Implementing Vision & Change - Innovations to the Undergraduate Life Science Curriculum

April HillUniversity of Richmond

Why Change? What’s the Urgency?

STEM Pipeline --- Leaking Badly

Loss of students post-freshman Biology • 80% underrepresented• 60% for all others

US needs 1 million new STEM degrees for the next decade to maintain global leadership (PCAST, 2012)

1 Trillion dollars (est) has been spent on educational reform with little full-scale change

Why Change? What’s the Urgency?

Vision and Change Report (V&C)

• Design Programs Based on Learning Outcomes

• Innovative, Student-Centered Pedagogy

• Integration of Authentic Research Experiences

• Assessment of Student Success

• Professional Development at All Institutional Levels

• Resources and Tools

Focus on Faculty and Departments

Implementation of V&C Core Concepts

EVOLUTION STRUCTURE & FUNCTION INFORMATION FLOW, EXCHANGE AND

STORAGE PATHWAYS AND TRANSFORMATIONS

OF ENERGY AND MATTER SYSTEMS

Implementation of V&C Core Concepts

Competencies ABILITY TO APPLY THE PROCESS OF

SCIENCE ABILITY TO USE QUANTITATIVE

REASONING ABILITY TO USE MODELING AND

SIMULATION ABILITY TO TAP INTO THE

INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF SCIENCE

ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE AND COLLABORATE WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES

Implementation of V&C Core Concepts

Competencies

Student-Centered, Inquiry-Based Learning ENGAGE STUDENTS AS ACTIVE

PARTICIPANTS USE MULTIPLE MODES OF

INSTRUCTION

Implementation of V&C Core Concepts

Competencies

Student-Centered, Inquiry-Based Learning

Institutional Support SUPPORT FOR FACULTY

DEVELOPMENT FACULTY RECOGNITION STUDENT ENGAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT

Implementation of V&C Core Concepts

Competencies

Student-Centered, Inquiry-Based Learning

Institutional Support

National Biology Community Engagement

PULSE: Partnership for Undergraduate

Life Sciences Education

How to get the Nation’s Biology Community to Engage in V&C?

PULSE– 40 Leadership Fellows; with leadership experience in

driving educational change– Growing community of 1000+ stakeholders– Driving Vision and Change at the Department level

PULSE is an Inclusive National Effort – Anyone can join (Students, faculty, administrators)

PULSE is backed by

Give it a PULSE!

Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

How does PULSE work?

Representation of Leadership Fellows Liberal arts colleges Comprehensive universities Research universities Community colleges

Role of Leadership Fellows Produce roadmaps for Departmental change Engage community for feedback Refine strategies for change

How can you get involved?

Join the PULSE Community (www.pulsecommunity.org)

Participate and Communicate

PULSE Leadership Fellows Working Groups

• Raising the PULSE – Public awareness campaign

LOCAL IMPACT MAP

Works in Progress

PULSEAcademia

Shilad Sen (Macalester College)

PULSE Leadership Fellows Working Groups

• Raising the PULSE – Public awareness campaign

• Taking the PULSE – Assessment rubric and recognition/accreditation framework

A “model” department

• Inquiry based courses• Student centered• Learning goals rather than voluminous content• Real world examples• Frequent feedback on student progress• Scientifically based course design to enhance the

learning environment• Passionately engaged faculty, students, and

administration

What will the rubrics be used for?

1) Departmental self assessmentWhere is my department on the path to adopting V & C?

Applicable to all institution types.

2) Recognition / certification / accreditation?Longer term.

Why is this important?

PULSE Leadership Fellows Working Groups

• Raising the PULSE – Public awareness campaign

• Taking the PULSE – Assessment rubric and recognition/accreditation framework

• Faculty Networks – Developing resources for faculty development

www.pulsecommunity.org

PULSE Leadership Fellows Working Groups

• Raising the PULSE – Public awareness campaign• Taking the PULSE – Assessment rubric and

recognition/accreditation framework• Faculty Networks – Developing resources for

faculty development• PULSE Ambassadors – Training PULSE members

to work as departmental facilitators

Vision & Change at UR

Vision & Change at UR

• Revision of first-year life science courses– Students learn how modern scientists derive

important and answerable questions – Students learn to design, execute and evaluate

experiments (requires strong quantitative reasoning)– Students learn to communicate to scientists– Students learn to find and use information in

scientific databases. – Students will demonstrate knowledge about a real-

world biological question or problem.

Pedagogical Approach

• Student-engaged• Inquiry-driven• Outcome-oriented

Integrated Quantitative Science (IQS)

PKAL- FIDL: http://www.nimbios.org/ifiles/KeckPKAL_IDL.pdf

Vision and Change Report (V&C)

• Design Programs Based on Learning Outcomes

• Innovative, Student-Centered Pedagogy

• Integration of Authentic Research Experiences

• Assessment of Student Success

• Professional Development at All Institutional Levels

• Resources and Tools

Focus on Faculty and Departments

An Integrated Science Curriculum for First Year Students

IQS-1THEME: Antibiotic Resistance

•Mathematical models of disease spread•Agent-based simulation models to study disease transmission/ antibiotic resistance•Conformational flexibility of antibiotic molecule: computer-aided molecular visualization & simulation /VSEPR, VB, MO, energetic analysis

•Semester-long project: Are bacteria present in marine sponges that are resistant to antibiotics and producers of novel antimicrobial compounds?

IQS-2THEME: Signaling

• Understanding signaling in the immune system upon activation by an inflammatory response

• Use of genetic algorithm techniques to generate potential solutions to the traveling salesperson problem

• Kinetics of drug binding to wild type and multidrug resistant strains of HIV-1 protease: experimental & computational project

• MRI (rotational motion). Gyroscopic motion angular velocity, cross product, angular momentum, torque. Resonance, relaxation

Lessons learned • Allow the idea to come from the faculty and to allow us to define what we need to make it work.

• Allow ample time for both development and implementation

• Focus on group unity and community building activities

• Ultimate faculty development

Challenges• “Full” integration of the material

• Team teaching with 5 faculty members from different disciplines

• Small departments- development/early implementation stages

• Computer science

• Student selection

JCST, 2012

IQS Students Took More Science Courses

IQS Students: more courses, more research

IQS outcomes

IQS outcomes

IQS outcomes

Enrollment trends for HHMI/NSF- defined underrepresented students in STEM

Acknowledgments