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IUBS BioEd 2009 Workshop at Western Cape University, ZA
11.20.09By invitation of Dr. Lorna Holtman, deputy Dean of Science at the University of Western Cape, BioQUEST staff presented a science education workshop following the 30th general meeting of the International Union of Biological Sciences in Cape Town, ZA.Regional teachers and IUBS participants explored investigative cases and collaborative activities featuring modeling and simulation in a BioEd Workshop October 14th, 2009. Margaret Waterman, John R. Jungck and Ethel Stanley encouraged participants to relate the science in the classroom to the real world experience of their students. Participants engaged in collaborative investigation of a variety of contemporary topics from South Africa’s apple production and water footprint to the modeling of DNA and predator-prey relationships with everyday materials.Pearson Benjamin Cummings generously provided copies of Biological Inquiry: A Workbook of Investigative Cases to all workshop participants as well as IUBS members and University of Western Cape faculty interested in investigative cases.Note: New IUBS Executive CommitteeJohn R. Jungck and Lorna Holtman were elected to new positions as Vice President and Committee Member respectively on the IUBS Executive Committee at the 30th General Assembly in Cape Town. Congratulations to you both!Share this post:
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BioEd2009: A Report From New Zealand
03.09.09
Tony Weisstein (Truman State University) just returned from the IUBS BioEd 2009 meeting in New Zealand and shares his take on the meeting in this post. The meeting had significant BioQUEST representation with John Jungck (Beloit College) and Pete Lockhart (Massey University) co-chairing the meeting, Ethel Stanley (Beloit College) and Tony leading sessions.
A Report from BioEd 2009
The International Union of Biological Sciences’ annual educational meeting, BioEd 2009, was held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from Feb. 12-15. These dates were chosen to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and 2009 also marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. The conference’s theme, Evolution in Action, was thus highly appropriate.
Caption: The All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team, performing a haka. Credit: Murrayfield7
The conference opened with a powhiri, a traditional Maori welcome featuring a ritual challenge, singing, and feats of agility. Several brave participants also volunteered to take part in a haka or posture dance, with greatly entertaining results. After cutting a birthday cake and pulling crackers for Darwin, participants had the opportunity to see the premiere of the play “Collapsing Creation,” about the challenges Darwin faced in publishing his theory.
Conference participants represented a unique balance between evolution research and teaching: high school biology teachers comprised about 25% of the participants. Sessions on preparing teachers for evolution education and Darwinian medicine helped bridge this divide, interweaving insights from current research with new pedagogical strategies. For example, an overview of human settlement patterns in the Pacific based on genetic and archeological data (Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith, Allan Wilson Centre, New Zealand) might be followed by a lesson plan for speciation in which students conduct experiments that directly challenge their own naïve views of unchanging species (Lee Traynor, Leibniz University, Germany). This mix of topics led to some fascinating teatime and dinner discussions on methods for bringing current research into the classroom and engaging students in active and collaborative learning.
Caption: Pete Lockhart, Ethel Stanley, Tony Weisstein and Holly Gaff (Old Dominion University) pose with the Darwin Cake. Credit: John R. Jungck.
The four plenary lectures were also well chosen to span a diversity of topics while representing the organization’s international character. Presentations included Darwin’s systematics work on barnacles (John Buckenridge, RMIT University, Australia), strategies for adapting primary literature for classroom use (Anat Yarden, Weizmann Institute, Israel), evolution education and the nature of science (Douglas Futuyma, SUNY, USA), and sexual selection in the evolution of human mating systems (Alan Dixson, Victoria University, New Zealand). The conference wrapped up with the play “Unnatural Selection”, performed by four very talented New Zealand high school students, and a preview of October’s IUBS meetings in Cape Town, South Africa.
Several high school teachers in attendance mentioned how much they enjoyed the opportunity for in-depth conversations with researchers, and many research-oriented participants equally appreciated the ideas for new teaching strategies. In response to this demand, the organizers established a blog to help maintain the collaborations begun at the conference. The conference also highlighted one other challenge common to many international societies, including SMB: the language barrier. The IUBS has taken an excellent first step by linking their website and associated materials to a web-based translator. Given the international nature of such conferences, any additional strategies for facilitating multilingual presentations could greatly enhance the experience for speakers and participants alike.
