Progress 09/13/16 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Secondary (6-12) Education instructors teaching agriculture (ag-ed) and/or biological sciences, graduate students at ISU and peer institutions, plant pathology, microbiology, and genetics undergraduate students as well as faculty teaching microbiology and plant pathology. Case studies and educational materials include examples of multiple population groups engaging in agriculture and science. These are available to teachers in both rural and urban settings, teaching a wide cross-section of students. Changes/Problems:COVID-19 caused a significant disruption to our plans, as the development and testing of curriculum takes time for both university faculty and high school faculty. The disruptions in spring, summer, and fall of 2021 caused significant delays to objectives 1, 2, and 5. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The undergraduate-led workshops (Science Bound, Microbiology Annual Workshop, Agar Art night) each provided leadership opportunities for undergraduate students. The PALM mentoring, NIST presentation on active learning, and APS plenary talk are all opportunities for faculty to learn about the value of learning objectives and assessment as well as aligning activities to match both the intended student learning outcomes and the means of assessment. This provided professional development opportunties for ~70 faculty. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? National Institute for Scientific Teaching - 1 presentation on active learning American Phytopathology Society North Central Meeting - 1 presentation on student learning objectives American Society for Microbiology (ASMCUE) - 2 presentations on a digital internship and methods to use game based learning in classes. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The overarching goal of this project is to help educators teach STEM subjects with active learning. In the past year, this research team has hosted workshops for students and high-school educators, presented techniques on curricular design and active learning pedagogies, and expanded the use of a digital internship in microbiology. Our project has led to increased knowledge (of students/faculty workshop and conference attendees) and a changed condition (expanded use of a digital internship). Objective 1: Identify needs of K-12 educators as well as extension educators in an effort to serve these stakeholders by providing educational materials (case studies, activities, workbooks) for their use with the eventual goal of increasing students in the STEM pipeline. Dr. Peters has written and classroom tested a comprehensive case study describing the impact of plant pathogens in farm production (Grainly farms) for submission at CourseSource. Objective 2: Develop and assess the efficacy of outreach projects and online case studies for undergraduates and K-12 in related STEM disciplines (e.g. Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, and Plant Pathology). Dr. Peters hosted Science Bound outreach project teaching 20 underrepresented students about plant pathogens with 2 undergraduate helpers. Drs Cunnick and Boury worked with local K-12 classrooms to teach high school students about microbial diseases by judging their case studies and hosting students to complete basic microbiology lab tests. Dr. Boury has mentored 2 faculty and 1 grad student in the PALM (Promoting Active Learning and Mentoring) project. Objective 3. Compare the impact of semester-long classroom instruction vs. online training for GR ST 565 (Responsible Conduct of Research) to test the hypothesis that in-class discussion more effectively strengthens graduate student awareness of ethical issues surrounding research than online instruction. Nothing to report. Objective 4. Develop and validate an assessment instrument (Concept Inventory) for general microbiology based on the 27 Fundamental Statements of Microbiology (as determined by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM)). Completed (Results and concept inventory Published JMBE 2017) Objective 5: Determine the core concepts taught in introductory plant pathology courses with the aim of designing learning objectives based on these concepts. Dr. Boury served as the keynote speaker for the 2021 North Central American Phytopathology Society (APS) annual meeting, opening the dialog between faculty teaching plant pathology with a goal of establishing common learning goals and objectives. Dr. Peters and Dr. Boury are hosting a workshop in the 2022 APS meeting to gather feedback from faculty teaching general plant pathology.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Nancy Boury Word Puzzles and Games to Engage Students Learning the Language of their STEM Discipline." (Invited talk to the Faculty Learning Community of NIST (FALCoN)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Nancy Boury Opening Plenary Talk What is it we really want the students to achieve in our classes? The American Phytopathological Society (APS) North Central Annual Meeting
- Type:
Other
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Nancy Boury & Gwen Knapp (2021) Teaching in the Time of COVID-19: Developing a remote scientific literacy internship. American Society for Microbiology Conference of Undergraduate Educators
