1. Supporting Faculty: Resources from Professional Societies and Online Communities
Marsha Lakes Matyas, Ph.D.
Director of Education Programs
American Physiological Society, Bethesda, MD
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

2. Overview Why we need educator communities How to get involved
Benefits of communities for educators
APS communities:
Life Science Teaching Resources Community or LifeSciTRC
Physiology Education Community of Practice or PECOP
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

3. Dispensing Knowledge = Tradition!
PowerPoint?
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

4. Is traditional lecture useful?
Content
Reading
Lecture
Competencies
Lab skills
Experimental design
Data analysis
Communication skills
Asking which teaching technique is best is analogous to asking which tool is best—a hammer, a screwdriver, a knife, or pliers. In teaching as in carpentry, the selection of tools depends on the task at hand and the materials one is working with Bransford, How People Learn, 2004
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

5. Is there one universal best teaching practice?
Bad practices
Changing student body
Want student-centered
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

6. student-centered learning
clickers
service learning
student-centered learning
team teaching
formative assessment
summative assessment
peer-grading
flipped classroom
active learning
classroom setups that support interaction
core concepts
research experiences
“blooming” objectives
core competencies
video lectures
teaching with ultrasound
learning contexts
teaching portfolios
interdisciplinary courses
blended courses
online teaching
integrated courses
greater diversity
PBL
inquiry

7. Will it work with MY students? What resources do I need to do this?
clickers
service learning
student-centered learning
How do you DO that?
Does it work?
Will it work with MY students?
What resources do I need to do this?
Who else is doing this?
CAN THEY HELP ME?
team teaching
formative assessment
summative assessment
peer-grading
flipped classroom
active learning
classroom setups that support interaction
core concepts
research experiences
“blooming” objectives
core competencies
video lectures
teaching with ultrasound
learning contexts
teaching portfolios
interdisciplinary courses
blended courses
online teaching
integrated courses
greater diversity
inquiry

8. Which is more common? Researchers Bench Educators
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

9. I’m working in isolation
Want a sense of belonging and to be part of a group with shared values & passion for teaching
* I am currently the sole full-time faculty member teaching science at [my institution]…I crave a community of science educators to which to belong and establish relationships with…
* Our jobs are mostly done alone. Even within our departments, frequently there is limited exchange of teaching methods and rarely do we get to learn from and teach other educators in our subfield…
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

10. I’m new to teaching
Unsure of professional standards of practice, especially in context of newer pedagogy and increasing student diversity.
* I jumped right into teaching as naïve as I could be. I knew nothing about curriculum development, pedagogy, or Bloom’s taxonomy…my department is dominated by professors who have been teaching for many years and are comfortable in their way of instruction and see no reason to try anything different. This is fueled because our students are still highly successful sometimes I think in spite of us and our old-fashioned teaching styles…
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

11. Support/guidance -> confidence
When you are trying something new, you need support and guidance, especially from those who have used this successfully
* …the experiences I have found most beneficial all included a cohort, or network, of individuals that would support each other. I suspect this is critical to making sure that someone doesn’t just learn about a “new” idea and then soon forget it, but provides a continuous mechanism to keep people on track and aid them when problems arise.
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

12. How do I teach physiology?
Generic training is useful but physiology educators want to learn how to teach physiology
* My current community of educators consists primarily of people with expertise in chemistry, Earth science, and physics. I value this diversity of perspectives because it forces me to communicate clearly and to integrate my life science training with other areas of science. However, I need checks and balances on my accuracy, clarity, and coherence in developing life science curriculum that only comes from being challenged by other biologists, and especially physiologists.
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

13. Networks support departmental change
Working with a broader community on new teaching methods can help transform my whole department, not just my own classes
* Networking with a group of educators who share similar values and passion for students has greatly helped me to influence colleagues who are initially skeptical about any changes in teaching. My ability to share new ideas of teaching with peers at home institution has greatly increased as a result.
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

14. Professional Societies Promote Connections
Provide information
Journals, websites, teaching materials, meetings, workshops, social media, APS Connect
Establish professional standards of practice
Research, teaching, ethics
Offer opportunities for professional socialization
Meetings, social media

15. Society Support for Education
Growing at all levels
Increasing staffing
PSALSE
PSALSE study of 29 Life Science Societies
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

16. Life Science Society Support for UG Education is Increasing
Significant increases in:
Membership for UG students (discounted)
UG student travel grants and research awards
UG student networking sessions with scientists at meetings
Society-sponsored UG chapters/clubs on campus
Faculty awards for educational research
Inclusion of education sessions in scientific meetings
Exhibiting/workshops at education conferences
Offering multimedia teaching resources at website
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

