Mind the Gap: Nurturing Our Students Toward Expertise

On May 11 & 12, 2015 the Alberta Introductory Biology Association (AIBA) together with the Centre for Teaching and Learning invites you to attend a series of workshops with visiting speaker Dr. Kimberly Tanner, San Francisco State University (SFSU).

We invite all members of the university community to attend and learn how instructors can construct a learning environment which will nurture the development of students' expertise in our disciplines.

Questions? Please contact ctl@ualberta.ca.

Cultural Competency in the Undergraduate Classroom: Cross-Disciplinary Tools, Insights and Strategies to Promote Student Success

Dr. Kimberly Tanner, San Francisco State University (SFSU)
May 11, 2015 | 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. | Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS) L1-140

In this interactive workshop, participants will share a common experience as the basis for discussing how students may experience classroom environments differently from one another. Individual participants will then have the opportunity to self-assess their current awareness of 20 common equitable teaching strategies and identify those that could be immediately implemented in their classrooms.

 

Order Matters: Becoming Metacognitive about Teaching Choices

Dr. Kimberly Tanner, San Francisco State University (SFSU)
May 11, 2015 | 2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. | Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA) L1-430

What teaching choices are we making as instructors, and why? How do we as instructors decide how to spend in-class time with students? To what extent do our teaching plans align with what is known about how the brain learns? What tools are available to become more analytical about our teaching choices and strategize for change? In this interactive workshop, participants will explore their current approaches to planning and reflecting on their teaching, as well as explore the 5E learning cycle model as an analytical tool for understanding teaching choices. Individual participants will have the opportunity to self-assess and analyze current class sessions and identify changes that could be immediately implemented.

 

AIBA Keynote Address:
Beyond Assessing Knowledge - Card Sorting, Superheroes, and Moving Towards Measuring (Biological) Expertise among Undergraduates

Dr. Kimberly Tanner, San Francisco State University (SFSU)
May 12, 2015 | 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | Biological Sciences Building CW 410

How do biology experts structure their thinking about the concepts in their discipline? How is this different from the way those new to the field approach these same ideas? In this interactive seminar, Dr. Kimberly Tanner will engage the audience in thinking about expert and novice thinking in biology by drawing upon her own research that integrates methodologies from science education and cognitive psychology. Approaches to understanding and measuring biological expertise are strongly tied to ideas put forward by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the recently published, Vision and Change for Undergraduate Biology Education.

The Alberta Introductory Biology Association (AIBA) will be holding its meeting on the morning and afternoon of Tuesday, May 12. AIBA meets annually to discuss issues of undergraduate biology education. All are invited to attend, but we request that you register at the AIBA website to aid with planning of the meeting.

Dr. Kimberly Tanner, San Francisco State University (SFSU)

Kimberly D. Tanner is a tenured Professor of Biology and the Director of SEPAL: The Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory within the Department of Biology at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Trained as both a biochemist and a neuroscientist, she received my B.A. in Biochemistry from Rice University in 1991 and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1997. She was awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science Education (PFSMETE) from 1998-2000, during which she pursued additional training in science education research methodologies, investigating the impact of involving scientists in K-12 science education partnerships. After completing her fellowship, she joined the UCSF Science & Health Education Partnership (SEP), her fellowship study site, as a Senior Academic Coordinator from 2000-2004. Most recently, she was hired at SFSU in January 2004 as a tenure-track faculty member with a specialization in biology education, the first such hire across the SFSU science departments. Her research group - SEPAL - investigates how people learn science, especially biology, and how teachers and scientists can collaborate to make science teaching and learning in classrooms - Kindergarten through university - more like how scientists work. SEPAL research addresses three lines of inquiry: 1) developing novel assessment tools to better understand conceptual change and misconceptions in biology that can guide strategies for curriculum improvement and teaching reform, 2) studying the impact of involving scientists in science education, whether in K-12 classrooms, as undergraduate or graduate teaching assistants, or as college and university Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES). SEPAL also offers courses designed to teach scientific trainees how to teach the science they know and programs that promote science education partnerships between scientific trainees and instructors from Kindergarten through community college. Dr. Tanner is a founding member of the Editorial Board for CBE: A Journal of Life Sciences Education and co-author of the Approaches to Biology Teaching and Learning series, which translates education research and pedagogical strategies into language accessible to undergraduate biology faculty. Professionally, she has served on committees for the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Research Council, the Society for Neuroscience, the American Society for Cell Biology, and the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. Her scholarly activities have been funded by multiple NSF grant awards, an NIH Science Education Partnership Award, and multiple, internal SFSU awards. Most recently, Dr. Tanner received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER research award, was elected a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and received the 2012 Outstanding College Science Teacher Award from the Society for College Science Teaching, an affiliate of the National Science Teachers Association.

 

Resources

Strategies for Preventing Student Resistance (January 26, 2015)
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management/strategies-preventing-student-resistance/

Approaches to Biology Teaching and Learning
Seidel SB and Tanner KD. 2013. "What if students revolt?"-Considering Student Resistance: Origins, Options, and Opportunities for Investigation. CBE-Life Sciences Education 12(4): 586-595. doi: 10.1187/cbe-13-09-0190
http://www.lifescied.org/content/12/4/586.full

 

I - Cultural Competency in the Undergraduate Classroom: Cross-Disciplinary Tools, Insights and Strategies to Promote Student Success
slideshow
handout
further reading

 

II - Order Matters: Becoming Metacognitive about Teaching Choices
slideshow
handouts

further reading

 

III - AIBA Keynote Address: Beyond Assessing Knowledge - Card Sorting, Superheroes, and Moving Towards Measuring (Biological) Expertise among Undergraduates
slideshow
further reading

 

Sponsored by

Faculty of Science
Department of Biological Sciences
Alberta Introductory Biology Association
Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Visiting Speaker Grants

Kimberly Tanner