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Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Secondary Education Agriculture and Science teachers, graduate students at ISU and peer universities, microbiology and plant pathology undergraduate students as well as faculty teaching undergraduate microbiology and plant pathology. Case studies and educational materials include examples of multiple population groups engaging in agriculture and science and will be available to teachers in both urban and rural settings, teaching a wide cross-section of student population groups. Changes/Problems:COVID-19 caused a signficant disruption to our plans, as the development and testing of curriculum takes time for both university faculty and high school faculty. The disruptions in spring, summer, and fall of 2020 caused significant delays to objectives 1, 2, and 5. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The undergraduate-led workshops (Science Bound, Microbiology Annual Workshop, Agar Art night) each provided leadership opportunities for undergraduate students. Combined this is 52 students developing their project management and leadership skills. The writing of the "Position and Performance" paper provided training in maunscript preparation for 2 graduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Journal Articles and meeting presentation. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Plans: Objective 1 - continue dialog with high school faculty and reach out the the Iowa STEM Hub consortium to survey faculty teaching biology and/or agriculture education. Objective 2 - Provide resources for faculty (high school or university level) to incorporate more science literacy practice opportunities in their classes. We will also work with ISU faculty to produce quality lecture and lab activities (with assessments included). Objective 4 - Completed Microbiology Concept Inventory Objective 5 - Publish "Trouble with Grainly Farms", Submit RCN-UBE-incubator grant to address the needs of faculty teaching plant pathology across the country.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The overarching goal of this project is to help educators teach STEM subjects with active learning. In the past year, this research team has hosted workshops for students and high-school educators, studied the effect of seating position on student engagement and learning, and developed an online course focused on pandemics. Our project has led to increased knowledge (of students/faculty workshop attendees, and about the student engagment) and a changed condition (creation of a course). Objective 1: Identify needs of K-12 educators as well as extension educators in an effort to serve these stakeholders by providing educational materials (case studies, activities, workbooks) for their use with the eventual goal of increasing students in the STEM pipeline. Fall 2019 Workshop. Dr. Cunnick and Peters hosted 22 high school students. The microbiology club (19 undergraduate students) and microbiology students (27 additional undergraduate volunteers) taught high school students the basics of microbiology in a full-day workshop. Position and Performance Paper In the fall 2020, Dr. Boury, Chloe Wasendorf, and Audrey McCombs prepared a manuscript investigating the role of seat position , attendance, and performance. This paper was submitted to the Journal of College Science Teaching in November 2020 . Built Micro 265X (Fall 2019) The first semester in college is typically challenging for students, particularly those majoring in STEM. These students frequently drop one or more classes and are looking for a science class to fill their scheule. To meet this need, Dr. Boury and graduate students Brian Musco and Chloe Wasendorf created a class focussed on the One Health paradigm and pandemics. This course has taught 75 students in the fall 2019 and spring 2020, with an additional 40 in the fall of 2020. This course is available to high school students through PSEO programs and is fully online. 2. Objective 2: Develop and assess the efficacy of outreach projects and online case studies for undergraduates and K-12 in related STEM disciplines (e.g. Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, and Plant Pathology). Drs Boury and Peters worked ondeveloping tools to help middle and high school biology and agriculture education faculty teach about molecular and transmission genetics. Starting needs analysis surrounding topics in genetics (both at the cellular and whole- organism level), plant anatomy and physiology, and plant diseases We will be contacting faculty and administrators from the 6 regional STEM hubs in Iowa A comprehensive case study describing the impact of plant pathogens in farm production (Grainly farms) has been tested and is being written up for submission in a peer reviewed journal or case study clearinghouse. Dr. Peters hosted Science Bound outreach project teaching 16 underrepresented students about plant pathogens with 3 undergraduate helpers. Dr. Cunnick and Alicia Rowe (microbiology undergraduate) hosted a Science Bound Agar Art competition in fall 2020, with 14 students. Objective 3. Compare the impact of semester-long classroom instruction vs. online training for GR ST 565 (Responsible Conduct of Research) to test the hypothesis that in-class discussion more effectively strengthens graduate student awareness of ethical issues surrounding research than online instruction. Nothing to report. Objective 4. Develop and validate an assessment instrument (Concept Inventory) for general microbiology based on the 27 Fundamental Statements of Microbiology (as determined by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM)). Completed (Results and concept inventory Published JMBE 2017) Objective 5: Determine the core concepts taught in introductory plant pathology courses with the aim of designing learning objectives based on these concepts. Nothing to report.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Interactive Journal Club for the Masses: Teaching Students to Read Primary Literature. Nancy Boury
Presented at ASMCUE 2020
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Teaching in the time of COVID-19: Creation of a Digital Internship to Develop Scientific Thinking Skills and Create Science Literacy Exercises for use in Remote Classrooms
Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education - Special "Teaching in the time of COVID" edition - spring 2021
Nancy Boury, Kanwal S. Alvarez, Amaya Garcia Costas, Gwendowlyn S. Knapp, Rebecca L. Seipelt-Thiemann
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Where to sit? Exploring the role of student seating preference and performance in a large introductory STEM course
Journal of College Science Teaching
Wasendorf, C, McCombs, A., Boury, N.
