Assessment as Research Symposium Building Capacity for Inclusive Excellence Curriculum Strategies in the Biological Sciences Laura Beaster-Jones Marcos E. Garcia-Ojeda Jennifer O. Manilay Assessment as Research Symposium March 8, 2017

Overview of the UC Merced Biological Sciences Major Molecular Cellular Organ Individual Population Molecular and Cell Biology Human Biology “Emphasis Tracks” Microbiology and Immunology Developmental Biology Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

The Biological Sciences Major at UCM Most popular on campus 32% of the total freshman Fall 2015 class 67% of all freshmen in the School of Natural Sciences (SNS) in Fall 2016) Instructors: 29 tenure-track faculty (Fall 2016) Research faculty Teaching faculty Non-tenure track faculty (# varies) Appointed for academic year and summer sessions

Assessment of BIO Program Learning Outcomes Goal: at least 80% of our students will have “medium” or higher proficiency in each of the five Program Learning Outcomes by graduation Approach: faculty-created rubrics to assess proficiency in the student learning outcomes Direct evidence (e.g. exam questions, lab reports and student work) Indirect evidence (e.g. student exit surveys)

Conclusion: there is room for improvement BIO Program Learning Outcomes Assessment Results 1 An understanding of the tenets of modern biology and an understanding of how cellular functions are integrated from the molecular level to the cellular level, through to the level of organism, populations and functioning ecosystems. 70% of students with “medium” to “high” proficiency 2a 2b An ability to develop and critique hypotheses and to design experiments, models, and/or calculations to address these hypotheses 60% 62% 3 4 The ability to use appropriate instrumentation and computational tools to collect, analyze and interpret data. The ability to read, evaluate, interpret, and apply numerical and general scientific information. General weakness 5 A familiarity with and application of safety in good laboratory and field practice. Mostly acceptable Conclusion: there is room for improvement

Vision Use outcomes assessment data to identify our students’ educational needs to succeed in the BIO major To assess their success rates in a meaningful and impactful manner Utilize recent biology education research on how to better serve UCM’s particular student population

UCM Student Demographics 67% first generation (FG) college students 54% underrepresented minorities (URM) 44% of URM are also FG 51% women 32% are STEM majors 29% FG; 29% URM 28% FG from the local Merced community 40% Hmong; 41% Filipino

Plan: Revise the Curriculum! Utilize science educational research to design new teaching and learning approaches for faculty and students that could improve student learning outcomes Create a student-centered biology program that promotes engagement through active learning and community building Aligned with UCM’s mission: excellence in research, teaching and public service, embracing diversity and fostering interdisciplinary approaches and collaborations in the pursuit of scholarly knowledge, beginning with our undergraduate students.

Need: Resources https://www.hhmi.org/news/hhmi-invites-91-schools-participate-next-phase-inclusive-excellence-initiative

Project Aims Strategies to improve our students’ attainment BIO Program Learning Outcomes that focus on principles of inclusive excellence in science education: Aim 1. Enhance student support services and resources for BIO majors Aim 2. Achieve participation of all BIO faculty in programs focused on inclusive excellence teaching practices Aim 3. Initiate the full conversion of our introductory biology laboratory courses to Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs).

Aim 1: Enhance student support services and resources for BIO majors Focus: student ownership of learning and enhancement of already existing support services Expand student learning communities Provide financial support for additional Peer Tutors in the STEM Center specifically for BIO majors Build diverse mentoring networks to foster learning and dialogue increase access of motivated students unfamiliar with academic culture to transformative experiences in higher education “hierarchical mentoring” Assist the STEM Center to host mentoring workshops on issues of racism, sexism, gender identity, homophobia, and implicit biases in academia

“How I Got Here”: faculty-student support communities Aim 2: Achieve participation of all BIO faculty in programs focused on inclusive excellence teaching practices Focus: transform biology courses from an instruction paradigm to a learning paradigm Create and institutionalize a faculty development program towards inclusive teaching practices in biology Monthly workshops, summer workshops “Biology Faculty Explorations in Scientific Teaching” designed at San Francisco State University Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning at UC Merced Inspire inclusive excellence teaching methods as a core UCM value (promotion and tenure) Develop a program to recruit successful BIO students and train them as Undergraduate Learning Assistants (ULAs). “How I Got Here”: faculty-student support communities

CUREs are authentic research experiences in the classroom Aim 3: Initiate the full conversion of our introductory biology laboratory courses to Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). Our long-term goal is to create and institutionalize CURE opportunities to reach a large number of students with diverse backgrounds and entry points. CUREs are authentic research experiences in the classroom CUREs can improve student’s confidence, self-efficacy, laboratory skills, and knowledge about research, and also diversify scientific research Our goal is to transition the introductory biology lab sequence to include inquiry based labs (IBLs) and then into a full academic year CURE, with varied research modules directly linked to UCM BIO faculty research.

Research-Trained Faculty Talented Students (67% FG, 55% URM) Research-Trained Faculty Faculty Pedagogy Training Learn teaching strategies for active learning and inclusive practices Student Support Services Active Engaged Learning Expand Tutoring Expand Mentoring Networks Provides feedback to faculty Encourages student success Improved Student Learning Outcomes via Inclusive Excellence and Institutional Change Builds on Active Learning Reinforces course concepts Provides data for faculty Connects students to research Curriculum Reform: CUREs Hands-on authentic experiences Inquiry –based and discovery-embedded All undergraduates participate

UCM Guiding Principles for General Education Assessment Plans Analyze undergraduate teaching in relationship to BIO Program Learning Outcomes Surveys, interviews, observations COPUS (Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM) Teaching Behaviors Inventory (TBI) Survey faculty before and after teaching workshops Analyze effects of faculty-student communities on student motivation Map to UCM “Guiding Principles” UCM Guiding Principles for General Education Analyze effect of CUREs Current rubrics in place CUREnet: https://curenet.cns.utexas.edu

Biological Sciences Faculty at UC Merced Juan Meza Elizabeth Whitt, Building Capacity for Inclusive Excellence Curriculum Strategies in the Biological Sciences Thanks to: Amy Moffat SNS Student and Program Assessment Petia Gueorguieva STEM Resource Center James Zimmerman Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning Andres Hernandez Research Development Services Biological Sciences Faculty at UC Merced Juan Meza Elizabeth Whitt, Thomas Peterson UC Merced Administration Laura Beaster-Jones Assistant Teaching Professor Marcos Garcia-Ojeda Associate Teaching Professor Faculty Assessment Organizer Kimberly Tanner Professor of Biology Director, SEPAL San Francisco State University Jennifer O. Manilay Associate Professor Undergraduate Program Chair for Biological Sciences Email: jmanilay@ucmerced.edu

Biology Mentored Research Experience at UCM Inclusive Excellence as an Institutional Value at UCM CURE Lead Faculty Research focused, engaged in active learning with students (Aims 2 and 3) Peer Research Mentors Role models for first year students (Aims 1 and 3) Research Educators Ph.D. instructors and mentors for students; partner with faculty (Aims 1 and 3) Aim 3: All Students in “Experience in Mentored Biology Research” (EMBR) Course