The Vision Is Set, Now Help Chronicle the Change

Scientists are becoming increasingly aware of the need to approach their teaching with the same expectations for evidence that they use in their science. They are coming to recognize that, just as in science research, research on undergraduate science education has a literature as well as standards for practice. I (M.L.L.) am a recent convert to this way of thinking. I taught for 30 years using mostly a lecture style and believed myself quite revolutionary when I used projected images to make cell biological points in class. I now teach using the results of discipline-based education research (DBER) and do my best to use instructional strategies that are demonstrated to improve student learning.

Note from the EditorsToo often, biology has been considered by both students and faculty as the ideal major for the scientifically inclined but mathematically challenged, even though the advantage of quantitative approaches in biology has always been apparent.Increasingly, biologists are utilizing mathematical skills to create simulations or manage and query large data sets.The need for basic mathematical and computer science (CS) literacy among biologists has never been greater.But does this require a fundamental change in the organization of the undergraduate biology curriculum?What is the utility of math/CS in different areas of biology?How can we best provide math/CS instruction to biologists so that the utility is appreciated?Do all biology students require a stronger math/CS foundation, or only those interested in research careers?Given the speed at which technology changes, what is the best preparation?Three different points of view are offered below.Dr. Roger Brent, President and Director of the Molecular Sciences Institute, reflects on the "innumeracy" common among biologists and argues that significant insights into biological problems may be gained from better mathematical intuition.

“Good luck on your first day as an assistant professor, Dr. Tanner! Have a great class!” On the wall above my desk, these words scream out from an otherwise encouraging note that is adorned with many exclamation points. This note has hung on my wall since my very first day as an Assistant Professor of Biology. As I was charging off to teach my first class, a senior faculty member who had been on my hiring committee slipped this note under my office door. In moments of pause years later, I still stare up at that note and breathe a sigh of relief that I had much more than luck to guide me on my first day as a college-level teacher. Although I continue to have much to learn—as all of us do no matter the number of years of teaching experience—I did arrive at the university with both formal and informal training in science education. I had had plenty of exposure to innovative pedagogical approaches, questioning strategies, and techniques for engaging diverse audiences in learning science. As a scientist educator, I had had the privilege of many years of collaboration with outstanding K–12 educators as well as a postdoctoral fellowship in science education. However, my training has been, to say the least, unconventional compared with that of my fellow junior faculty and unique in its preparation in regard to the teaching and learning of my discipline. It will not be news to anyone reading this article that university and college teaching is to a large extent a profession with no formal training. It’s startling but true that the majority of faculty members—and lecturers who often teach large numbers of students—have no formal training in the teaching and learning of their discipline. In fact, the hiring process in university science departments is structured primarily to evaluate a faculty candidate’s ability to be a productive researcher, with success measured in number of publications and magnitude of grant funds raised. Depending on the type of institution, for example, research university, state-level university, or liberal arts college, there may be a component of the faculty interview process that probes a candidate’s teaching ability, for example, requesting a statement of teaching philosophy and requiring the candidate to teach a sample lecture class. However, this sample lecture often screens for gross inadequacies, rather than looking for stellar innovations or pedagogical skills. This lack of formal, accredited training for university and college instructors stands in stark contrast to the requirements for a high school teacher who is charged with the education of students only a year junior to college freshmen. High school teachers in the United States must be credentialed as a secondary science teacher, demonstrate subject matter competency in every subject that they will be teaching, and must continually engage in professional development in the teaching and learning of their discipline throughout their career as a science teacher. With the 2002 federal No Child Left Behind legislation, the onus is upon each precollege science teacher to become “highly qualified” in terms of formal university-level training in science education. However, no such required professional training or measurable standards for teaching are required in institutions of higher education. Many policy documents have suggested standards of teaching practice in postsecondary science education (National Research Council, 1996, 1997; Siebert and McIntosh, 2001), but the extent of implementation of these ideals is unclear and has gone relatively unstudied, although national and regional accreditation boards do look at outcomes, asking colleges and universities to assess what their students have gained from four years of study at their institutions. Nonetheless, there is a striking reversal of accountability that happens when one crosses the precollege teaching to college-level teaching boundary (Table 1). During the K–12 school years, society expects K–12 teachers to be responsible for student learning. Salaries of teachers in many states are tied to student test scores, and poor student performance can potentially invoke penalties. At a college or university, several variables in the educational universe shift. Students are the ones responsible for learning. The evaluation and compensation of college-level teachers is not DOI: 10.1187/cbe.05–12–0132 Address correspondence to: Kimberly Tanner (kdtanner@sfsu.edu). CBE—Life Sciences Education Vol. 5, 1–6, Spring 2006