17. Among 29 life science societies
Travel grants for UG students to attend scientific meetings
>90%
UG student memberships
Use other revenue to fund educ activities
>80%
Scientific meetings include educ sessions
>70%
UG faculty teaching awards
>60%
Peer-reviewed curriculum resources
Peer-reviewed multimedia resources
50%
Use strategic reserves for educ activities
>40%
Peer-reviewed education journal
>30%
Among 29 life science societies

18. What is a Community of Practice?
“ groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly”
Critical Characteristics
Physiology Educators
Members share a particular topic or issue in which they have an interest, commitment, and competence that distinguishes them from other people.
Shared interests (enhancing student learning in physiology) and expertise
Members engage in discussions, help each other, and share information
Roles in the community (educator, researcher, facilitator, author, etc.)
Members are practitioners in their domain…they share resources, strategies, experiences, etc.
Practitioner status (educators, collaborators, authors, program managers, etc.)

19. Community Roles Lurkers Novices Leaders Insiders Elders
Nielsen-Norman Group, 2006; Socius, 2011

20. Why Lurk? Nothing to contribute Understand the COP
Fear negative responses
Get ready to contribute
Better things to do
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that lurking, for lack of a better word, is good. Lurking is right, lurking works.
PECOP
LifeSciTRC
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

21. Why do users engage? It enhances their professional reputations
They have experience/knowledge to share
They are strongly connected to the community and/or its members
They want help others by sharing information, ideas, and experiences
They want to participate in a professional community of colleagues and peers.
They want to set the record straight
Wasco & Faraj, 2005, Society of New Communications Research, 2011

22. Don’t laugh at the badges…
What we gain…
Active users receive more useful help than do lurkers
Positive reputation in community
Perceive real impact on communities
Important motivators
Kollock, 1999
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

23. 10 Society collaborative 7,000+ peer-reviewed resources Blogs
American Assn. of Anatomists
American Physiological Society
Genetics Society of America
Human Anatomy & Physiology Society
American Society of Plant Biologists
Massachusetts Society for Medical Research
Northwest Assn. for Biomedical Research
Society for Developmental Biology
Society of Toxicology
The Physiological Society
10 Society collaborative
7,000+ peer-reviewed resources
Blogs
Discussion boards
User rated items
Public and private communities
PECOP
Physiology Majors Interest Group
K-12 Educators
Undergraduate Educators
LifeSciTRC Scholars/Fellows
*PECOP Fellows
*Zebrafish Education Network
*Six Star Science Teachers
*APS UG Summer Research Programs
*PSALSE
** Publication Ethics
** Controls in Animal Studies
* Private
** Forthcoming, Private

24. PECOP Physiology Educators Community of Practice
Dynamic and growing community of physiology educators at ALL education levels who…
interact, share resources, and collaborate on an ongoing basis;
learn and apply effective scientific teaching methods in their classrooms, such as student-centered learning; and
use scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) methodologies to improve their teaching.
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

25. PECOP Goals Support physiology educators at all levels.
Encourage physiology educators to explore and engage in evidence-based scientific teaching, SOTL, and DBER.
Empower physiology educators to become leaders in physiology education reform efforts.
Catalyze collaboration among physiology educators in education and research to enhance student learning.
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

26. PECOP Activities Past activities include…
PECOP Fellowships for UG faculty;
Thought Leaders for the COP;
PECOP blog ( with bimonthly posts on education topics from practitioner standpoint
EB Networking sessions
Workshops and discussion boards on key topics
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

27. What’s on the Horizon? PECOP Blog* SOTL/Research groups*
Research paper discussion boards*
Research methods discussion boards*
2017 PST, “Becoming an effective teacher” **
NSF RCN-UBE proposal planning*
Survey of needs/wants,
Advisory Board,
PST on research design and statistics??
Exhibit &/or workshops at HAPS, IAMSE, NABT*
*Sign up sheets
at the exhibit table
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

28. How do I become a member? Go to www.LifeSciTRC.org Log in or register
Complete your profile
Under “Other Information” check PECOP Member
You will be added to the community.
In the meantime…you can read the blog/boards
When your membership is approved, you can post!
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

29. Engage!
I met a wonderful colleague…who had been teaching for years. She had a wealth of knowledge and resources but was hesitant to use modern educational technologies. Just like the line from Forrest Gump, “Jenny taught me how to climb, I taught her how to dangle”; through collaboration we shared resources and that benefited us both.
What do YOU have to teach to a colleague and what do YOU want to learn? Engage!
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

30. Thank you! My collaborators: Miranda Byse, APS Elizabeth Ruedi, GSA
Katie Engen, ASPB
Amy Chang, ASM
Barb Goodman
Jenny McFarland
Members of:
PECOP
APS
LifeSciTRC Partners
Thanks to the
APS Education Office staff
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism

31. Wish list!
What would you want to see PECOP or the LifeSciTRC do? What resources should we ask for the NSF RCN proposal? (research seed grants? Travel awards?) How can we increase applications for the APS Tching Career Enhancement Award?
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism