Climate Confusion Among US Teachers, Plutzer et al.

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Published in Science

This study collected data from 1500 public middle- and high-school science teachers from all 50 U.S. states, representative of the population of science teachers in terms of school size, student socioeconomic status, and community economic and political characteristics. The resulting data showed gaps in teacher knowledge and resources. The paper additionally discusses social and political pressures impacting teaching.

To address these issues the paper concludes by highlighting the need for middle-school and high-school teachers to have access to training on current research in climate change. “College and university instructors will need help reaching teachers and teachers-in-training who bring diverse political and value commitments to the classroom—particularly in avoiding “boomerang effects,” in which attempts to promote a particular view can instead harden opposition. This may entail acknowledging and addressing conflicts that teachers (and their students) may feel between their values and the science. Such instruction will promote understanding of the science as well as the pedagogy that future teachers will need to promote climate science literacy.”

HBCUs: An Unheralded Role in STEM Majors and a Model for Other Colleges

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Published in The Chronicle of Higher Education

In this article by Ken Leichter, he outlines the benefits and successes that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have achieved for supporting African American students in completing majors that lead to higher paying jobs – particularly in the STEM disciplines. He contrasts this success with research evidencing the challenges and poor retention outcomes seen at other colleges and universities. He offers the HBCU model as one that should be preserved because of its success, but also as a leader from which other institutions can learn from in order to better address their own disparities in outcomes and service to African American students.

New Report: Enhancing Student Success and Building Inclusive Classrooms at UCLA

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Plans include a collaborative effort with deans and department chairs to discuss report findings, convening a working group for implementing recommendations, and developing detailed data dashboards to improve transparency for enrollment, performance, climate, and retention. Read more

Death Valley is Experiencing a Colorful “Superbloom”

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Published in the New York Times

Many UCLA students, post-docs, and faculty are packing up their cars and heading to Death Valley to experience the ‘Superbloom’ of wildflowers before it is too late. Can you leverage this experience to teach about floral carpets, ecological systems, and climate in your classroom?

US House Passes Controversial Bill on NSF Research

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Published in Science

The controversial Scientific Research in the National Interest Act (HR 3293) was passed by the House of Representatives on February 10th. Some consider this a simple reminder that federal dollars should be spent wisely, while others view it as an unwise and unwarranted intrusion into NSF’s grant funding process.

NIBLSE: A Network for Integrating Bioinformatics into Life Science Education

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CBE Life Sciences Education

This article provides information on the Network for Integrating Bioinformatics into Life Sciences Education (NIBLSE; pronounced “nibbles”) and their efforts to establish bioinformatics as an essential component of undergraduate life sciences education by creating a network of investigators to articulate a shared vision about how best to integrate bioinformatics into life sciences curricula. The initial networking effort in April 2014 convened 26 biology and computer science faculty from diverse institutions and professionals from the private sector to explore core issues related to the long-term. In particular, the conference focused on how best to facilitate effective communication and enhance opportunities for collaboration by discussing current challenges and potential next steps for the 1) integration of bioinformatics into life sciences curricula; 2) assessment of bioinformatics educational resources; and 3) professional development of life sciences educators.

Males Under-Estimate Academic Performance of their Female Peers in Undergraduate Biology Classrooms

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Published in Plous One

Women who start college in one of the natural or physical sciences leave in greater proportions than their male peers. The reasons for this difference are complex, and one possible contributing factor is the social environment women experience in the classroom. Using social network analysis, this research study explores how gender influences the confidence that college-level biology students have in each other’s mastery of biology. Results reveal that males are more likely than females to be named by peers as being knowledgeable about the course content. This effect increases as the term progresses, and persists even after controlling for class performance and outspokenness. The bias in nominations is specifically due to males over-nominating their male peers relative to their performance. The over-nomination of male peers is commensurate with an overestimation of male grades by 0.57 points on a 4 point grade scale, indicating a strong male bias among males when assessing their classmates. Females, in contrast, nominated equitably based on student performance rather than gender, suggesting they lacked gender biases in filling out these surveys. These trends persist across eleven surveys taken in three different iterations of the same Biology course. In every class, the most renowned students are always male. This favoring of males by peers could influence student self-confidence, and thus persistence in this STEM discipline.

 

Scholars Challenge Colleges to Reform STEM Learning

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Published in Science

Melanie M. Cooper of and colleagues from Michigan State University recently published an article in Science Magazine saying that college students are expected to learn too many facts that do not connect across their coursework or prepare them to apply scientific knowledge in their lives. They believe a different set of strategies taking hold in K-12 schools can be used to improve learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, during the first two years of college.

New Study Tests Three-Step Intervention to Increase Faculty Gender Diversity in STEM

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Published in BioScience

Using a three-step intervention derived from self-determination theory, an interdisciplinary team from Montana State University demonstrated a low-cost way to improve gender diversity in STEM-faculty hiring. The results show that the numbers of women candidates considered for and offered tenure-track positions were significantly higher in the intervention groups compared with those in controls. Searches in the intervention were 6.3 times more likely to make an offer to a woman candidate, and women who were made an offer were 5.8 times more likely to accept the offer from an intervention.