Combining the C.R.E.A.T.E .method with an online annotation and discussion tool like Perusall can empower students to confidently participate in conversations and amplify more voices in the classroom. Together they may lead to deeper knowledge building and synthesis among communities of learners. Reading primary research literature is an important skill for understanding the generation and evaluation of ideas in the Life and Social Sciences. Typically as students advance into their upper division coursework, interactions with primary literature outside of curated textbooks become more common. Analysis of these papers can help students understand “who does science, how and why” (Hoskins, Lapatto, and Stevens, 2011) . However, for many students reading primary literature can be intimidating and confusing. Scientific research may seem like a recipe to which some have access and others do not. They may also feel like they are unable to ask questions or criticize the work being done by ...

Depression is a mental health concern for many students and is prevalent among undergraduates at a concerning rate. It has also been shown that underserved and underrepresented individuals in science are disproportionately impacted by depression  ( Turner and Noh, 1988 ,  Eisenberg et al., 2007 ; Jenkins et al., 2013 ; American College Health Association, 2018 ).  If we want to create a more inclusive community in science, we should consider how students’ depressive symptoms interact with their research experiences. However, there is a lack of understanding of the relationship between undergraduate research and students’ depression. A recent study published by the Biology Education Research Lab at ASU begins to explore how depression impacts undergraduate research experiences, as well as how these research experiences affect students’ depression.                      Depressive symptoms affect undergradua...

While racism is very apparent in the world today, many don’t realize how prevalent it is within academia as well. Not only have I experienced this myself, but I have many friends with countless stories of their own. The reality is that I have experienced and witnessed racism and discrimination at almost every single school I have attended. It’s always a matter of exterior judgement. Does that student look professional? Does this student look “college ready?" Does that student look like they could be in higher classes? Throughout my public school experience I was classified as "gifted" and although anyone could technically take the tests to be in these "gifted" programs, the demographic was completely discriminatory. Not only was I literally the only black person, I was one of very few females. Because there was no representation of black people in these types of classes, I felt like an outsider, and was seen this way as well. At a volunteer event outside ...

#SHUTDOWNSTEM Many of you are aware of the #ShutDownSTEM movement planned for today, June 10th, 2020. In the Arizona State University School of Life Sciences, we stand with the STEM community at ASU, and with scientists across the world to “transition to a lifelong commitment of actions to eradicate anti-Black racism in academia and STEM.”   Our Teaching Innovation Team will be taking the day to read, listen and consider how we as individuals, and as a team, can make a positive change for more diverse and inclusive learning environments for our Black colleagues and students. We are grateful to Sara Brownell and her research group for promoting this movement, and encourage our readers to look at the research they are doing in the area of biology education and inclusion at: http://sebbers.wixsite.com/biology-ed-lab We urge our readers to take time from their day, and consider a way to participate that is meaningful and appropriate to your situation. Below are some resourc...

One of the great things about a project-based course is that students can bring fresh, creative angles to the standard topics in a field. Unfortunately, their contributions often don’t have a lifespan beyond the semester or a good way to reach a broader audience. Google recently revamped its aging Google Sites service, and I found it to offer an effective solution for this challenge in my course this semester, especially in combination with the rest of Google’s cloud services .  If you’re interested in sharing student projects on a public-facing site, I also found some licensing tools from Creative Commons nicely address some important concerns about credit and reuse. Engaging Students As a philosopher teaching in ASU’s School of Life Sciences, I’m always looking for creative ways to engage students with philosophy as an activity – something we can do together as a group -- rather than a bunch of theories disconnected from what they’re studying. I’ve been teaching an upper-level ...