SYMPOSIUM ON EVIDENCE BASED TEACHING IN YOUR BIOMOLECULAR CLASSROOM: CATALYSING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MINHO, BRAGA, PORTUGAL
17 and 18 November 2021
Online event
PROGRAMME
(the programme is in GMT, time of Portugal)
November 17th
3.00pm
Opening
Talk 1: Luciane Vieira de Mello - Developing transferable skills through embedding reflection in the science curriculum
3.10pm
4.10pm
4.25pm
Coffee break
5.40pm
Coffee break
5.45pm
Talk 2: Erin Dolan - Undergraduate research at scale: what if the treatment is a CURE?
November 18th
3.00pm
4.00pm
4.15pm
5.30pm
5.45pm
Talk 3: Gabriel Hornink - Student authorship to enhance student engagement in molecular biology and biochemistry classroom
Coffee break
Talk 4: Kimberly Tanner - Talk matters: investigating the nature of non-content classroom language - instructor talk - that may mediate student inclusion, engagement, and learning
Coffee break
Closing session: How to publish on biomolecular sciences education
Kimberly Tanner (Co-Edtitor-in-Chief of CBE-Life Sciences Education)
Manuel João Costa (Editor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education)
Luciane Vieira de Mello (Editor of Education with FEBS Open BIO)
Closing
Talks
6.45pm
Talk 1
Luciane Vieira de Mello
Developing transferable skills through embedding reflection in the science curriculum
A longstanding challenge for educators in Higher Education is the need to prepare students for their career journey after graduation. Many degrees provide students with the opportunity to develop transferable skills, for instance through giving presentations and working in teams. Nevertheless, science students can struggle with self-reflection and students are not always able to reflect on their skills development and on the connection between theory, practice and their learning. Consequently, they may find it difficult to articulate and evidence skills during job applications. We present different ways to foster self-reflection when transferable skills are embedded and assessed in the curriculum. However, we claim that the process of reflection should be taught and supported and new ways of assessing students are needed to help them develop their ability to self-reflect.
Talk 2
Erin Dolan
Undergraduate research at scale: what if the treatment is a CURE?
Efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education have emphasized the importance of undergraduate research experiences. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences, or CUREs, involve groups of students in addressing research problems or questions in the context of a class, and have been proposed as scalable ways of involving undergraduates in research. This seminar will offer a definition of CUREs, describe what makes them distinctive from other learning experiences, and highlight results from a unique and highly impactful CURE model.
Talk 3
Gabriel Hornink
Student authorship to enhance student engagement in molecular biology and biochemistry classroom.
The authoring of materials by students has been shown to enhance the teaching and learning processes. Several strategies for student authorship can be worked on, incorporated into active methodologies, such as projects based learning, problems and challenges, and others. These strategies can increase engagement and motivation, enhancing teaching. During this presentation some experiences will be presented, bringing some experiences and possibilities to work in the classroom, hybrid or online, from board games to digital games and mobile apps.
Talk 4
Kimberly Tanner
Talk matters: investigating the nature of non-content classroom language - instructor talk - that may mediate student inclusion, engagement, and learning
Through the language they use, instructors create classroom environments that have the potential to impact learning by affecting student motivation, resistance, belonging, and self-efficacy. However, despite the critical importance of instructor language to the student experience, little research has investigated what instructors are saying in undergraduate classrooms. What types of language are instructors using that might promote a positive learning environment? A negative learning environment? And how do undergraduate students perceive samples of this instructor language? We systematically investigated instructor language that was not directly relate to content and defined this as Instructor Talk and identified five robust categories of Instructor Talk that can characterize ~90% of non-content language found in over 60 courses. In this interactive session, participants will engage with colleagues in reflecting on their own memories of Instructor Talk, categorizing multiple samples of Instructor Talk, exploring student perceptions of Instructor Talk, and strategizing about how increased attention to Instructor Talk could support them in to creating inclusive learning environments.
Workshops
Workshops are parallel sessions, participants should select one workshop to attend.
Workshop 2
Joana Azeredo and Manuel João Costa
Team Based Learning: a method to enhance student engagement and success
Team-Based Learning (TBL) involves students doing team-work during class time and independent study outside of the classroom. TBL is a structured active learning method designed for large or small classes. This method combines individual accountability and collaborative learning, enhancing student engagement and success. Preliminary evidence shows that the method works well online. There are many reports of teachers who experience TBL once and then decide to replace lecturing with TBL.
This session, led by two teachers belonging to the University of Minho’s “TBL now” community, will introduce colleagues to the TBL method, and how to implement it to enhance student engagement in bimolecular courses. The workshop will involve an introduction to the process of implementing TBL, summarize evidence of its impact, and presenting examples of implementing the TBL in courses related to biochemistry. Through these examples, specific strategies used to implement TBL as a face-to-face learning activity and in an online format will be presented.
Workshop 4
Rui Oliveira
Problem-driven course design
In our teaching activity we face many challenges ranging from the very common lack of student engagement to more specific ones like recipe-driven laboratory classes. Active learning strategies, involving the implementation of methodologies and technologies for student-centred teaching have been demonstrated to be excellent resources to address these challenges. Evidence reported in the large body of literature in this area clearly indicate that well-conducted, student-centred methodologies and technologies promote great improvements in student engagement and learning. Some examples of such methodologies and technologies are team-based learning, problem-based learning, audience response systems and Google Docs for collaborative writing. In this workshop, I will provide an insight of these resources and how they can be helpful to address challenges in teaching. A brief overview will be provided of methodologies and technologies, how they can address common problems in teaching and also potential problems that can arise upon their implementation. Clear examples based on my experience will be provided to illustrate how they can be helpful. An interactive activity will be proposed to allow the participants to identify their challenges in teaching and to select methodologies and technologies that might allow to overcome such obstacles.
Workshop 5
Stephen Rutherford
Using the EAT Framework to enhance assessment and feedback practices through student-staff collaboration
Independent learning is fundamental to Higher Education (Daily & Landis, 2014). In order to develop their understanding and academic skills, students need to have the self-regulatory abilities to evaluate their progress and identify where they need to improve (Zimmerman, 1990). Effective assessment is important in supporting this development of self-regulatory skills (Evans, 2013; Nicol and McFarlane-Dick, 2006). The EAT (Equity, Agency, Transparency) framework (Evans, 2016) has been developed from a synthesis of over 50,000 studies, to support the development of effective assessments that encourage self-regulation in learners. EAT focuses on 3 dimensions: Assessment Literacy, Assessment Feedback, and Assessment Design. EAT provides a simple tool for students and staff to use, to help them work in partnership enhance the design and impact of assessments and feedback processes.
This session, led by partners of a cross-European Erasmus+ funded project, will introduce colleagues to the EAT framework, and how to use it to enhance the assessment and feedback practices. Participant will experience how EAT can support the development of assessments that are accessible and inclusive to all learners, and are student-focused and engaging. Student-staff partnership is fundamental to EAT, and provides opportunities for dialogue about assessment and feedback, and developing assessment literacy for all those involved in the learning process. The workshop will involve an introduction to EAT, examples of implementing the framework, and peer-to-peer discussion and planning of how to use EAT to address problem aspects of an assessment.
