Faculty/Staff

The Center for Biology Education offers many opportunities and resources for faculty/staff interested in improvement of undergraduate instruction in the biological sciences.

    Programs

    • BIBs (Biology Instruction Brownbags) are lunchtime discussions for faculty and staff interested in sharing classroom experiences and developing more effective teaching strategies.
    • SyMBiosis interdisciplinary seminars bring together scholars from math, the physical sciences, statistics and biology to explore ways of helping biological sciences students learn and retain the foundational math and science they will need.
    • Teaching Circles include four to six biology faculty/staff who meet regularly for a semester to help each other solve problems and implement ideas in the classroom.
    • Workshops

      Research Mentoring

      • SSI (Summer Science Institute) summer residential program brings high school students from under-served populations to UW-Madison for research and academic enrichment experiences. University researchers (faculty, staff and students) serve as research mentors and instructors.
      • PEOPLE is a university, community, school partnership to enhance the college track preparation and academic success of middle and high school students. University researchers (faculty, staff and students) serve as research mentors and instructors.
      • IBS-SRP (Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program) offers faculty-mentored research experience for undergraduates.
      • Science Education Scholars is a summer research experience offered by University researchers for teams of School of Education students and Madison area teachers.

        Teaching

        • WoK Bio (Ways of Knowing Biology) introduces first-year students to UW-Madison research through seminars, discussion groups and laboratory exploration sessions.
        • BIGs (Biology Interest Groups) are small courses for students who co-enroll in the same sections of math and chemistry. BIGs courses, based on a broad disciplinary area of the instructor, will help students integrate science and math through use of biology cases.

          Advising Resources

          • Advisor (Biological Sciences Advisor) helps current and prospective students match their interests and abilities to the spectrum of biology majors on campus and counsels them on course selection and scheduling.
          • The Biological Sciences Course Guide This searchable database is available on MyUW for UW students and staff. Public access is also available. It includes course descriptions and syllabi, as well as information about class size, format, and specific content.
          • Which Bio Major? The Which Biology Major? is an online publication that describes UW-Madison undergraduate biological sciences majors and provides suggestions to help students choose among them.
          • Which Intro Bio Course? is a guide to the different introductory biological science courses offered at UW-Madison.
          • Links to Majors lists undergraduate biological sciences majors at the UW-Madison organized.
          • Undergrad Research (The Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Biology) web resource helps undergraduates find research opportunities and mentors at UW-Madison.
          • Summer Research lists the various summer undergraduate research programs offered in the biological sciences at UW-Madison.

            Teaching Resources

            • Cases/PBL Each of these Centers has a wealth of information on writing and using cases for teaching undergraduate science courses. In addition, each maintains a set of cases written at their workshops or as part of their project.
            • UW System Biology Cases Portal: UW System faculty have contributed biology cases and their experiences implementing them to this portal. The portal was created for the UW System Biologists workshop Oct.26, 2007. Any faculty/staff from the UW System wishing to add a case to the portal should contact Lillian Tong.
            • DMC (Digital Media Center) provides equipment, software, information and expert assistance to help campus biologists integrate multimedia technology into teaching and research. It includes a multimedia classroom for instruction.
            • Innovation (Innovation in Teaching) is a collection of resources from past brownbag discussions that highlighted teaching innovations in different departments at UW-Madison.
            • Biology Professional Societies (formerly coordinated by the Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences) provides links to the professional societies in the biological sciences, with annotation on activities and materials to promote quality undergraduate education.
            • Resource Guide (Faculty Guide to Undergraduate Education Resources) provides quick links to resources for students and instructors at UW-Madison.