MSC03 2020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Physical Location:
CERIA Building
Room 204
Phone: (505) 277-1358
Fax: (505) 277-1351
cookjose@unm.edu
Fairbanks AIM-UP!
All Hands Meeting 20-22 February 2012
Joe Cook – (PI), Director and Curator, Museum of Southwestern Biology, Univ. of New Mexico
Steffi Ickert-Bond – (PI), Curator of the Herbarium, University of Alaska Museum of the North
Eileen Lacey – (PI), Curator of Mammals, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
Kayce Bell, Graduate Asst, Museum of Southwestern Biology, Univ. of New Mexico
Meg Daly, Asst. Curator of Marine Invertebrates and Assoc. Professor, Ohio State Univ.
Maria Paz Echevariarrza, Director & Science Educator, UNESCO-Montevideo
Rob Guralnick, Professor & Curator of Invertebrate Zoology, University of Colorado
Szu-Han Ho, Assistant Professor, Art and Ecology Program, UNM
Miriam Langer, Professor of Media Arts, Highlands University,
Enrique Lessa, Director, PEDICIBA and Professor, Univ. de la Republica-Uruguay
Phil Myers, Professor and Curator, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan
Tomislav Urban, Senior Software Developer, Data Management & Collections, Texas Advanced Computing Center, University of Texas, Austin
Corey Welch, Assistant Director, Biology Scholar Program, UC Berkeley
John Wieczorek, Programmer/Analyst, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
Kitty LeBounty (University of Alaska Southeast -Sitka)
Sandra Talbot, USGS Molecular Ecology Laboratory and UA Anchorage
Falk Huettman University of Alaska Fairbanks, Biology and wildlife Department and Institute of Arctic Biology
Ute Kaden (UA Fairbanks Education, STEM)
Derek Sikes, Curator of Invertebrates, University of Alaska Museum of the North
David Klein, Emeritus Professor of Wildlife, UAF
Kevin McCracken, Professor of Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Melanie Flamme, National Park Service Biologist, Fairbanks
Link Olson, Curator of Mammals
Kevin Winker, Curator of Birds (Museum Reception)
Andres Lopez, Curator of Fishes (Museum Reception)
Hotel Accommodations: Pikes Landing
Daily Meetings Held in the International Arctic Research Consortium Building, UAF
We discussed how to overcome institutional indifference or lack of administrative support for efforts related to education reform, including lack of incentives for faculty in tenure track positions because research productivity is the primary metric for promotion. Administrators (especially at Research 1 institutions) need to be convinced that improving undergraduate education is worth doing and faculty need to get credit for spending time on curriculum development. Faculty should be encouraged to think outside the box and find new ways to engage students. The challenge is to identify new ways to approach “old” problems. There is growing national dialog (recognition) about how STEM education is failing. Museums provide many opportunities for cross-disciplinary training (e.g. new web resources) so there are reasons to be optimistic. Museums should work on encouraging these integrative and experiential teaching efforts.
Goals for the meeting include:
a. Module development:
b. Challenges:
Additional venues/resources: Bioquest, Merlot? There are already some modules available at these and other sites. Do any use museum resources?
Dissemination, use and follow-up (evaluation) important.
Standardize materials and include things such as time needed to complete a module, possible subunits, pre-requisites.
Research what types of modules are actually needed by those who teach evolution, ecology, etc.
Interact with faculty in charge of introductory biology to see what they need.
Check online materials associated with textbooks.
Develop a module in which students work in groups and generate their own questions, rather than just having a well-scripted exercise.
Intermediate approach: question already identified, but methods open and problem sufficiently challenging.
We discussed Vision and Change, which lists the five core concepts for biological literacy as well as several core competencies and abilities for biology. NSF wants to see that the recommendations from Vision and Change are implemented; this should give our efforts some weight with administrators and departments. Modules should directly address and include elements from Vision and Change.