|
Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Secondary Education Agriculture and Science teachers, graduate students at ISU and peer universities, microbiology and plant pathology undergraduate students as well as faculty teaching undergraduate microbiology and plant pathology. Case studies and educational materials include examples of multiple population groups engaging in agriculture and science and will be available to teachers in both urban and rural settings, teaching a wide cross-section of student population groups. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Journal articles What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For Objective 1 - Continue dialogs between ISU faculty and high school faculty with the intent of identifying the needs of the high school instructors as a first step to providing them with tools to help teach students about science. For Objective 2 - Provide resources for faculty (high school or university level) to incorporate more science literacy practice opportunities in their classes. We will also work with ISU faculty to produce quality lecture and lab activities (with assessments included). For Objective 4 - Completed MCI, continue to work on developing resources based weaknesses in student understanding that are identified by the Microbiology Concept Inventory (MCI) For Objective 5 - Continue developing "Trouble with Grainly Farms" case study by analyzing data and editing as needed. Dr. Peters plans to write a Miller Fellowship to fund Plant Pathology course revisions.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Overall impact statement: Our project is focused on aimed at developing tools and teacher skills to improve education in agriculture-related Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines. This project year, we developed and published a new curriculum that can be used to increase student data knowledge skills. We developed resource bibliographies--tools for use by faculty teaching microbiology at the undergraduate or high school level. Objective 1... Identify needs of K-12 educators as well as extension educators and provide educational materials. The faculty attendees of the Fall 2018 Microbiology workshop were asked about their needs for the coming year. Their response resulted in an increase in faculty participation in the Des Moines Central Campus Genetics, Microbiology, and Anatomy and Physiology classes, with 3 faculty visiting their high school campus, and 3 faculty and 1 staff member hosting 3 workshops to teach students microbiology concepts. Participation in these workshops are a change in action, as multiple faculty from Iowa State have visited multiple classrooms, impacting ~75 students in the reporting period. Our ISU faculty served as both judges (for projects) and expert consultants (medical case study reports). The medical case studies started with ISU faculty visiting the high school classroom at Des Moines Central academy. Several weeks later, the students then visit Iowa State University to learn lab skills as they run diagnostic tests this is a change in knowledge. Additionally, Dr. Peters and Dr. Cunnick hosted 16 high school students in the Science Bound program in February 2019 and 16 high school students for Agriculture Discovery Days in July 2019. These workshops lead to a change in knowledge for the high school students. Understanding the nature of science and developing science communication skills are common needs of both high school students and undergraduate students. In collaboration with the researchers at UC-Irvine we have developed a curriculum to increase student data knowledge skills in the context of scientific primary literature. This is a change in condition, as this curriculum was recently published. Objective 2... Develop and assess the efficacy of outreach projects and online case studies for undergraduates and K-12 in related STEM disciplines. The work on this objective lead to a change in condition The multi-week high school level focused case study "Trouble at Grainly Farms" was approved by the Institutional Review Board (#18-325-00) in the fall of 2018 to study the efficacy of the case study at a West Des Moines high school. Data was collected by this beta-test of the case study and is currently being analyzed in anticipation of publishing during 2020. Dr. Boury has worked with microbiology and biology honors students to develop resource bibliographies for use by faculty teaching microbiology at the undergraduate or high school level. This project lead to a change in condition, as these resources are currently available. Dr. Boury and Chloe Wasendorf are currently working on a project to identify factors that lead to student success in introductory biology courses, leading to a change in knowledge as we discover the effects of attendance, vertical seat position, and self-regulated learning on student performance in general biology. These students have: Identified current events topics that could be used as the start of short case studies to teach core concepts in Microbiology. These could then be assessed using the Microbiology Concept Inventory (MCI) (Student #1) Used ASM-resources to provide podcasts, blogs, and primary papers for use in Micro 302 online in future terms. Trained Undergraduate first year students (Biol 211H) to edit and update Wikipedia articles in conjunction with the Wikipedia education group. Change in Knowledge - 4 students now have active Wikipedia accounts and can both edit and review any article on the system. One Wikipedia article was improved from a stub rating to a start rating during the course of Biol 211 instruction in the fall of 2019. This article (on Wyeomyia smithii) has an average of 10 daily page views and its completeness score moved to 39 from 8. Objective 3... Compare the impact of semester-long classroom instruction vs. online