2024 ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators

In this Microbrew I will present a discussion activity for student learning and assessment of the Core Concepts of Biology (Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology, 2009). The activity facilitates both learning and assessment through a dynamic discussion based on articles of individual student choice that engages students with the core principles of biology: evolution, structure and function, information flow, energy and matter transformations, and systems, with addition of ethical considerations and provides opportunities for further discussion and extensions based on student understanding. The discussion activity can be adapted for instructor-led summative assessments and formative classroom interactions. The activity has consistently received positive feedback from students and has been an effective way to connect with students around their interests in biology and stimulate motivation for learning.

Peer mentoring has shown to increase transfer student success and foster an immediate sense of belonging in their academic setting. We have created a Peer Mentoring program to build connections between our majors and new transfer students joining our program. The goal of this program is for students to (1) interact and socialize, (2) provide a sense of belonging for new students within the department and university, (3) offer accessibility and knowledge to navigate RU-campus resources, and (4) increase retention & graduation rates. The peer mentor outcomes is to (1) build and apply mentoring skills, (2) improve leadership skills, and (3) increase a sense of belonging in their major. For our presentations, we would like to share our experience in recruiting students to the program, the process of matching mentors with mentees, meeting expectations and goals, guidance throughout the semester and overall design of the peer mentoring course that students take.

Microbiology lives at the intersection of science and society. Diarrheal diseases and access to clean water, sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health access/education; microbial evolution, outbreaks and vaccination attitudes, the possibilities seem endless. We have developed three course activities associated with primary scientific papers that are accessible to undergraduate students to promote scientific literacy and critical thinking skills, while cultivating discussions on health inequities, and improve students’ cultural and global awareness. Best practices for primary papers and for the creation of inclusive classrooms require some of the same techniques; providing scaffolding of background and terminology, highlighting multiple sources/perspectives and development an environment where individuals are comfortable accepting their own inexperience and listening to the other’s knowledge/experience. We will present the implementation of these through primary papers and associated assignments, student responses to these, and discuss the expansion to other undergraduate classes, including parasitology and genetics.

Have you ever looked out at a sea of empty seats in your classroom and wondered where your students are? You are not alone! Student engagement and attendance are historically low, with instructors at many institutions reporting as few as one-quarter of their students attending class after our post-COVID return to in-person instruction (Basken, 2023; Holstead, 2022; McMurtrie, 2022). Instructors are understandably concerned about negative impacts on student outcomes and interactive learning activities. We will first describe the benefits that in-person attendance has for student learning, then share the pros and cons of teaching practices commonly used to boost attendance in STEM lecture courses. As a group, we will identify which practices are most impactful, and invite attendees to contribute practices and ideas to a collaborative document. Our goal is to provide a variety of options for instructors to serve their pedagogical goals and the specific needs of their classroom.

To “recognize the historical and ongoing contributions of diverse scientists” is a part of the ASM Recommended Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology Education. The use of STEM-spiration Profiles in my courses has allowed my students to learn about a wide array of scientists in the field now, historic scientists, and even some alumni of our college making their way in STEM careers. Introduction of a profile may be linked to course content. While studying bacterial genetics students are introduced to Tsuneko Okazaki, and when learning about the microbiome a profile about Ariangela Kozik is shared with students. Each week students explore a new profile, so over the semester most students discover a person with whom they are able to relate and gain inspiration to persist in their STEM dreams and goals. Students consistently report at the end of the term how much the STEM-spiration Profiles impacted them.

Growth in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in postsecondary learning environments has resulted in a concomitant increase in conversations about the role of AI in teaching and the relevance of AI to students’ academic/professional development. To approach these conversations within the biology curriculum at our institution, we developed a series of “AI Scientist Spotlight” exercises designed to highlight the work of counterstereotypical scholars employing artificial intelligence technologies in a diversity of contexts (e.g., healthcare). Importantly, these spotlights also provide students with an opportunity to reflect on the potential role of AI in their own future careers. In this interactive session, we will introduce attendees to the spotlights that we have created, engage in conversation around their utility in meeting the above-mentioned goals, and brainstorm strategies for how attendees might implement similar spotlight exercises at their own institutions.

This Microbrew is a discussion about strategies to address student math skills, where they are, and to develop competency to perform data analysis in microbiology lab to address the quantitative reasoning curriculum outcome. This session is on the math skills used throughout a semester long microbiology lab and will incorporate exercises for determining cell size using a microscope equipped with a micrometer, how to setup serial dilutions and to determine the concentration of microbes in an original sample after a serial dilution is performed. To improve student learning a unique math skills sheet was developed for the students to refer to throughout the course to help master the needed skills. The participants will discuss these skills and their personal experiences in helping students overcome math hesitancy and inadequate prior math skill preparation.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) enhance student retention in STEM, particularly among students who belong to historically excluded communities. Yet the mechanisms by which CUREs contribute to student persistence in STEM remain poorly understood. Our study explored how enrollment in the Tiny Earth CURE – which focuses on students discovering antibiotics from soil bacteria – promotes scientific self-efficacy and identity, while mitigating losses in STEM persistence intentions that are typical in gateway courses. The session will share results from the study and an overview of the Tiny Earth curriculum.

