. Student responses to the assessments utilized in this study showed improvements in students’ perceptions of their laboratory skills and knowledge, and their interest in doing further research in the laboratory. The simplicity and flexibility involved in the four-step model allows it to be easily adopted for use within the unique infrastructure and resource environments at a variety of institutions and at different levels of biological study, effectively increasing student access to authentic scientific research.

Learned Inequality: Racial Labels in the Biology Curriculum can Affect the Development of Racial Prejudice by Affecting the Perception of Human Biological Variation

Brian M. Donovan, The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) and Stanford University

ABSTRACT: For over a century, genetic arguments for the existence of racial inequality have been used to oppose policies that promote social equality. And, over that same time period, American biology textbooks have repeatedly discussed genetic differences between races. This experiment tests whether racial terminology in the biology curriculum causes adolescents to develop genetic beliefs about racial difference, thereby affecting prejudice. Individual students (N = 135, grades 7-9) were randomly assigned within their classrooms to learn either from: (i) four text-based lessons discussing racial differences in skeletal structure and the prevalence of genetic disease (racial condition); or (ii) an identical curriculum lacking racial terminology (nonracial condition). Over three-months that coincided with this learning, students in the racial condition grew significantly more in their perception of the amount of genetic variation between races relative to students in the nonracial condition. Furthermore, those in the racial condition grew in their belief that races differ in intelligence for genetic reasons significantly more than those in the nonracial condition. And, compared to the nonracial condition, students in the racial condition became significantly less interested in socializing across racial lines and less supportive of policies that reduce racial inequality in education. These findings show how biology education sustains racial inequality, and conversely, how human genetic education could be designed to reduce it.

A Curriculum Model for Integrating the Three NGSS Dimensions and Utilizing Published Biology Data

Louisa A. Stark and Nicola C. Barber, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Martin Fernandez and Jo Ellen Roseman, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C.

ABSTRACT: Realizing the vision for science education outlined in the Framework for K-12 Science Education and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) requires developing curricula that integrate disciplinary core ideas, science practices and crosscutting concepts. Attending to these three dimensions, we developed and tested high school biology lessons and closely-aligned assessment items on natural selection. The curriculum leverages the use of published scientific data to authentically integrate (a) the Life Science Disciplinary Core Ideas of Biological Evolution and concepts from Heredity needed to understand evolution, (b) the Science Practices of Analyzing and Interpreting Data, Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking, and Engaging in Argument from Evidence, and (c) the Crosscutting Concepts of Patterns, and Cause and Effect. Pilot testing the lessons via a treatment-only design revealed significant student learning gains from pre-test to post-test (n=308, t=4.265, p<0.001). Teachers reported on post-enactment surveys that the lessons differed greatly from how they typically taught natural selection but that they would continue to use the materials. Our work provides a model for curriculum development integrating the three dimensions of the NGSS with published scientific data and gives preliminary evidence of promise for this approach to increasing students’ understanding of natural selection.

Reducing College Biology Students’ Perceived Conflict between Religion and Evolution

M. Elizabeth Barnes, James Elser, and Sara E. Brownell, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

ABSTRACT: Up to sixty percent of students in college biology classes have been shown to reject evolution. The source of rejection most often stems from an interplay of students’ misconceptions about evolution and their perceptions that evolution is in conflict with their religious beliefs. While college evolution instructors are often versed on how to provide instruction on understanding of evolution, they are often unsure about how to reduce students’ perceptions that evolution is in conflict with religious beliefs. We asked how our evolution curriculum influences students’ perceptions of evolution and religion. Using an open ended survey, we analyzed students’ perceptions of conflict between evolution and religion before and after instruction. We found that over the course of the module, the number of students who perceived that evolution and religion are in conflict was reduced by half. Surprisingly, we saw this reduction among both religious and non-religious students. This study suggests that by incorporating explicit discussion of the perceived conflict between religion and evolution we may be able to ameliorate students’ perceived conflict and thus improve student attitudes towards evolution. In the session we will provide a detailed description of our curriculum as well as practical suggestions for how to implement our module. 

Using Human Case Studies to Teach Evolution

Briana Pobiner, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Paul Beardsley, California State Polytechnic Univeristy, Pomona, CA; Connie Bertka, Science and Society Resources, Potomac, MD; and William Watson, Diocese of Camden Catholic Schools, Camden, NJ

ABSTRACT: Studies demonstrate that evolution is one of the most difficult aspects of biology to teach and learn due to cognitive and cultural barriers to understanding and accepting core concepts of evolution. Despite the potentially controversial topic of human evolution, research at the college level suggests that a pedagogical focus on human examples is a useful way to teach core concepts of evolutionary biology. Here we report on a project that developed and field tested (1) three curriculum units for high school Advanced Placement biology classes that teach core evolutionary concepts using case studies of human evolution (Adaptation to Altitude, Evolution of Human Skin Color, and Malaria), and (2) a Cultural and Religious Sensitivity (CRS) Teaching Strategies Resource to encourage and help equip high school teachers to promote positive dialogue around the topic of evolution in their classrooms. During the 2013-2014 school year 304 students field tested the curriculum units and 148 students also field tested one of the two CRS activities in 10 schools in 10 states. Feedback indicates that the materials align very well with the criteria established to guide the development process and assessments suggest that they generally increase both understanding and acceptance of evolution among students.

Fidelity of Implementation of Peer Instruction in High School Biology Classrooms

Jennifer Parrish, Grant Gardner, Leigh McNeil, and Tom Cheatham, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

ABSTRACT: This NSF funded DRK-12 project, Promoting Active Learning in Science (PALS), sought to facilitate and evaluate the transfer of Peer Instruction (PI) from undergraduate physics to high school biology classrooms. Participating high school biology teachers (n = 22) used PI over the course of two semesters. Teacher self-report data, classroom observations, and open-ended questionnaires revealed the motivation for using pedagogically-critical aspects of PI varied by instructor. Teachers often chose not to use PI because of concerns that materials were at too high of a cognitive level for their students and numerous adaptations to the pedagogy were made that affected fidelity of the strategy. This presentation will focus on the adaptations necessary to successfully move PI into high school biology classrooms and how to help teachers differentiate PI without unknowingly omitting critical features that can lead to a reduction of pedagogical effectiveness. 

Special Guest Presenter:

Marcelle A. Siegel, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Recipient of the 2016 NABT Four-Year College & University Section Research in Biology Teaching Award

Special Guest Presenter:

Marcelle A. Siegel, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 
Recipient of the 2016 NABT Four-Year College & University Section Research in Biology Teaching Award