training for GR ST 565. This project objective is on hold while Drs Peters and Boury and their research team develop the RCR training assessment needed to complete this objective. Objective 4... Develop and validate an assessment instrument (Concept Inventory) for general microbiology based on the 27 Fundamental Statements of Microbiology. This objective is completed, the MCI was published in 2017 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v18i3.1320) Dr. Boury is working with Amy Briggs on a project to dislodge microbiology misconceptions that were identified as part of the construction of the Microbiology Concept Inventory (MCI). Dr. Briggs submitted a grant "Advancing Microbiology Education: Building an Evidence-based Toolkit for Instructors" to the Spencer Foundation Small Research Grant) to fund this project. If funded, Dr. Boury will not be paid by this grant and will collaborate as part of furthering HATCH objective 4. Objective 5... Determine the core concepts taught in introductory plant pathology courses with the aim of designing learning objectives based on these concepts. The submission of a Miller Faculty Fellowship has been pushed back to 2019 due to the 3rd year review of Dr. Peters in the 2019. After successful completion of the review Dr. Peters will be able to focus on this scholastic activity in 2020. Also, another Miller Fellowship application was submitted by the Plant Pathology and Microbiology department last year and we did not think it was appropriate to compete.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Krasner's Microbial Challenge, Fourth Edition, Teri Shors Chapter 17 Harnessing the Power of Microbes: Peril and Promise by Nancy Boury (2019) ISBN-13: 9781284139181
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Massimelli, J., Denaro, K., Sato, B., Kadandale, P., & Boury, N. (2019). Just Figures: A method to introduce students to data analysis one figure at a time. Journal of microbiology & biology education, 20(2).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wasendorf, McCombs, Boury (2019) Where to sit? Student seating preference, attendance, self-evaluation, and performance in introductory biology. Poster presented at SABER (Society for Advancement of Biology Education Research) National Meeting
|
Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Secondary Education Agriculture and Science teachers, graduate students at ISU and peer universities, microbiology and plant pathology undergraduate students as well as faculty teaching undergraduate microbiology and plant pathology. Case studies and educational materials include examples of multiple population groups engaging in agriculture and science and will be available to teachers in both urban and rural settings, teaching a wide cross-section of student population groups. Changes/Problems:Dr. Jennifer Bundy will be leaving this HATCH project, as her interests lie with student support services rather than curricular development. Dr. Mark Gleason had left the project in 2017, as his role in objective 3 has been put on hold because it is funded by and NSF grant. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Short talk: Using Game-Design Strategies to Develop Higher Order Skills with Vocabulary: Microbiology Code Names - Presented at ASMCUE 2018 Austin TX July 2018 (This was a hands-on demonstration of a novel outreach activity for use by educators of undergraduate students.) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Microbiology-Focused English course curriculum was published in JMBE. Aune, J. E., Evans, L. L., & Boury, N. (2018). Using Nonfiction Narratives in an English Course to Teach the Nature of Science and Its Importance to Communicating About Science. Journal of microbiology & biology education, 19(1) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For Objective 1 - Continue dialogs between ISU faculty and high school faculty with the intent of identifying the needs of the high school instructors as a first step to providing them with tools to help teach students about science. For Objective 2 - Provide resources for faculty (high school or university level) to incorporate more science literacy practice opportunities in their classes. We will also work with ISU faculty to produce quality lecture and lab activities (with assessments included). For Objective 3 - This objective is on hold while the research team develops the assessment (ISART) neeeded to compare CITI and face to face training. For Objective 4 - Work with faculty across the country to investigate the nature of the misconceptions about microbiology that students hold as they enter and leave a microbiology course. For Objective 5 - Develop case studies and activities for plant pathology and microbiology courses.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our research is focused on providing tools and developing skills that will lead to an increase in the number of individuals entering agriculture biosciences, such as plant pathology, microbiology, agronomy, biochemistry and animal science. Between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018, this research team has met with over a dozen high school instructors, started informal conversations to assess the gaps in educational materials (Objective 1) We have hosted four separate workshops, with over a hundred students served as our outreach stakeholders (Objective 2). We have begun the development of an RCR-training assessment, the Iowa State Assessment of RCR Training, or ISART (Objective 3). Dr. Boury is collaborating with faculty from the ASM biology scholars network to further investigate the misconceptions uncovered during the development of the microbiology concept inventory (Objective 4). Finally, we have established collaborations with both high school and college faculty in order to develop and test educational materials appropriate