Modules should develop structured inquiry-based activities to teach students about museums and tools. Development of modules should include student input and participation. We need a standardized format for modules and guidelines regarding what should be incorporated, using Vision and Change framework. AIM-UP! now has topics for 9 initial modules and working groups appointed to each. Modules should include: specific information about time requirements and implementation, necessary background, specific needs for local people (which can be identified by actively canvassing communities for needs). Development of modules should involve instructors/lab coordinators that are currently re-working curricula (e.g. UC, UNM, UAF). In addition to modules being developed and available, they need to be promoted. Modules should have enough content to stimulate students to ask their own questions. For now, the overall intent for modules is to lead students through a short, relatively scripted exercise to learn how to use the databases, then leave it open ended so that students can formulate their own questions. It is also possible to create an intermediate step, by presenting students with a series of questions without specific instructions on how to get the answers, let them explore it on their own and figure out how to address them. Begin by providing students with a previously identified interesting questions. Then students develop sampling design and hypothesis testing.
Miscellaneous comments related to modules:
John presented an overview of VertNet, the culmination of several independent vertebrate networks (birds, herps, mammals, fish). There currently are 187 active collections and 81 participating institutions. Museums are now sharing data and providing many benefits. VertNet is sponsoring a Biodiversity Informatics Training Workshop – June 2012. The scope of VertNet is: vertebrates, specimens & observations, global, Darwin Core (a set of standard fields for information about biological entities, a who, what, where, and when of biological entities in the real world).
Rob presented Map of Life, an interactive database that integrates distributional data and knowledge. It collates range maps and point locality records of specimens. Students can be presented with both and explore discrepancies and provide possible explanations.
Tomislav presented on several initiatives at TACC. These include Odonata, a citizen science project to document dragonflies and migrations and a project for non-vertebrate paleogeographic mapping, based on the PLATES project
Miriam presented on Museums and the Web. She presented an example of students working with scientists to create a public museum exhibit on the emergence of life; with both on-line (http://nmnaturalhistory.org/emergence) and an installed permanent exhibit at the NM Museum of Natural History (Albuquerque), which is updatable, scalable, and interactive. Miriam also suggested we consider attending other conferences focused on museums and the web. Many museums are re-designing exhibits so that the public can have interactive, open-ended experiences. For museums that have science collections, but not exhibits, empowering students to have access to collections will improve visibility and student involvement in projects.
Q&A on Emergence:
Wrap up:
Reception at University of Alaska Museumof the North with Interactive Tours of Collections, Prep Labs, and Exhibits
Introduction to AIM-UP! and overview of the goals of the RCN. We discussed how to get modules out and available, what kind of background/history is needed to put the lesson into context. We need to communicate that many university museums are primarily research collections with minimal public face or public access. Corey and Meg began developing a new idea for a module on geographic variation that incorporates a local or “place-based” perspective. Investigate the use of mobile apps (iPhones) for understanding local diversity (some used in Bio Blitzes). Implement citizen science projects (georeferenced) to document diversity on local scales through local projects. VertNet may provide an entry point for such projects.
Attendees:
Miriam, (Szu-Han, Sandy, Joe, Enrique, Falk, Kitty, Tomislav, Rob, Corey, Steffi, John, Eileen, Maria Paz, Meg, Phil, Kayce, Ute Kaden)
Provide case and context for the students. Remember there is an overarching narrative for all of the individual modules including:
Potential outputs (from Eileen):
We broke into groups to work on the different modules. We began with initial thoughts and directions for each project. Later work will integrate the Vision and Change basic areas and core concepts and abilities. Should the framework for modules have a step-wise progression within each of the topics? In the future we will develop a network associating the different modules. Each module can be a discrete activity that can lead to another module. For example, a one hour in-class discussion/activity, proceed to a three hour lab/outside class activity, then a semester project. Set them up so they can be interconnected, but also have the ability to stand along with appropriate background knowledge or course level. For each activity/module/lesson plan provide the connections to other activities, need to set them up with suggested courses, course levels, necessary background, etc. Maybe provide “text-book” examples of taxa for activities suggested as an initial exercise in exploring the activity/module. Then allowing it to be explored with user-generated questions. Keep in mind the common themes and aspects that can go with all the modules.
