“Science is not my thing”: Exploring deaf non-science majors’ science identities

Students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing are underrepresented in science majors, yet we know little about why. Students from other underrepresented groups in science—women and people of color—tend to highly value altruistic or communal career goals, while perceiving science as uncommunal. Research suggests that holding stereotypical conceptions about scientists and perceptions of science as uncommunal may strongly hinder recruitment into science majors. This study sought to explore the science identities of students who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing signers. The study focused on non-science majors in bilingual (American Sign Language and written English) biology laboratory courses. This study is the first step to understanding if stereotypes about scientists and perceptions of science as uncommunal disproportionately affect students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. Findings suggest that students’ science identities are influenced by stereotypical portrayals of scientists and a preference for people-centered careers, specifically within the Deaf community. Applied research is needed to challenge stereotypes, and identify connections between science and the Deaf community, to support the growth of deaf and hard-of-hearing students’ science identities to increase participation in science careers

Effects of Inquiry-based Learning on Students’ Science Literacy Skills and Confidence

Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher- to student-centered course design, and included developments such as peer-teaching, problem and inquiry-based learning. In the sciences, inquiry-based learning has been widely promoted to increase literacy and skill development, but there has been little comparison to more traditional curricula. In this study, we demonstrated greater improvements in students’ science literacy and research skills using inquiry lab instruction. We also found that inquiry students gained self-confidence in scientific abilities, but traditional students’ gain was greater –likely indicating that the traditional curriculum promoted over-confidence. Inquiry lab students valued more authentic science exposure but acknowledged that experiencing the complexity and frustrations faced by practicing scientists was challenging, and may explain the widespread reported student resistance to inquiry curricula

Effects of inquiry-based learning on students’ science literacy skills and confidence

Abstract Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher-to student-centered course design, and included developments such as peer-teaching, problem and inquiry-based learning. In the sciences, inquiry-based learning has been widely promoted to increase literacy and skill development, but there has been little comparison to more traditional curricula. In this study, we demonstrated greater improvements in students' science literacy and research skills using inquiry lab instruction. We also found that inquiry students gained self-confidence in scientific abilities, but traditional students' gain was greater -likely indicating that the traditional curriculum promoted over-confidence. Inquiry lab students valued more authentic science exposure but acknowledged that experiencing the complexity and frustrations faced by practicing scientists was challenging, and may explain the widespread reported student resistance to inquiry curricula

A Community-Building Framework for Collaborative Research Coordination across the Education and Biology Research Disciplines

Since 2009, the U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Biological Sciences has funded Research Coordination Networks (RCN) aimed at collaborative efforts to improve participation, learning, and assessment in undergraduate biology education (UBE). RCN-UBE projects focus on coordination and communication among scientists and educators who are fostering improved and innovative approaches to biology education. When faculty members collaborate with the overarching goal of advancing undergraduate biology education, there is a need to optimize collaboration between participants in order to deeply integrate the knowledge across disciplinary boundaries. In this essay we propose a novel guiding framework for bringing colleagues together to advance knowledge and its integration across disciplines, the “Five ‘C’s’ of Collaboration: Commitment, Collegiality, Communication, Consensus, and Continuity.” This guiding framework for professional network practice is informed by both relevant literature and empirical evidence from community-building experience within the RCN-UBE Advancing Competencies in Experimentation–Biology (ACE-Bio) Network. The framework is presented with practical examples to illustrate how it might be used to enhance collaboration between new and existing participants in the ACE-Bio Network as well as within other interdisciplinary networks

The Basic Competencies of Biological Experimentation: Concept-Skill Statements

This biological experimentation competencies map is a model created by members of the ACE-Bio Network of seven areas a competent biologist calls in when doing experimentation in biology. Each competency is represented by a summary word on a uniquely colored segment of the model. For presentation convenience, the seven major areas within experimentation in biology are mapped onto tables in a linear manner. However, this is not meant to convey a particular order that one must follow during experimentation. The areas are given equal weight and flexible order of their use throughout the process of experimentation. This work is meant to provide a framework for ACE Bio Network participants and other instructors or academic leaders in the biological sciences to study implementation of experimentation activities and assessments across diverse institutional and curricular contexts. In addition to the document in pdf format, another link provides the file in MSWord format so that users can easily modify it to guide assessment of student learning about experimentation, undergraduate biology instruction, curriculum development, professional faculty development, program evaluation, or review of research literature in a way that is appropriate to their own context

Fourteen Recommendations to Create a More Inclusive Environment for LGBTQ+ Individuals in Academic Biology

Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and otherwise non-straight and/or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) have often not felt welcome or represented in the biology community. Additionally, biology can present unique challenges for LGBTQ+ students because of the relationship between certain biology topics and their LGBTQ+ identities. Currently, there is no centralized set of guidelines to make biology learning environments more inclusive for LGBTQ+ individuals. Rooted in prior literature and the collective expertise of the authors who identify as members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community, we present a set of actionable recommendations to help biologists, biology educators, and biology education researchers be more inclusive of individuals with LGBTQ+ identities. These recommendations are intended to increase awareness of LGBTQ+ identities and spark conversations about transforming biology learning spaces and the broader academic biology community to become more inclusive of LGBTQ+ individuals

Testing Scientific Literacy

In 2009 we spoke with Chris Mooney about the book on the dangers of scientific illiteracy in the U.S. he co-authored with Sheril Kirshenbaum. Today we tackle the challenge of determining scientific literacy by chatting with Cara Gormally, of the Georgia Tech School of Biology, the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) she recently developed with her collaborators Peggy Brickman from the Dept. of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia and Mary Lutz from the Dept. of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia

Effects of Salinity Concentrations on Arabidopsis Functional Traits

The Tower is an official publication of the Georgia Tech Office of Student Media and is sponsored by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and the Georgia Tech Library. This article appeared in Volume 3, pages 68-76.Excessive soluble salts in the soil are harmful to most plants. In fact, no toxic substance restricts plant growth more than salt does on a world scale. Understanding the mechanisms of plant salt tolerance will lead to effective means to breed or genetically engineer salt tolerant crops. Salt tolerance research also represents an important part of basic plant biology, contributing to our understanding of subjects ranging from gene regulation to ion transport, osmoregulation and mineral nutrition. Using a survey of published literature, we asked whether salinity mitigates a functional response, examined the form of responses, and surveyed the evidence for saline effect on functional traits. Our primary goal was to seek general patterns of saline effects on Arabidopsis for broad categories of functional traits. This research review is aimed at answering these general questions: 1) Does salinity affect phenotypic expression? 2) How does salinity affect reproductive fitness? 3) Can salt inhibit germination? 4) Whether saline disrupts ion transport through root structures? 5) Is there variation in salinity tolerance among the ecotypes? We surveyed nine peer-reviewed journals from 1999 to 2010 and organized the articles we found (12) into categories that best answered one of our five questions. Our overall findings suggest that saline does have a pertinent effect on Arabidopsis and we go into further detail, in regards to the answers to our questions. Ultimately, this review is significant because we show that Arabidopsis is adaptive to increase its salt tolerance. Also, these results can beneficially impact the agricultural sector in increasing crop yields or vegetative output.Office of Student Media; Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program; Georgia Tech Library