Collaborators (your secret super power!) Do you need a collaborator? Before you answer this question – Why might you want one? (vs. need one?) Think, pair, share Go!!!!

An Example Clickers I was an early (and fearless) adopter I held fast, even when students were initially resistant I looked at end-of-semester evals – They LOVED those clickers But my grade distribution didn’t seem to shift

Sigh (or grrrr…..) All that work No (apparent) changes in learning – At least in terms of grade distributions – Much beating of head, wringing of hands

A colleague to the rescue Had to listen to me go on about all this – Sort of a critical friend And was interested in trying clickers for themselves – So we chatted – And I bought some coffee – And they had some great ideas – And they were genuinely interested in clickers, and my experiences with them

A match made in clicker heaven…. A. So what did we (my colleague) come up with? – Any ideas about how to assess impact of clickers on learning? B. And what do you think made this such a productive partnership?

A match made in collaborator heaven Including a CBE-Life Sciences Education paper – almost as good as JMBE…

I was a molecular cytogeneticist (in my post-doc life) We look at pretty chromosomes We tally up chromosomes on 20 cancer spreads – And we partner with statisticians to do Kaplan-Meier plots on patient outcomes/chromosomal rearrangements

Pretty chromosomes Genes Chromosom. Cancer Vol.28, 2 Pages: Copyright © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

So here is what I knew about stats When in doubt, ask someone!

I was stuck Micro Genetics/Genomics (in preparation) 3 semesters of messy data How to compare? When in doubt, ask someone!

So I asked another colleague 1. Help with some statistical tests – Be prepared & considerate 2. And was there a mutualism? – they were submitting an NSF training grant – previous submissions had been dinged for weak assessment – & I know a bit about assessment – (thanks to ASM SiR/ BSP) – So I am now a Co-PI on the funded grant

Mutually beneficial (mutualisms) What can you bring to the table? What can a collaborator bring to the table? And how can you make it synergistic?

And then there’s the problem of mutual interest If you keep your ear to the ground – Yes, network Get to know people (who in turn know other people and so on) There may be new opportunities to collaborate – Like a grant – To study a mutually interesting problem

Working on mutually interesting problems Me Science education – Mostly undergrad K-8 outreach – And noticing that some teachers shy away from biology My colleague Elementary education – With an interest in science and technology Together Bioinformatics in the K-8 Classroom Conexiones: Fostering Technology-Enhanced Socioscientific Inquiry in Graduate Teacher Preparation

Lessons? Themes? What/how can use any of this as you think about your own project(s)?

Lessons & Themes A. Network – So you meet possible collaborators B. Talk about your work – Successes and challenges – You never know who might be able to help you – You never know who might need your help C. Teams are always better than individuals – Scientific Teaching 101 – Ask Christine