for teaching biology, genetics, and plant pathology (Objective 5). The impacts of these activities are described below... Objective 1: The faculty attendees of the Fall 2017 Microbiology workshop were asked about their needs for the coming year. Their response resulted in an increase in faculty participation in the Des Moines Central Campus Genetics, Microbiology, and Anatomy and Physiology classes. Participation in these workshops are a change in action, as multiple faculty from Iowa State have visited multiple classrooms, impacting ~75 students in the reporting period. Our ISU faculty served as both judges (for projects) and expert consultants (medical case study reports). The medical case studies started with ISU faculty visiting the high school classroom at Des Moines Central academy. Several weeks later, the students then visit Iowa State University to learn lab skills as they run diagnostic tests this is a change in knowledge. Understanding the nature of science and developing science communication skills are common needs of both high school students and undergraduate students. In collaboration with the English department, we have developed a curriculum to teach English communication skills in the context of scientific discoveries. This is a change in condition, as this curriculum was recently published and available. Objective 2: Develop and assess the efficacy of outreach projects and online case studies for undergraduates and K-12 in related STEM disciplines. The work on this objective lead to a change in condition The multi-week high school level focused case study "Trouble at Grainly Farms" was approved by the Institutional Review Board (#18-325-00) in the early fall of 2018 to study the efficacy of the case study at a West Des Moines high school. Data has been collected by this beta-test of the case study and will be analyzed during the spring of 2019. Dr. Boury has worked with microbiology and biology honors students to develop resource bibliographies for use by faculty teaching microbiology at the undergraduate or high school level. This project lead to a change in condition, as these resources are currently available. These students have: Identified current events topics that could be used as the start of short case studies to teach core concepts in Microbiology. These could then be assessed using the Microbiology Concept Inventory (MCI) (Student #1) Used ASM-resources to provide podcasts, blogs, and primary papers for use in Micro 302 online in future terms. Trained Undergraduate first year students (Biol 211H) to edit and update Wikipedia articles in conjunction with the Wikipedia education group. Change in Knowledge - 7 students now have active Wikipedia accounts and can both edit and review any article on the system. Two Wikipedia articles have been improved from a 1-2 rating to a 30 rating during the course of Biol 211 Honors instruction. Objective 3: Compare the impact of semester-long classroom instruction vs. online training for GR ST 565 (Responsible Conduct of Research). This project objective is on hold while Drs Peters and Boury and their research team develop the Responsible Conduct of Research training assessment needed to complete this objective (This is funded by NSF, so not included here) Objective 4: Develop and validate an assessment instrument (Concept Inventory) for general microbiology. This objective is completed, the MCI was published in 2017 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v18i3.1320) Dr. Boury is working with Amy Briggs on a project to dislodge microbiology misconceptions that were identified as part of the construction of the Microbiology Concept Inventory (MCI). Dr. Briggs submitted a grant "Advancing Microbiology Education: Building an Evidence-based Toolkit for Instructors" to the Spencer Foundation Small Research Grant) to fund this project. Dr. Boury will not be paid by this grant and will collaborate as part of furthering HATCH objective 4. Objective 5: Determine the core concepts taught in introductory plant pathology courses with the aim of designing learning objectives based on these concepts. The submission of a Miller Faculty Fellowship has been pushed back to 2019 due to the impending 3rd year review of Dr. Peters in the Spring of 2019. After successful completion of the review Dr. Peters will be able to focus on this scholastic activity in the fall of 2019. Also, another Miller Fellowship application was submitted by the Plant Pathology and Microbiology department and we did not think it was appropriate to compete.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Chapter 17 Harnessing the Power of Microbes: Peril and Promise in Krasner's Microbial Challenge
ISBN-13: 9781284139181
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Aune, J. E., Evans, L. L., & Boury, N. (2018). Using Nonfiction Narratives in an English Course to Teach the Nature of Science and Its Importance to Communicating About Science. Journal of microbiology & biology education, 19(1).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Short talk: Using Game-Design Strategies to Develop Higher Order Skills with Vocabulary: Microbiology Code Names Presented at ASMCUE 2018 Austin TX July 2018
|
Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Secondary Education Agriculture and Science teachers, graduate students at ISU and peer universities, microbiology and plant pathology undergraduate students as well as faculty teaching undergraduate microbiology and plant pathology. Case studies will include examples of multiple population groups engaging in agriculture and science and will be available to teachers in both urban and rural settings, teaching a wide cross-section of student population groups. Changes/Problems:Changes to approach: We are on-track with Objectives 1 and 2 (outreach to K-12), but were unsuccessful in finding an adequate assessment tool that focusses on responsible conduct of research (RCR) training. To overcome this obstacle, we applied for and received a grant from the NSF to build a RCR training concept inventory, the ISART. This multi-year process necessitates that we pause objective 3 until the ISART is completed and validated. Mark Gleason, one of our faculty, has been chosen as a project director on a large, multi-year funded project and has asked to be removed from this project. Jennifer Bundy has been added to ensure that the goals of this project are accomplished. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Dr. Boury trained two independent study undergraduate research students on the process of writing case studies based on measuarable learning outcomes in the fall of 2016. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The microbiology concept inventory was published in the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education (JMBE) and Dr. Boury presented at the American Society for Microbiology Conference of Undergraduate Educators to show other science faculty how to use this assessment tool in course design. In November 2016, Dr. Cunnick and the Microbiology Club at Iowa State University hosted 63 high school students and 6 teachers from 9 high schools for a day-long workshop on microbiology uses and techniques. Dr. Boury was a guest speaker, presenting "The microbiology of a Snickers Bar" to high school students as a means to bring microbiology to everyday life.Dr. Cunnick traveled to the ASM Microbe meeting to host a workshop on outreach for 14 participants. The ASM Microbe workshop: Science Outreach for the Microbiologist: Tips and Tools for Incorporating Outreach into your Career was led by Presenters: Cathy Vrentas, USDA; Rebekah Taylor (Frostburg State University), Julia Massimelli (University of California, Irvine), Joan Cunnick (Iowa State University), Veronica Segarra (High Point University), Thomas McKeon (University of Pennsylvania) with co-presenter Liz Pyshnik (Rutgers University) (http://www.globalwateralliance.net/science-outreach-for-the-microbiologist-tips-and-tools-for-incorporating-outreach-into-your-career-asm-microbe-june-2017-new-orleans/). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For objective 1, Dr. Cunnick plans on contacting the high school teachers that have attended the microbiology workshop in the past 5 years and also contacting the STEM coordinator from the Des Moines school district to ask the K-12 faculty which of the next generation science standards (NGSS) they would like our group to focus upon. For objective 2, Drs. Cunnick and Bundy will gather and analyze the feedback from the K-12 educators. The goal of this data analysis will be to identify where educational materials are lacking within the STEM pipeline. These efforts will determine if current practices are meeting the needs of K-12 educators or if additional projects and case studies are needed to spark additional interest in STEM fields. For Objective 3, Drs Peters, Boury and three other faculty from Iowa State University recently received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF-15-528) to construct and validate an assessment to measure student learning gains in RCR training courses. The final validation steps for the Iowa State Assessment of RCR Training (ISART) are scheduled to be completed in 2022. This project, to compare face to face and online RCR training, will be put on hold until this instrument is constructed and validated. To further the goals of objective 4, Dr. Boury will be contacting other ASM faculty teaching general microbiology and Dr. Paustian, who is managing the MCI. In 2018, we would like to establish a group to design a project to link teaching techniques to learning gains in each of the 6 core areas assessed by the MCI. The goal for this is to determine the high-impact vs low-impact activities that increase student learning. For objective 5, Dr. Peters plans to submit an application for a Miller Faculty Fellowship to provide a platform for outreach to the plant pathology teaching community to establish a consensus on measurable learning outcomes for an introductory plant pathology course.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period, we have added a faculty member to this project (Jennifer Bundy from Animal Science), connected with faculty from across the country to discuss and share outreach best practices, completed an extensive literature search to survey the state of ethics training in graduate students, published a concept inventory in microbiology and contacted representatives from Teaching Committee of the American Phytopathological Society concerning plans to determine learning objectives common to most plant pathology courses. The impact of our work is described under each objective below. Objective 1... Identify needs of K-12 educators as well as extension educators in an effort to serve these stakeholders by providing educational materials (case studies, activities, workbooks) for their use with the eventual goal of increasing students in the STEM pipeline. In November 2016, Dr. Cunnick and the Microbiology Club at Iowa State University hosted 63 high school students and 6 teachers from 9 high schools for a day-long workshop on microbiology uses and techniques. Dr. Boury was a guest speaker, presenting "The microbiology of a Snickers Bar" to high school students as a means to bring microbiology to everyday life.Dr. Cunnick traveled to the ASM Microbe meeting to host a workshop on outreach for 14 participants. The ASM Microbe workshop: Science Outreach for the Microbiologist: Tips and Tools for Incorporating Outreach into your Career was led by Presenters: Cathy Vrentas, USDA; Rebekah Taylor (Frostburg State University), Julia Massimelli (University of California, Irvine), Joan Cunnick (Iowa State University), Veronica Segarra (High Point University), Thomas McKeon (University of Pennsylvania) with co-presenter Liz Pyshnik (Rutgers University) (http://www.globalwateralliance.net/science-outreach-for-the-microbiologist-tips-and-tools-for-incorporating-outreach-into-your-career-asm-microbe-june-2017-new-orleans/) . This workshop lead to both a change in knowledge and change in action, as the workshop participants left the workshop with knowledge of successful outreach methods as well as several practical ideas for implementationwhich specifically targeted methods to include career-connections in research programs. Objective 2... Develop and assess the efficacy of outreach projects and online case studies for undergraduates and K-12 in related STEM disciplines (e.g. Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, and Plant Pathology). The work on this objective lead to a change in condition, as the team has made progress on multiple and divergent case studies for use in both K-12 and undergraduate science and agriculture education classrooms. Drs Peters and Boury have been working on case studies for high school use."The Trouble at Grainly Farms" is a case study focused on alignment with the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) adopted in April of 2013. It is currently being reviewed by EQuIP (Educators Evaluation the Quality of Educational Products). Dr. Boury directed two independent study projects in the fall of 2016 which resulted in draft versions of two short case studies.One of these is focused on science literacy and use of data in microbiology problem solving, and the other summarizes a true story of invasive species causes, impact and resolution. The Grainly Farms project is a large case study will be class-room tested in multiple high school biology classes in the spring of 2018. Objective 3... Compare the impact of semester-long classroom instruction vs. online training for GR ST 565 (Responsible Conduct of Research) to test the hypothesis that in-class discussion more effectively strengthens graduate student awareness of ethical issues surrounding research than online instruction. During the first 3 months of the reporting period (October, 2016- January, 2017), Drs Peters, Boury, and Gleason surveyed the responsible conduct of research (RCR) training literature to determine if there had been a comparison of face to face vs online training efficacy. This search yielded a change in knowledge, as it revealed no publication comparing the two. Furthermore, we failed to find a validated instrument that specifically addresses the 9 core RCR training topics. This led the team to submit a proposal to NSF-CCE Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (NSF-15-528) in February. Objective 4... Develop and validate an assessment instrument (Concept Inventory) for general microbiology based on the 27 Fundamental Statements of Microbiology (as determined by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM)). Dr. Boury attended the American Society for Microbiology's Conference for Undergraduate educators in July of 2017 to present a seminar talk on how the microbiology concept inventory (MCI) can be used. This presentation was well received and participants left with an increased knowledge of the MCI as well as information on how to use the MCI to design as well as assess microbiology coursework. The MCI was published in the Journal of Biology and Microbiology Education in October of 2017, leading to a change in action, as over a dozen new faculty have signed up to use this assessment tool. Objective 5... Determine the core concepts taught in introductory plant pathology courses with the aim of designing learning objectives based on these concepts. Dr. Peters and Dr. Boury have met with Maya Hayslett, who was part of Teaching Committee of the American Phytopathological Society. This committee has recently completed a survey of Plant Pathology instructors from across the United States to determine the core concepts from introductory plant pathology courses.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Paustian T, Briggs A, Brennan R, Boury N, Buchner J, Harris S, Horak R, Hughes L, Katz-Amburn D, Massimelli M, McDonald A, Primm T, Smith A, Stevens A, Yung S. 2017. Development, validation, and application of the microbiology concept inventory . J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. 18(3): doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i3.1320
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Incorporating the ASM Concept Inventories into your Course Design
Heather Seitz, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS
Tim Paustian, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Andrea Rediske, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Nancy Boury, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Sue Katz-Amburn, Rogers State University, Claremore OK
Ann McDonald, Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, W
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Science Outreach for the Microbiologist: Tips and Tools for Incorporating Outreach into your Career was led by Presenters: Cathy Vrentas, USDA; Rebekah Taylor (Frostburg State University), Julia Massimelli (University of California, Irvine), Joan Cunnick (Iowa State University), Veronica Segarra (High Point University), Thomas McKeon (University of Pennsylvania) with co-presenter Liz Pyshnik (Rutgers University)