a. Biodiversity: Assessing Module (BAM)
Local biodiversity is presented. This modules touches on topics related to introductory biology, conservation, sampling and scale, endemism, and skills such as working with data sets, diversity indices, basic classifications,
MAP of Life-Rob
Provide students with an outline to get started. For example, do national parks actually preserve biodiversity? Compare parks to adjacent un-protected areas, compare species compositions, evenness, richness, identify species of conservation concern. At the introductory level there is limited awareness of the tools and data available. Explore possibilities with Map of Life in a higher level course or once students have been introduced to basic concepts. One tool available with Map of Life allows students to draw a polygon and see what is present. Scalable so that students can draw comparisons across different areas.
b. Climate Change Module
Two lines of reasoning were developed, latitudinal gradient and elevational gradients. Similar data need to be accumulated, also need to use caution about what data you use. Ability to discuss typical challenges that arise in scientific research, data quality, outliers, etc. Start by providing a pre-determined set of questions and taxa. Then also provide a list of potential groups to explore. Can also ask different kinds of questions, such as phenology and body size change. Can incorporate citizen science projects and activities.
Framework….emphasize the concept of time (temporal scale)
Two Focus areas examples:
Obstacles: data acquisition, statistical outliers, searching and visualizing taxa over time.
What hypotheses can be provided for existing data?
Reuse the module or hypotheses for a new set of taxa.
Phenology, citizen science scenario (described above)
Basic outcomes are known for latitudinal/elevation foci.
c. Virtual Herbaria: Assembling a Flora
Works well with the island modules that is already up on the website. Include material that will reflect the history of the area and current physical conditions. Work on making it scale to other areas, as long as you can find the right data. Need GIS help to build the background, reference material (Tomislav and Falk will work on this). Make it scalable for advanced high school students, undergraduates. Pick taxa that will lead students to ask questions. Next step would be looking at genetic diversity (Use Phylota http://phylota.net/ for getting an idea on what data is available in GenBank for taxa of interest in a quick way). Good for discussing suitability of data.
d. Tree Thinking Module
A module that will identify sources of information, e.g., Barcode of Life, museum vouchers, GenBank. Start by building a phylogeny from sequences in GenBank, determining if specimens are vouchered, discuss repeatability in science, negative aspects, controversies in science. Possibly extend to a phylogeography project, incorporating georeferencing. Discussion points: vouchers/repeatability, homology (OMA browser), bioinformatics. Provide some options and examples for instructors.
Enrique spoke about his workshops for teachers and projects for his undergraduate evolution course. The workshop on phylogenetics for teachers is an outreach project, that covers phylogeny reconstruction, morphological and DNA data, materials available online. The activities are put in the context of evolution, Darwin. (evolucion.fcien.edu.uy/evolucion-cultura/popularizacion/index.php). The exercise provides outcomes, so participants can explore where/why things may have gone wrong. The term paper for undergraduate evolution course assigns some topics for the semester that the students have to explore and address in groups.
http://evolucion.fcien.edu.uy/inicio.htm, http://evolucion.fcien.edu/uy/evolucion/diapositivas-2010.htm.
Unexplored or underutilized opportunities: implications of alternative hypotheses for character evolution, more generally - incorporation of additional data (morphological, behavioral).
Maria Paz presented on linking teachers and researchers in physics, chemistry, and biology. This was done through teacher professional development. The program “Acortando Distancias” (shortening distances) connects teachers with innovative programs. Teachers spend a month in a research lab. This model builds a relationship between researcher and teachers and ends with final workshop, teachers present posters. The other project she presented is “Docentes Aprendiendo en Red” (teachers learning in networks). DAR is collaborative work between researcher, writing specialist, and group of teachers. The teachers work to write something targeted for fellow teachers over 8 month period. These programs provide content for professional learning and personal experiences for teachers, people teach the way they have been taught. The emphasis is to work on fewer topics, better quality. Teachers enjoy collaboration when perceived as pertinent and challenging. Participating teachers appreciated opportunities to improve skills and courses, were willing to work hard. The programs emphasize experiencing the culture of science, being in a university, learning from mistakes.