Dr. Anton E. Weisstein
Biology Department
Truman State University
weisstae@truman.edu
http://www2.truman.edu/~weisstae/Editor’s Note:
Thanks to Tony for sharing this meeting wrap-up. The following links have more information:
BioEd 2009 – the meeting website.
The Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology & Evolution – hosted meeting (they will have links to the meeting resources posted soon).
The International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) – sponsored and organized meeting. IUBS is a non-governmental, non-profit organization, established in 1919 that promotes international and interdisciplinary cooperation in biological sciences research.This report was originally written for publication in the Society of Mathematical Biology Newsletter edited by Holly Gaff. Thanks to Tony and Holly for making it available for posting here as well.
You can find our original posting on the meeting here.
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BioQUEST Summer Workshop 2009: Green Architecture – Green Curriculum
02.24.09
This year we will take advantage of Beloit College’s new LEED certified Center for the Sciences to explore ways that our facilities provide us with opportunities to ask scientific questions and collect data as well as address sustainability issues. The BioQUEST Summer Workshop will be proceeded by a separate PKAL Meeting on Planning Facilities for Undergraduate Science.
Title: Green Architecture – Green Curriculum
Dates: June 15-21, 2009
Location: Beloit, Wisconsin
Featured Projects: This summer’s workshop will feature Numbers Count! and Investigative Cases.
More Information and Application: http://bioquest.org/summer2009
Also see the BioQUEST Calendar for other upcoming events.
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PKAL Summer Workshop on Planning Facilities for Undergraduate Science, Engineering & Mathematics
02.16.09
The 2009 PKAL Summer Workshop on Planning Facilities is an opportunity for faculty and administrators to explore approaches to shaping spaces that serve institutional goals for student learning in STEM fields and for environmental sustainability.
Workshop participants (individuals and teams) will have first-hand experiences with contemporary pedagogical practices that require learning spaces that easily accommodate collaborating, problem-solving teams of undergraduate learners and that enable easy access to tools, technologies and instrumentation needed by learners/practitioners in 21st century STEM fields. Participants will explore intersections involved in planning curricula, pedagogies and spaces designed for undergraduate STEM learning communities.
This meeting will be directly followed by the BioQUEST 2009 Summer Workshop
Workshop Title: PKAL Summer Workshop on Planning Facilities
Dates: June 13-15, 2009
Location: Beloit College, Beloit, WI
Application Deadline: Monday April 6, 2009
Contact: Please call at 202-232-1300 or write to applications@pkal.org
See the workshop homepage for more information and the BioQUEST Calendar for other events.
Sponsors:
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IUBS BioEd Darwin Symposia – February, 2009
02.13.09
The Allan Wilson Centre (AWCMEE) is pleased to host BioED2009 – one of six coordinated international events celebrating the birth of Charles Darwin: “Darwin 200 Symposia”. These meetings are being run under the auspices of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), Commission on Biological Education (CBE) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The aim of “Darwin 200 Symposia” is to celebrate the impact of Darwin’s ideas on current scientific knowledge, with scientific symposia and satellite meetings taking place on five continents. BioED2009 will bring together an international community of individuals interested in science, secondary and tertiary education. Since February 12, 2009, is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and is 150 years since the publication of the “Origin of Species,” the life and legacy of Charles Darwin is at the heart of the proposed meeting. BioEd 2009 will promote understanding of biodiversity and the importance of evolutionary biology through an international exchange of ideas and knowledge about current research and education. It will embrace multiple cultural perspectives, technological advances, curricular practices and materials, informal education, and curiosity of the natural world.
Workshop Title: BioEd 2009 – Darwin 200 Symposia
Dates: February 12-15, 2009
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Project: International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS)
Contact: BioQUEST@beloit.edu
See the workshop homepage for more information and the BioQUEST Calendar for other events.
Sponsors:
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