2024 ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators

Our study examines the barriers and bridges to DEIB among STEM students, whether undergraduate STEM majors identify as scientists, and whether identifying as a scientist leads to increased feelings of inclusion and belonging. Prior research has focused on science identity as a driver of DEIB among STEM majors. However, nearly all of these studies have utilized quantitative measures with little attention paid to how science identity relates to a broader sense of inclusion and belonging among STEM students. The current study fills this gap by presenting both quantitative and qualitative data on barriers and bridges to inclusion and belonging.

Students can encounter challenges interpreting the abstract ways that biologists represent DNA. We developed two online interactive learning tools to help students develop the visual literacy skills that are necessary for accurately interpreting abstract representations in molecular biology. These tools use animations and gameplay that can help students learn to distinguish between the shapes and symbols that represent nucleotides, genes, and chromosomes. We will discuss scaffolding visual literacy skills into instruction to address common errors in student interpretation of representations in molecular biology. Attendees should bring a laptop to this session if possible.

Access the Interactive DNA Landscape here: https://www.crystaluminski.com/dna-landscape

Play the Twisted Ladder game here (desktop only): https://noscopegreatsword.itch.io/visual-literacy-dna

Team teaching can be powerful for enhancing student learning, supporting instructor growth and well-being, and reducing burnout. At its best, team teaching promotes effective course design, diversifies role models for students, and provides peer mentorship and support for instructors. However, team teaching can also present challenges, introducing conflicting student expectations, course design approaches, and classroom management strategies. In this session, attendees will use our adaptation of a teaching values assessment tool to reflect on their own teaching values and priorities and practice using the tool to facilitate open communication and co-planning between members of a teaching team.

In this workshop, participants will learn how the Biologists and Graph Interpretation (BioGraphI) Project, an NSF-funded initiative, can help them improve student persistence in biology through increasing representation of diverse scientists and integrating data interpretation skills in the curriculum. As a Research Coordination Network of faculty, we create and publish Open Educational Resources in online Faculty Mentoring Networks (FMNs), conduct workshops on curriculum implementation, and collaborate with similar initiatives. Participants will explore existing BioGraphI lessons and will be guided on how to align a lesson to their course’s goals and student audience and measure the efficacy of curriculum implementation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the importance of understanding viruses, but also the challenges with misinformation about and misunderstanding of viral evolution, control, and treatment. Educating undergraduates about viruses can help mitigate these challenges, but virology is not always offered at this level. In part, this is due to the complexity of viruses, and finding time in the curriculum to include virology. Here, session participants will be introduced to recently-developed undergraduate virology curriculum guidelines and example learning objectives, to develop (or modify) their microbiology (and/or introductory biology) course(s) to help their students better learn this important material.

Program Officers will give a brief introduction to recent funding opportunities, priorities within the Biological Sciences Directorate, and tips on preparing a successful proposal. Come and bring your questions.

Special Science talk!

Bacterial lifestyle transitions can occur over short evolutionary distances where closely related host-associated strains may be pathogenic or beneficial. In strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens, transitions between pathogenic and mutualistic lifestyles are the result of recent horizontal gene transfer of genomic islands. The frequent gain and loss of genetic material suggest the genomes of diverse P. fluorescens must encode genetic machinery to regulate horizontally transferred virulence genes. In this undergraduate student-driven project, we used two P. fluorescens strains that are beneficial (N2E2) or pathogenic (N2C3) on the model plant Arabidopsis. We found that deletion of a highly conserved two-component system GacA/S resulted in loss of virulence in N2C3 and loss of beneficial traits in N2E2. We show that this is through transcriptional regulation of recently horizontally transferred genomic islands involved in bacterial virulence or commensalism. Because this can teach fundamental skills in molecular microbiology, and host-pathogen interactions, to dissect the downstream processes in Pseudomonas that affect bacterial lifestyles, we have begun building on this project through a CURE. Collectively our data suggest that components of the core genome may allow bacteria to acquire new genetic elements that drive adaptation to new hosts or lifestyles.

Come learn from past volunteers at ASM about the value of volunteering with a professional science society, how to get involved, and what types of work you could do. Bring your questions!

This session will explore the recently published ASM report on “Microbial Science: Career Paths, Demands for Skills, and International Trends in Employment and Publications.” Participants will learn about the key trends in workforce development in the microbial sciences and adjacent disciplines. They will discuss how to define and ensure the critical role of educators in empowering the workforce of the future. Participants will discuss developing strategies to empower the microbial scientists of the future wherever they operate.

Learn more about the recent ASM report, Workforce Trends: the Future of the Microbial Sciences