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Progress 09/13/16 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Secondary Agriculture and Biology teachers, undergraduate students at Iowa state, microbiology and plant pathology undergraduate students as well as faculty teaching undergraduate microbiology and plant pathology. Changes/Problems: As suggested by the NIFA project approver, we have changed Project Goal # 1 to "To increase the intrinsic motivation for science and interest in pursuing an agriculture or science related career." This will be measured using pre- and post-surveys of students. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For objective 1, Dr. Cunnick plans on contacting the high school teachers that have attended the microbiology workshop in the past 5 years and also contacting the STEM coordinator from the Des Moines school district to ask the K-12 faculty which of the next generation science standards (NGSS) they would like our group to focus upon. For objective 2, Drs. Cunnick and Boury will identify leadership assessments (surveys or rubrics) that have been validated for either high school or undergraduate student use. We will begin to outline case studies for the NGSS identified in objective 1. For objective 3, Drs. Peters, Gleason, and Boury plan on pursing funding from NSF- Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (NSF-15-528), further our collaborations by meeting with campus philosophy faculty, and establish our assessment plan for this project. For objective 4, Dr. Boury plans on testing the MCI during the spring and summer terms in both online and face to face courses to determine that the MCI is both valid, testing the learning objectives intended and reliable, giving similar results in both online and face to face courses. For objective 5, Dr. Peters plans to communicate with faculty teaching plant pathology and to meet at the annual 2017 APS meeting to come to a consensus as to the key concepts for this course.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the 2 weeks of this reporting period (9/13/16 to 9/30/16), the faculty associated with this project have made and strengthened connections with K-12 educators, planned for an outreach project reaching 60 Iowa high school students, began a literature search to determine the best methods to assess student learning of ethical principles as well as the state of the research in the field. We have also continued work on the nationally coordinated Microbiology Concept Inventory (MCI) and drafted learning outcomes for introductory plant pathology. Objective 1. Identify needs of K-12 educators as well as extension educators in an effort to serve these stakeholders by providing educational materials (case studies, activities, workbooks) for their use with the eventual goal of increasing students in the STEM pipeline. To identify the needs of K-12 educators, we first need to develop professional relationships with them. In an effort to accomplish objective #1, Dr. Cunnick contacted over 120 high school faculty and administrators in the state of Iowa to invite them to the Microbiology workshop. This workshop is a leadership opportunity for current microbiology students, as the Micro club is responsible for workshop planning, organizing speakers, registering students and teaching most of the hands-on activities in day-long workshop that is planned for early November, 2016. The students are planning on hosting 60 high school students. This model has worked to increase the STEM pipeline locally by introducing high school students to microbiology techniques and the ISU campus. Of the 60 students participating, approximately 5% are projected to attend ISU and major in microbiology based on prior years' data. Objective 2... Develop and assess the efficacy of outreach projects and online case studies for undergraduates and K-12 in related STEM disciplines (e.g. Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, and Plant Pathology). As this is the first 2 weeks of this project and objective #2 is dependent upon the connections forged in objective #1, very little was done in the development phase, as we are still developing the connections with the K-12 educators needed to determine what they need and which outreach projects or case studies are most valuable to them as educators and to their students. During this reporting period, Dr. Boury met with two undergraduate students to outline the process of writing a case study and discuss potential topics that would be of interest to middle and high school students. Objective 3... Compare the impact of semester-long classroom instruction vs. online training for GR ST 565 (Responsible Conduct of Research) to test the hypothesis that in-class discussion more effectively strengthens graduate student awareness of ethical issues surrounding research than online instruction. During the last 2 weeks of September, Drs. Gleason, Peters and Boury began the literature review needed to determine both what has been done before in this field and how to best measure student learning gains. This group also began the search for grants to fund a more extensive study. Objective 4... Develop and validate an assessment instrument (Concept Inventory) for general microbiology based on the 27 Fundamental Statements of Microbiology (as determined by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM)). The microbiology concept inventory (MCI) was administered by Dr. Boury over the summer of 2016. During the last 2 weeks in September, the data from the 40 students that completed the pre and/or post course MCI was gathered and formatted for submission to the statistician. Objective 5... Determine the core concepts taught in introductory plant pathology courses with the aim of designing learning objectives based on these concepts. During the two weeks of this report period (9/13/16-9/30/16), Dr. Peters surveyed fifteen different general plant pathology courses as offered across the country to determine the ten learning objectives for Plant Pathology 408 as taught at Iowa State University. These will be the foundation for future discussions between Dr. Peters and other faculty teaching plant pathology at various universities in the US to establish a common set of core concepts.
Publications
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