CBE—Life Sciences EducationVol. 23, No. 1 Annotations of LSE ResearchFree AccessAnatomy of an Education Study: Asset-Based Research to Uncover Black Science Majors' Community Cultural WealthTatiane Russo-Tait, and Rebecca M. PriceTatiane Russo-TaitDepartment of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2607, and Rebecca M. Price*Address correspondence to: Rebecca M. Price (E-mail Address: [email protected]).School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA 98011-8246Adele J. Wolfson, Monitoring EditorPublished Online:5 Feb 2024https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.23-04-0061AboutSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail The latest Life Science Education (LSE) article annotated as part of the "Annotations of LSE Research" feature (Russo-Tait et al., 2023) is by Stanton and colleagues (Stanton et al., 2021). We selected it because the authors implement participatory action research (PAR) that identifies and explores the assets that Black students use to navigate a primarily white institution. One manifestation of this approach is that four of the authors were Black undergraduates studying sciences. While other literature focuses solely on the barriers that Black students face while navigating the exclusionary racial climate at their primarily white institution, the authors ground their research in community cultural wealth to emphasize the strengths and assets that allow Black students to persist –– despite the exclusionary climate.PAR is a powerful research method because of the way it centers participants from the community being studied as collaborators in the research process: they identify the research questions, participate in data collection, and lead the analysis, with the ultimate goal of using research results as drivers for social justice (Fine and Torré, 2021). Their insider knowledge is an essential component of both framing the research and interpreting the results. The implementation of PAR by this research team is nonhierarchical and builds on the strengths that each team member brings, which is notable given that the authors are undergraduates, graduate students, and professors. The authors contemplate on what made their collaboration under this model successful, including the role that an external evaluator played in improving their approaches to shared leadership.This paper's instantiation of PAR is grounded in a strong theoretical framework of community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005), an antideficit achievement model that is carefully enacted throughout the paper. In this paper, the Introduction provides an overview of the theoretical framework. The Methods showcase the care with which surveys and interview protocols were developed to center the community cultural wealth that Black students drew from. The authors' social identities are part and parcel to the success of this research, and for this reason, they include in the Methods a subsection about their positionalities (Patrick et al., 2022). The Results identify and expand on how Black students at this institution employ specific forms of cultural capital, as well as how these forms of capital interact with each other. The Discussion focuses specifically on "linguistic, resistant, and social capital because of the novelty of our findings in these areas" (Stanton et al., 2021, p. 14) and offers suggestions to instructors on the benefits of valuing the community cultural wealth of Black students.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe thank Omowunmi Oni, Julie D. Stanton, and Adele J. Wolfson for comments. The annotations are inspired by Learning Lens by Science in the Classroom, licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License.REFERENCESFine, M., & Torre, M. E. (2021). Essentials of Critical Participatory Action Research. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google ScholarPatrick, A., Martin, J., & Borrego, M. (2022). Critical research methods in STEM higher education: A state-of-the-art review. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28(3), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2022036570 Google ScholarRusso-Tait, T., Stanton, J. D., Oni, O., & Price, R. M. (2023). Asset-based research to uncover Black science majors' community cultural wealth. CBE—Life Sciences Education. Retrieved January 29, 2024, from https://www.ascb.org/files/annotations/asset-based-research-11-2023.html Google ScholarStanton, J. D., Means, D. R., Babatola, O., Osondu, C., Oni, O., & Mekonnen, B. (2021). Drawing on internal strengths and creating spaces for growth: How Black science majors navigate the racial climate at a predominantly white institution to succeed. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 21, ar3. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-02-0049 Google ScholarYosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 23, No. 1 March 01, 2024 Metrics Downloads & Citations History Submitted: 17 April 2023 Revised: 26 July 2023 Accepted: 17 January 2024 Information© 2024 T. Russo-Tait and R. M. Price. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2024 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).We thank Omowunmi Oni, Julie D. Stanton, and Adele J. Wolfson for comments. The annotations are inspired by Learning Lens by Science in the Classroom, licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License.PDF download

The Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education reports cite the critical role of professional societies in undergraduate life science education and, since 2008, have called for the increased involvement of professional societies in support of undergraduate education. Our study explored the level of support being provided by societies for undergraduate education and documented changes in support during the Vision and Change era. Society representatives responded to a survey on programs, awards, meetings, membership, teaching resources, publications, staffing, finances, evaluation, and collaborations that address undergraduate faculty and students. A longitudinal comparison group of societies responded to surveys in both 2008 and 2014. Results indicate that life science professional societies are extensively engaged in undergraduate education in their fields, setting standards for their discipline, providing vetted education resources, engaging students in both research and education, and enhancing professional development and recognition/status for educators. Societies are devoting funding and staff to these efforts and engaging volunteer leadership. Longitudinal comparison group responses indicate there have been significant and quantifiable expansions of undergraduate efforts in many areas since 2008. These indicators can serve as a baseline for defining, aligning, and measuring how professional societies can promote sustainable, evidence-based support of undergraduate education initiatives.

