Progress 10/01/20 to 09/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this past project year were faculty and other scientist/educators responsible for teaching biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as the application to otherthese disciplines to the life, agricultural, and chemical sciences at colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher education. The target audience includes instructors responsible for lecture and laboratory courses integral to undergraduate and graduate programs in biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as those delivering lecture and laboratory courses that provide relevant content for students in related disciplines across the agricutural, life, and chemical sciences. A secondary target are persons involved in educational outreach programs such as extension, where many of the same principles of effective instruction and assessment covered by this project apply. Changes/Problems:The continuing disruptions imposed by the COVID pandemic have caused us to continue our pivot from CY 2020 to providing resources and advice for persons delivering educational content in the molecular life and agrciultural sciences st colleges, universities, and their affiliated outreach programs. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During 2020, I was invited to assist in the development and delivery of a workshop series entitled "Transforming the BMB Educational Community by Building an Inclusive Community for the Assessment of BMB Learning". Working under the aegis of the American Society for Biochemisry & Molecular Biolgy we successfully acquired funding for the inaugural workshop, which was held July 20, 22, 27 of 2021, from the NSF. Sixteen persons participated, approximately one quarter of which were from our key target audeince, faculty working at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Colleges and Universities. The goal of the workshop was two-fold. First, to provide information and advice regarding best practices for constructing clear and effective questions for exams and other assessment purposes. The second was to identify and recruit select participants to participate in the design and delivery of future workshops. In both cases, recruitment efforts focused on reaching out to persons from or working at institutions that serve underrepresented minorities to establish closer links to that community and provide a vehicle for connecting such persons to leadership positions in the biochemistry & molecular biology scientist-educator community. Feedback from the particpants was positive. As an outcome of this project, NSF has awarded funding for the workshop series to continue and expand over the next three years. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The principles that form the focus of the workshop have been disemminated in the form a peer-reviewed publication in a refereed journal, CBE Life Sciences Education, on which I was a coauthor. Results of the July workshop, however, have yet to be disseminated in published form. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?My major focus during the coming project year will be to serve as a facilitator in at least two of the three workshops currently planned for CY 2022. I have also committed to continue serving on the steering committee for the ASBMB's Accreditation Program for Undergraduate Majors in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, with a particular focus on training new participants in the construction and scoring of questions for the program's associated national certification exam.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The COVID pandemic catalyzed a fundamental shift in priorities to serve the needs of scientist-educators across the molecular, applied, and agricultural life sciences to maintain instructional quality in the face of the challenges of a completely alien instructional environment that featured online delivery and student-teacher interaction, social distancing, etc. I have leveraged my position as a member of the educational leadership of my professional society, the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, to collaborate with educator leaders in the molecular and agrciultural life sciencies to devise and deliver recommendations for content delivery, especially with regard to laboratory classes, in this new environment. We leveraged this initial effort from the Hatch funding to reach out to scientist -educators through a series of NSF-funded workshops, the first of which was held in July of 2021 and the second of which is scheduled for January of 2022.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Zeidan Q, Loertscher J, Wolfson AJ, Tansey JT, Offerdahl EG, Kennelly PJ, Dries DR, Del Gaizo Moore, V, Dean DM, Carastro LM, Villafane SM, Tyler L (2021) Development of a certification exam to assess undergraduate students' proficiency in biochemistry and molecular biology core concepts. CBE Life Sciences Education 20:es6, 1-13.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kennelly, P (2021) What would Julia Child do? ASBMB Today 19(10): 48-49.