A series of “Career Competencies” was developed on campus to help students relate what they are learning to transferable skills needed for employment. Instructors across the curriculum have developed assignments to address these career competencies. While many laboratory courses use technical skills and documentation, students may not sense how they would use them in a career. In the Biotechnology Laboratory, the assignment involves a weekly post addressing these career competencies in relation to documentation or other skills. Some weeks there was a required prompt related to a particularly challenging task such as calculating Specific Activities or keeping their lab notebook. Other weeks were free weeks to sense what they are appreciating. Assessment involved “ungrading” based on how many posts the student wrote over the semester and feedback provided. A quorum of students has better appreciation for documentation and other transferable skills relating to career competencies.

In 2023, NexGen-NCLEX was released, a nursing licensure exam designed to evaluate clinical judgment skills. To prepare students for this assessment, new educational resources are required. We have designed novel case studies that are aligned with the NextGen-NCLEX and ASM-MINAH Guidelines to familiarize students with the format of the exam. These self-paced, unfolding case studies have been developed using true patient scenarios. Students must recognize and analyze cues through symptoms, history, vitals, and labs. Using this information, students then generate logical hypotheses and solutions for best patient care. Across these 20+ cases, students are exposed to diverse patient populations, allowing them to navigate caring for patients with different backgrounds, cultures and gender identities. This holistic approach integrates core microbiology and laboratory concepts that students will apply in their careers. These case studies would benefit students and educators alike, by sharing this interactive and accessible content with the allied health field.

Integrating bioethics into foundation sciences courses bridges the humanities and sciences and fosters dialogue on the societal implications of scientific advancements both past and present. As per the 2024 ASM Curriculum Guidelines, understanding science-society intersections and ethical dimensions is crucial. In this session, the audience members will brainstorm and share bioethics topics related to courses. The presenter will describe her strategy for integrating bioethics readings and student reflections, highlight successful topics, and include student feedback. The session concludes with an invitation to work collaboratively to identify impactful reading materials, design assignments, and develop effective ways to share these resources.
Link to Presentation slides.

The rapid advancement of high throughput technologies has generated an enormous amount of heterogeneous data relevant to the life sciences and data science as a whole. This underscores the need to leverage this data to prepare undergraduate students for career opportunities in STEM that may be more data-focused by teaching big data analytical techniques (BDAT). Faculty at teaching-focused institutions such as community colleges, face numerous obstacles when incorporating BDAT in their life sciences curricula including heavy teaching loads, lack of time, resources, and support to develop new curricula. Additionally, bioinformatics software and modules are often written with specific user expertise in mind, making general usage by faculty difficult and time-consuming. Come learn about the NSF funded Consortium for Biological Data Science Education RCN and our planned infrastructure to support faculty in introducing BDAT and curricular supports. Faculty will be able to engage and provide feedback on an Influenza Viral Dynamics Module and view 6 more modules under consideration in this effort created by MC Melendrez-Vallard.

The ability to understand science and think in a critical way is important to modern citizens. However, students struggle learning to read and write about science. Students leave science because they feel unconnected and uninspired by traditional teaching methods. Additionally, teachers struggle finding teaching resources that are effective, innovative, and reliable. This science literacy project provides two opportunities for curricular change. First, student/faculty teams collaboratively annotated episodes from TWiM, mapped concepts to the ASM curricular guidelines, and developed figure reading exercises based on the primary literature in the podcast. Second, these materials were organized into the Pressbook with accessible, inclusive, and complete activities for teacher use. We invite faculty to utilize the Pressbook activities, join our group to learn to build their own annotation teams and generate OER for primary literature-based science podcasts, and investigate the impact of these trainings and materials on student science literacy, identity, and motivation.

Student retention challenges, particularly for underrepresented groups, often include barriers impacting student self-efficacy, persistence, motivation, and STEM identity. To address these issues and promote student persistence, the MARVEL (Microbiology Achievement through Research and Valuable and Experiential Learning) program was developed as an intervention to address these barriers by fostering community, building confidence, and providing early experiential learning opportunities. Targeted interventions include embedding student participation in research symposia, experiential learning, and professional development-oriented workshops into the curriculum of an introductory microbiology course, while guiding the application and reflection of learning outcomes to students’ career preparation plans. Through participation in MARVEL, student confidence and sense of belonging increased as students saw themselves as part of a vibrant scientific community and able to network with other students, faculty, and staff. With continued participation throughout their academic program, students build a comprehensive portfolio of skills while building connections for future success.

Science communication is a key skill that should be considered in STEM curriculum. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of STEM students and professionals being able to communicate effectively with the public was further highlighted. Wikipedia is a collaborative open access encyclopedia and source of information on many science topics for the wider community. In this session we’ll introduce an activity developed in collaboration with Wikimedia Australia. Students worked in groups to assess Wikipedia articles for their currency, accuracy and readability for a lay audience without a science background. An article they generated through AI on the same topic was compared with the Wikipedia article. This activity enhances collaborative learning, critical thinking and science communication in the class, and some key benefits noted by students will be discussed. In this Microbrew attendees will have the opportunity to discuss ways they can implement a Wikipedia based assessment into their own courses.