• Using the Internet to do Biological Inquiry: Adventures in Bioinformatics (November 11, 2000, Beloit College, WI)

The workshop focus was exploring biology through bioinformatics.  Over 30 workshop participants included schoolchildren and parents, teachers, and biology and education faculty (http://bioquest.org/bioinformatics/edgridworkshop.html). Participants had opportunities to pursue biological inquiry using bioinformatics research and analysis tools.  Sam Donovan and Kathy Greene directed the workshop.

 

• Inquiry Workshop on Inquiry Teaching and Learning (February 21, 2001, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL)

The workshop focus was inquiry teaching and learning across K-12 grade-levels, institutions, and disciplines using the Inquiry Page (http://www.inquiry.uiuc.edu).  Over 70 participants attended the workshop, which was directed by Chip Bruce.  Sam Donovan and Kathy Greene shared the project materials.  Additionally, two collaborating teachers (Paul Lock from Urbana High School in Urbana, IL, and Sue Herricks from Central Academy in Champaign, IL) shared their classroom activities.  The materials shared are accessible via the Inquiry Page. For example, the Inquiry Page features the Biology Workbench in its "Inquiry in Action" section (http://www.inquiry.uiuc.edu/action/bioworkbench/bioworkbench.php3).

 

• Biology Student Workbench Workshop: Integrating Bioinformatics into Biology, Science Education, Teacher Education, and Educational Technology Courses (August 3-5, 2001, Arlington, VA; August 3-4, 2001, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL)

The workshop focus was to bring together participants interested in integrating bioinformatics into their courses to engage students in inquiry learning and problem solving, and to support the adaptation and development of bioinformatics materials that participants can easily integrate into their courses (http://peptide.ncsa.uiuc.edu).  The workshop was held at two sites (Access Center in Arlington, VA, and Beckman Institute in Urbana, IL).  Over 40 participants attended the workshop at both sites.  Pre-service and in-service teachers primarily attended the Beckman site, while a diverse audience that included teachers, teacher educators, biologists, curriculum developers, and education researchers attended the Access Center site.  (Please see the attached participant lists.)

The workshop was favorably received and included comments such as this from a pre-service teacher: "I want to try and incorporate this new technology [BSW] into my classroom as a future educator.  New types of technology are a great plus in inquiry-based learning." All the project investigators directed the workshop. The workshop feedback is accessible (http://leep.lis.uiuc.edu/seworkspace/hbooth/AVERAGES.htm).

News article about the workshop (http://access.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Stories/BroadBio/)

• Microbes Count: Problem Posing, Problem Solving and Peer Persuasion in Microbiology The BioQUEST Summer Workshop for Undergraduate Faculty (June 16-24, 2001, Beloit, WI)

Interested in implementing new curricular resources in your undergraduate microbiology courses? Bioinformatics, digital libraries, and investigative case-based learning will be presented as well as the use of PC and MAC BioQUEST Library simulations, laboratory, and field resources designed to accompany the ASM "Unseen Life on Earth" video series. Faculty developed the following modules, … <http://bioquest.org/indexworkshop2.html>

 

• Bringing Bioinformatics to Biology Education: A Hands-on Workshop to Develop Labs for Introductory and Advanced Courses. A faculty development workshop co-sponsored by the Center for Science Education and Center for Behavioral Neuroscience at Emory University. Presented at Morehouse College, March 3 & 4, 2001.

• Informing Biology Education By Examining The Nature Of Evolutionary Inquiry. Presented as part of the Department of Biology Seminar Series on Science Education, University of Delaware, April 6, 2001.

• Bioinformatics Education Workshop (February 26, 2001), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.

The workshop focus was to introduce bioinformatics education to student teachers in their secondary science methods course.  The participants  had opportunities to acquaint themseves with current issues associated with bioinformatics, to interpret raw sequence data and data representations, and to design an investigation using Biology WorkBench.  Additionally, the participants discussed teaching and learning issues relevant to each section of the workshop, and completed a related homework assignment.  One member of the class, Hillary Anderson, went on to prepare and teach a bioinformatics-rich HIV unit at Monona Grove High School.  Sam Donovan and Kathy Greene conducted this workshop.

Research notes on UW-Madison science methods work (http://bioquest.org/bioinformatics/EdGrid/uw_workshop.html)
Collaborative curriculum development with Hillary Anderson (anderson.html)