To the Editor: We would like to bring to the attention of the CBE-Life Sciences Education (LSE) community an online journal, Frontiers for Young Minds (http://kids.frontiersin.org), which is designed to promote scientific communication with the general public, especially young people. Launched in 2013 by a group from University of California at Berkeley led by Dr. Robert T. Knight, Frontiers for Young Minds serves as an openaccess resource that not only creates science literature for a younger audience but also brings kids into the review process. Specifically, scientists write kid-friendly versions of their articles, which are then reviewed by young people in the target age range for the pieces (ages 8-15). Authors "translate" the main ideas in the articles through the use of keywords as well as a glossary section to define any scientific nomenclature. Frontiers for Young Minds uses two article formats: 1) new discovery-to introduce a recent development in science by highlighting a previously published and peer-reviewed article; and 2) core concept-to provide a kid-friendly explanation of a fundamental scientific idea. A science mentor other than the authors guides the young reviewer through the review process. In an online discussion forum curated by the Frontiers for Young Minds editors, the authors and mentors discuss the comments from the young reviewers and work together to identify components of the articles that spark the curiosity of the kids and concepts that need further clarification. Frontiers for Young Minds publishes articles in a wide range of disciplines, including astronomy and space science, biodiversity, health, neuroscience, and earth and its resources. All articles include online profile links to all of the authors and the young reviewers. The submission process is free for the authors and follows an easy-to-navigate online platform to communicate with the editors, reviewers, and production staff.

AAIM Recommendations to Promote Equity in the Clerkship Clinical Learning Environment

Redux: Do Little Bellyachers Grow up to Become Big Bellyachers?

United States: Overview of Cancer Pain and Palliative Care

UNDERGRADUATE PREMEDICAL programs and medical schools should revamp their curricula to emphasize a set of “key competencies” that will help individuals become good physicians, according to a report issued by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The report, written by a committee of 22 scientists, physicians, and educators, outlines principles to help guide school administrators in implementing the approach (http://services.aamc.org /publications/showfi le .cfm?fi le =version132.pdf&prd_id=262&prv_id =321&pdf_id=132). It also recommends several competencies that premedical and medical students should master to acquire quantitative skills and the ability to apply knowledge of such areas as biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and systems biology to medicine. These recommendations are being considered by another AAMC committee reviewing the Medical College Admission Test. The review and recommendations on changes to the test are expected in 2012. A competency-based approach would allow undergraduate institutions greater freedom to design innovative programs and would give students more flexibility to pursue a well-rounded liberal arts education, according to theauthorsof the AAMC and HHMI report. The need for such innovation in undergraduate biology education was outlined in a 2003 National Research Council report BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education forFutureResearchBiologists (http://www .nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id =10497). The report noted that undergraduate biology education has changed little over the past 2 decades despite rapid changes brought about by advances in genetics, research tools, and digital technologies. In light of these changes, biology students need stronger quantitative skills, more knowledge of physics and chemistry, better communication skills, and the ability think in interdisciplinary terms, the report argued.

The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a community dedicated to helping prepare the next generation of scientists to advance our understanding of the cell to an unprecedented level of sophistication and detail. Its Education Committee fosters this process by creating educational and professional development opportunities around best practices in science pedagogy, while its Minorities Affairs Committee aims to strengthen the scientific workforce by broadening participation of and support for underrepresented minorities in cell biology. To act upon these complementary priorities, the ASCB has developed a Declaration on Effective and Inclusive Biology Education. Its purpose is to outline practical actions for stakeholders in undergraduate education at the levels of faculty, departments, institutions, professional organizations, and funding agencies. Its recommendations are rooted in evidence-based best practices to support the success of diverse and heterogeneous undergraduate demographics and are designed to be highly adaptable to the existing strengths and needs of individual practitioners, student populations, and institutions. We acknowledge the ever-evolving nature of best practices in undergraduate education and hope that the dissemination of this declaration will play a role in this iterative process.

Removing the stigma of medication for opioid use disorder

The significance of high bone density in children

There is an emerging consensus that undergraduate biology education in the United States is at a crucial juncture, especially as we acknowledge the need to train a new generation of scientists to meet looming environmental and health crises. Digital resources for biology now available online provide an opportunity to transform biology curricula to include more authentic and inquiry-driven educational experiences. Digitized natural history collections have become tremendous assets for research in environmental and health sciences, but, to date, these data remain largely untapped by educators. Natural history collections have the potential to help transform undergraduate science education from passive learning into an active exploration of the natural world, including the exploration of the complex relationships among environmental conditions, biodiversity, and human well-being. By incorporating natural history specimens and their associated data into undergraduate curricula, educators can promote participatory learning and foster an understanding of essential interactions between organisms and their environments.

Micronutrients in Parenteral Nutrition: Boron, Silicon, and Fluoride