Ways of Knowing Biology
Professional Development Opportunities in Teaching & Learning: Integrating Research and Teaching
The course Ways of Knowing Biology (WoK-Bio) was developed by the Center for Biology Education (CBE) in 1993 as part of a national movement on college campuses to help first year college students learn about the scope and methods of biology before plunging into the content that is the focus of most biology courses. It was designed to expose students to the breadth of biology at UW-Madison, and to integrate a research component into students’ undergraduate academic experience during their first year on campus. The course explores biology research as the fundamental mechanism by which knowledge is acquired about the living world. It focuses on the process, rather than the content of biology. It is offered each spring, with an approximate enrollment of 80 students.
Ways of Knowing Biology students explore the world of research in several interactive and educational formats. The course concentrates on 3 research themes, which change each year and will be developed by graduate students/postdocs in the biological sciences in collaboration with faculty across campus. Students also explore other, non-theme, areas of research during research explorations, in which small groups of students visit faculty labs across campus to participate in hands on activities. Additionally, students spend one half-day with a graduate student, one-on-one, to learn about research on the front lines and potential career paths during the graduate shadowing experience. Finally, students meet fellow undergraduates who have made research part of their academic career by interviewing an undergraduate researcher at the University wide Undergraduate Symposium.
Three of these activities offer graduate students and post-docs the opportunity to integrate their teaching and research: research theme development, research exploration development, and graduate shadowing mentorship.
Opportunity to develop a Research Theme
Three graduate students/post-docs will have the opportunity to become part of the WoK-Bio instructional materials development teaching & learning community. They will participate in the fall semester Instructional Materials Development course that is being developed through the HHMI program (Plant Pathology 875, lecture 3). There will also be a separate course offered in Curriculum & Instruction (course number to be determined) that will “meet with” the Plant Pathology course. Ways of Knowing theme developers may register for either course, and both courses will count toward credit in the DELTA program. Theme developers will work cooperatively with each other, the IMD instructors, the WoK-Bio course director (Janet Branchaw), and a WoK-Bio course coordinator to define and develop their individual research themes. The focus will be on how biologists do research in each theme area, rather than on specific content. Each theme leader will be responsible for developing instructional materials (including assessment tools), discussion topics, activities, and an assignment that will serve to introduce first-year students to their area of research (approximately three 50 minute class periods). The theme leaders will also be responsible for identifying and recruiting leading researchers from across campus, or off campus, to participate in the development and implementation of their research theme activities. In the spring semester the theme leaders will either do a DELTA internship, or be a Hughes fellow, with the Ways of Knowing Biology course in which they will “test out” their materials. The group will meet on a weekly basis to reflect on the effectiveness of their materials and to modify/improve them for future use. Each theme leader will produce a research theme module that will be added to their teaching portfolio and published by the Center for Biology Education.
[Download the Research Theme Application - 320Kb]
Opportunity to develop a Research Exploration
Up to 60 graduate students/post-docs will have the opportunity to develop and offer research explorations in collaboration with their faculty research mentors. During research explorations, the laboratory/field site is the classroom. In the fall semester, research exploration developers will design a set of hands on laboratory activities that serve to introduce freshman students to their research. Materials and workshops will be offered by the WoK-Bio course director and coordinator during the fall semester to help the exploration developers design their activities. In general, explorations include 4 – 6 student participants and last approximately 2 – 4 hours. During the spring semester, the explorations will be offered twice (once in February and once in April) as part of the Ways of Knowing Biology course.
[Download the Research Exploration Application - 320Kb]
Opportunity to Mentor a Freshman Student
Approximately 80 graduate students/post-docs will have the opportunity to mentor a Ways of Knowing Biology student for a single 1/2 day during the spring semester. The WoK-Bio students sign up to meet with a mentor doing research in a field that interests them. The meeting time is scheduled on an individual basis and can occur any time during the spring semester. During the meeting students are encouraged to ask their mentors questions about careers in the biological sciences, planning, navigating, and succeeding as an undergraduate biological sciences major, and what life as a biologist is like. This is a great opportunity to share your experiences with an enthusiastic young person just beginning his/her career!
[Download the Mentorship Application - 320Kb]
Contact
- Course Coordinator
- Brian Asen
- 118D Genetics Building
- beasen@wisc.edu
- (608) 262-5267