Phil discussed his experience with evaluations and assessment related to Animal Diversity Web. We had an open discussion, including Tricia via Skype, about AIM-UP!’s goals and plans for assessment. Phil and Tricia suggested that we should assess content learning, usability, student attitudes, and student confidence in doing science. The best way to assess the students’ experience is to do pre- and post-experience questionnaires. We can use the Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG), which allows students to assess learning and target particular aspects of the course or activity. We need to develop a standard instrument to assess faculty experience. It is possible to associate assessment with social media (such as Facebook) that would allow us to push for feedback.
Eileen presented on the AIM-UP! surveys that have been distributed to introductory biology courses at University of California, Berkeley, University of New Mexico, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and Texas A & M over the last year. Not all of these have been tabulated due to technical issues. The survey is a series of demographic-style questions, followed by questions about the on-campus museum or collection. The outcomes vary by institution, semester, and class, but preliminary numbers indicate that about half of the students do not know their institution has an on-campus collection, and that less than a quarter of those who knew about the museum had actually visited the collections. Students do not understand what natural history collections are or their value to different biology disciplines. We are also planning to use the survey in upper division courses that currently use collections in their labs. Eileen is working to get IRB approval for possible publication of surveys results. We will work with Phil and Tricia to revise the questions.
Attendees: Miriam, Szu-Han, Sandy, Melanie, Joe, Enrique, John, Kitty, Tomislav, Rob, Steffi, Maria Paz, Meg, Corey, Eileen, Phil, Kayce, Falk
Taxon specific: e.g., Deer Mice (model with lots of specimen-based research completed)
Classic Cases
Emerging Human Issues
Informatics, Information science
Engineering, robotics
Archaeology
Natural Resource Management
Ethnology
Geography
Art and Ecology
Environmental History
Chemistry
Medicine, Ethnobiology
Szu-Han introduced us to the interface between Art and Biology by showing us art that challenges us to view processes and change in nature. Her talked covered the following topics:
Szu-Han ended by introducing this semester’s seminar course entitled Co-Evolution. Held at UNM, the course is teleconferenced to faculty and students at UAF, Harvard and UC Berkeley. The course includes advanced art and biology students with the central theme focused on geographic variation, morphology - form and place. 6 groups of students (one each at Berkeley and Fairbanks) have to create educational modules (see http://unm-coev.blogspot.com/). In addition to the weekly seminar, three 2-day workshops in Albuquerque, each directed by a renowned artist working in natural history will also be held this semester.
Questions:
Brandon Ballangée (via SKYPE) presented his work Praeter Naturam. Brandon is an artist and a scientist (currently completing PhD) that uses art to focus on biological research and environmental problems. His primary focus of scientific research and ecological art is amphibians as bio-indicator species. Substantial work has been done with anurans with super-numeric and missing limbs. He has heavily involved the general public in collecting data.
Questions:
Common themes: Prerequisite modules (data, tools, technical resources). Multiple entry and exit points for Module with prepared data options, limited or full investigations
Four groups (Climate Change, BAM, Phylo, Assembling the Alaska Flora) worked on independent modules. Each group addressed the components of Vision and Change and addressed the format, background, target class, objectives and skills of their module. The Tree Thinking Module is based on Enrique’s semester project that he uses in his evolution course. It incorporates phylogenies and real evolutionary questions. The Climate Change Module uses known datasets, from the Grinnell Resurvey Project and the Changes in Small Mammal Distributions in the Great Lakes Area Project. The students are presented with the question, are distributions changing? The Biodiversity Assessing Module can work with bioblitzes and how to incorporate different –ology classes. It can be set up as a timed exercise that the students generate a sampling design for. The Niche Modeling Module addresses simple concepts, such as: what is a species distribution map? Why are distributions important? What is an occurrence? It incorporates expert maps and environmental data. The Range and Distribution Module will produce a set of tools that can be used with any organism to explore and discuss the roles of refugia and climate driven changes. It can also incorporate genetic and isotope aspects.