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Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience during this reporting period has been STEM educators at institutions of higher education, including community colleges, land-grant universities, predominantly undergraduate institutions, tribal colleges, and universities, historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving colleges and universities, and all other colleges and universities. Changes/Problems:The COVID pandemic has generated a major crisis in higher education in STEM fields such as Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. This investigator has pivoted during the past year to directly address an area of immediate need, the implementation of online laboratory classes that to the greatest degree possible replicate the authentic experiences of an in-person laboratory. In too many cases, the default practice for online laboratory classes has been to provide students with data that has been vetted for accuracy and ask them to process and interpret it. Our approach includes devising means by which student choices impact the outcomes for their individual activity and incorporating time for iterative attempts that permit students to directly engage in troubleshooting activities that highlight cause-effect relationships. In addition, I have leveraged my relationship with the educational leadership of my national professional society, the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, to disseminate these outcomes under its imprimatur through its website and news magazine. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As part of these activities, this investigator was recruited to help plan and implement a workshop offering training in best practices for the development of effective assessment questions for examinations and other purposes. Due to the pandemic, the workshop was held online during parts of seven afternoons in July of 2020. Nearly 30 faculty and instructors participated, roughly half of which were from historically black colleges and universities and other minority institutions that had been specifically targeted for this workshop -- which is hoped to serve as a pilot for future workshops in 2021 and beyond. The workshop was designed to keep participants engaged through web-based means and to serve as a vehicle for recruiting faculty from historically underrepresented groups to participate in the service and leadership activities of the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology's education and professional development committee as well as its undergraduate accreditation program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?These practices are being disseminated through the national professional society for biochemists and molecular biologists, the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, through the education and professional development committee on which this investigator serves. In addition, an article has been accepted for publication in the society's news magazine, ASBMB Today. Finally, a manuscript describing the development of effective assessment questions is currently under review at a refereed journal, CBE-life sciences education. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As the Covid pandemic will continue to impact the educational landscape well into 2021 and, possibly, beyond, we will: a. Continue to test and disseminate strategies for providing authentic STEM experiential learning activities via online means. b. Work to fund and deliver a second online question development workshop that will expand the number of faculty trained in best practices. c. Complete the process of publishing a manuscript on assessment question development in a nationally-recognized, refereed journal such as CBE Life Science Education. d. Begin preparation of a second manuscript on building communities of practice in STEM education.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The COVID pandemic has rocked the higher education community to its core. Overnight, in person classes were suspended, requiring faculty and other instructors at colleges and universities to begin delivering all or most of their course content via online means. While to some extent this represented a straightforward process for delivering traditional lecture-based instruction, the difficulties in constructing intellectually authentic lab and other experiential learning courses appeared to be almost insurmountable. During the past year, this investigator has worked to devise and test in their own laboratory class sessions effective strategies for incorporating authentic decision making for students in online laboratory classes that highlight cause-effect relationships. Key factors include schemes for generating virtual data based on student choices that includes space for iterative attempts that permit students to engage in trouble shooting, including authentic testing of revised hypotheses or protocols.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Note about accreditation. American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, https://www.asbmb.org/education/accreditation.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Note about online laboratory courses. American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, https://www.asbmb.org/education/accreditation.
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Progress 07/25/19 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project are persons seaking training in the application of biochemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology to agriculture at community colleges, four-year college and universities, and graduate school. Of particular importance are recruiting and fostering the success of students facing challenges as a consequence of their socioeconomic status or from rural communities where funding constraints undermine the development of K-12 educational programs in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering relative to urban and particularly suburban school districts. Changes/Problems:Since the submission of the original proposal, it has become apparent that greater effort needs to be invested in curriculum revision and development, and the selection and refinement of effective assessment tools, before a seamless community college-Virginia Tech pathway to a B.S. in biochemistry can be implemented. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Project Director has participated in multiple professional development activites during the prior reporting period. Here at Virginia Tech he has enrolled as a participant in the university's Inclusive Excellence program, which is supported by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has also participated in a series of five workshops, two hours each, providing training in the development of classes that are welcoming and supportive of a diverse community of students. These include: "Introduction to Inclusive Pedagogy", "Using an Inclusive Teaching Rubric", "Race in the Classroom", "Content Creation Tips", "Handling Difficult Conversations in the Classroom", and "Reducing Implicit Bias in the Classroom". In addition, the project director attended a conference in San Antonio Texas on Student Centered Education in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. This conference was sponsored by the director's professional society, the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. 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?A manuscript on preparing effective assessment questions for determining the level of student preparation for and mastery of foundational concepts in biochemistry & molecular biology [ASBMB] is currently in preparation. The director will cohost a workshop related ot issues of program accrediation and student assessment at the ASBMB's national meeting in April. The proposal for the new laboratory component of BCHM 2114 will be presented to the curriculum committee for approval.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Project Director's major activity of the current reporting period has been the development of a hands-on laboratory component for BCHM 2114, "Biochemical calculations". BCHM 2114 provides a transition between the more general scientific core courses that dominate the freshman and sophomore year curriculum for biochemistry majors and the more intensive and rigrous classes they will encounter during junior and senior years. Thus, BCHM 2114 serves as a launching pad for students transitioning into the heart of the biochemistry curriculum. The department has concluded that, in order to better position students, especially transfer students, for success in junior and senior years through the development of vital critical thinking skills, the content in BCHM 2114 needs to be expanded and include a laboratory component. Prof. Kennelly has been responsible for searching for, identifying, and adapting a series of laboratory exercises for the new laboratory component, which will be implemented upon completion of a new classroom laboratory building currently under construction.
Publications
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