Seminars

Spring 2018 Seminar Schedule
(video recordings posted after the seminar)
Are you looking for new ideas for your teaching?
Do you want to use teaching practices supported by research?
Want to share teaching ideas with your peers?
 

Tuesday March 13, 2018
11:45 am - 1:00pm, LSC 202
"How should creationism and intelligent design be dealt with in schools and universities?"
with Michael Reiss, PhD, University College London and President of the International Society for Science and Religion (flyer)


Evolution is foundational to biology, yet creationism and intelligent design are widespread in many countries. Dr. Reiss will begin by examining creationism and intelligent design as controversial
issues among students and the public. He will then examine whether conceptualizing creationism as a “worldview” could be useful for teaching evolution to students who hold creationist beliefs, using the film “March of the Penguins” as an example. The seminar will close by examining the implications for teaching evolution in schools and universities. Lunch is provided, RSVP: http://links.asu.edu/Mar13EBT

---

Monday March 19, 2018
Time 11:30-1:00pm, Room LSE 250
"Replacing Course Evaluations as Measures of Teaching Effectiveness"
with Mary Pat Wenderoth, PhD, UW- Biology Education Research Group (flyer)

Each year faculty are reviewed for merit and promotion, a component of which often includes student evaluation of teaching (SETs). However, recent analyses of SETs by have raised major concerns as to the validity of using SETs to determine teaching effectiveness. What are alternative means of determining teaching effectiveness? In this seminar, I will present how we developed PORTAAL (Practical Observation Rubric to Assess Active Learning) and results that indicate PORTAAL can distinguish a wide range of active learning implementations, thus providing an evidence-based and objective alternative to the use of SETs. RSVP for Lunch Here.

---

Friday April 6, 2018
1:00-2:00 p.m, LSE 106
"Toward more inclusive large-enrollment undergraduate biology classrooms: Identifying inequities and possible underlying mechanisms."

with Katelyn Cooper Ph.D. student in Biology, Arizona State University (flyer)

To what extent do students experience college biology classrooms differently because of their social identities (gender, LGBTQIA status, anxiety levels)? How has transitioning traditional lecture courses to active learning spaces worsened and improved the experiences for students with different identities? What can instructors do to create more inclusive college biology classrooms?

In this talk I will discuss my work which has identified social identity inequities in the undergraduate biology classroom, focusing on the experiences of female students, students with anxiety, and LGBTQIA students in biology active learning classrooms. I also highlight how instructor teaching practices, such as using student names and instructor use of humor, can be used to alleviate or exacerbate inequities in the college biology classroom.

---

Monday April 9th, 2018
1:15pm-2:15pm, LSC 202
"From conflict to common ground: A call to use cultural competence in evolution education"
with Liz Barnes, PhD Student, Arizona State University (flyer)

Students' religious beliefs have been identified as a major barrier to accepting evolution and lack of acceptance of evolution is a challenge for those teaching evolution. This talk will focus on a new instructional framework for teaching evolution called "Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education (ReCCEE)" that can increase students' acceptance of evolution, decrease perceived conflict between religious beliefs and evolution, and create more inclusive college biology classrooms.

---

The “Evidence-based Teaching in STEM” Seminar series is open to all faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and undergraduates.

Come to learn about new cutting edge research and think about how to apply it to your own classroom! Get to know other instructors on campus who are also interested in evidence-based teaching!


Email amy.pate@asu.edu to be put on our email list.