AIM-UP! should form links among the different modules, create the modules with different entry and exit points. The modules should be flexible, provide background resources, and have different levels of capacity and resources. AIM-UP! needs to develop recommendations for infrastructure and tool resources.
Sunday, 19 Feb—arrival, check-in, most participants arrive at 12:23 a.m. (on 20 Feb)
9:45 Bus leaves Pikes Lodge to UAF
10:00-10:15 Pre-Evaluation (also assign 2 to summarize each day’s findings)
10:15-11:00 Welcome and introductions (Steffi, Joe)
11:00 – 12:00 Update RCN (Steffi, Eileen, Joe), Discussion of Goals for meeting
13:30 -14:00 Discussion of AIM-UP! And AAAS Vision and Change
14:00-14:30 Introduce Modules/Themes/Groups (Eileen)
14:30-15:00 An Example of Digitization--VertNet (John, Rob)
15:00-15:30 New Initiatives at Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC-Tomislav)
15:30-16:00 Brainstorm Opportunities Related to Collections-based
Digitization & Undergraduate Education
16:15-16:30 Museums and the Web (Miriam Langer)
16:30-16:45 Wrap up for the Day
17:00-19:00 Reception at UAM and Interactive Tour (including 2 headed caribou)
Return to Pikes at 21:15
7:45 Bus leaves from Pikes to UAF (light breakfast will be provided)
8:00-9:00 Summary of Day 1 and Outline for today’s meeting
9:00-9:15 Brainstorming: Ideas for New Teaching Modules Geographic
variation using museum collections/databases
9:15-9:45 Three Subgroups to develop lesson plans
9:45:10:30 Subgroup reports (10 minutes each)
11:00-11:30 International Perspective I: Evolucion via the web-(Enrique)
11:30-12:00 Intl. Perspective II: Partnerships with Science Teachers (MP)
13:30-14:30 Designing evaluation plans - Phil (and Tricia via Skype)
Student Surveys—(Eileen)
Network Evaluation
14:30-15:00 Breakout: Round II of 3 Subgroups on Education Modules
15:30-16:30 Wrap up for the Day
16:30-18:30 Field Trip (Musk Ox Farm, IAB, Morris Thompson Center)
Return to Pikes at 18:30
19:30-20:30 Leave Pikes Hotel for Dinner at LemonGrass (388 Chena Pump
Plaza, Old Chena Pump Rd)
http://lemongrassalaska.com/menus/dinner-menu
8:15 Bus leaves from Pikes to UAF (light breakfast will be provided)
8:30-9:45 Summary of Day 2 (set New Directions) and Outline for today
10:00-11:00 STE(A)M: Intro to ART & BIOLOGY Workshops—(Szu-Han)
11-12:00 Brandon Balengeé conference via Skype
13:30-14:00 Discussion of Breakout Objectives
14:00-15:30 Breakout—Round III, Three Module Working Groups
15:30-16:30 20 minute Summaries from 3 Working Groups
16:30-17:30 Identify Next Steps, Time Lines, Wrap-up
19:30 Dinner Pike’s Landing
Buses depart Pikes for airport at 11:00?
AAAS’s Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education
To Consider:
The Challenge of Integration (Sound Science, Innovative Pedagogy, and
Advanced Instructional Technology) — New curricular materials must be
scientifically AND pedagogically valid and should take advantage of innovative
teaching technologies.
¡± The Dissemination Challenge — New curriculum materials must be accessible to
and adaptable by a wide range of faculty in diverse institutions.
Potential Topics for Discussion: (What is museum based undergraduate education?
Surveys and Evaluation; Museum databases; Imaging; Rewind (Year 1 - Integrated
Inventories); Fast Forward (Year 2—Geographic Variation and Museum Collections; Coevolution-
Art and Biology)