Archbold Biological Station Project FIRST.II

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Archbold Biological StationProject FIRST.II
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Introductory ActivitiesIntroducing our
colleagues turn to neighbor

• Each as reporter for other partners account. 1
  minute each.
• Name, institution, research areas, summary of
  current courses taught
• Anecdote about a formative experience as an
  undergraduate that was a major stimulus to go
  into research/ academic career (where,
  who/what/how).

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Welcome the 3 teamswhy meeting at a field
station? see Mark Deyrups essay under Goals.
You joined us in a venture designed to use the
Archbold environment to enrich the teaching of
undergraduate ecology. We will explore the
biological richness and complexity of Archbold
ecosystems.We will, together, develop and
implement teaching approaches that can convey an
understanding of these ecosystems, and of the
scientific process, to undergraduate classes.
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Richard Feynman 1963Preface to the Feynman
Lectures on Physics

• there isn't any solution to this problem of
  education other than to realize that the best
  teaching can only be done when there is a direct
  individual relationship between a student and a
  good teacher
• a situation in which the student discusses the
  ideas, thinks about things, and talks about the
  things.
• It's impossible to learn very much simply by
  sitting in a lecture, or even by simply doing the
  problems that are assigned.
• But in our modern times we have so many students
  to teach that we have to try to find some
  substitute for the ideal.

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Impetus for and Challenges to Change NRC
Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching
2003

• Calls for accountability from outside of academe
  (K-12). Higher education is learning from reforms
  in K-12 teaching, e.g. How People Learn (NRC
  2000). Quote.
• Calls for change from within academe. (e.g.
  quotes from Rice 2000 in NRC 2003).
• Challenges to change
• the diversity of institutions served by higher
  education
• culture of rewards for research performance
• how to measure teacher effectiveness
• little or no formal training for faculty in
  techniques, or strategies, or familiarity with
  the literature.
• Predicting future changes in UG teaching (Zimpher
  1998)

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Archbold Biological Station Hancock Biological
Station San Diego State University Field Stations
Southwestern Research Station St. Croix
Watershed Research Station
Archbold FIRST http//www.archbold-station.org/a
bs/first/index.html faculty teams were Edison
Community College Florida International
University Stetson University University of
Florida University of South Florida
During 1999 we held two workshops in February and
May
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University of Akron,Ohio, Peter Nierowksi

• Our first FIRST institute was 2 days long but a
  pivotal experience.
• The Hancock Team modeled the process of inquiry
  learning right from the outset as we struggled
  through our workshops.
• I remember feeling disoriented, but also very
  engaged.
• All three of us were skeptical of what FIRST
  would be like and whether it would be a
  productive use of our time, and we left the
  institute having the same suspicions as when we
  arrived . . . but we also had a lot to talk
  about.
• Our initial suspicions were founded on our poor
  understanding of educational research, and the
  fact that we already had pretty good teaching
  evaluations (What more could we do?).
• Our big joke was that we would have to endure two
  days of "touchy-feely" lessons on improving
  students' self-esteem.
• In our 9-hour ride back I think our commitment to
  give FIRST a serious try gelled.

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Archbold faculty teams to date Florida
International University Florida Gulf Coast
university University of Central Florida
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Distribution of OBFS field stations in USA,and
the FIRST II sites
Washington
Kellogg Biological Station
OIMB
Akron
Baltimore-Washington
San Diego State University Field Stations
Hancock Biological Station
LUMCON
Archbold Biological Station
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Goals of FIRST.II at Archbold Biological Station

• 1. Establish a regional coalition of Florida
  faculty, engaged in a partnership with Archbold
  Biological Station, to implement and sustain
  reform in undergraduate biology education in
  their colleges and universities. FIRST.II goal
  4, 3

2. Enable faculty to develop and use teaching
goals and objectives and learn multiple
assessment strategies to measure the extent to
which they are achieving those goals with their
students. FIRST.II goal 2
3. Use the facilities and field sites at Archbold
to enable faculty to gain experience in
student-centered science teaching. FIRST.II goal
1
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Goals of the FIRST.II at Archbold Biological
Station (cont)

• 4. Promote general faculty and student interest
  in Florida ecosystems and species by increasing
  participant understanding of Florida ecosystems,
  encouraging faculty and institutional interest to
  use field stations and field sites such as
  Archbold as teaching forums. No FIRST.II
  equivalent goal.

• 5. Facilitate collaboration among participating
  faculty about their reforms towards achieving
  excellence in science teaching. FIRST.II goal 5

• 6. Promote support for the emerging criteria and
  strategies for the scholarship of teaching at
  participants home institutions, so that teaching
  can be recognized, evaluated, and rewarded within
  institutions. FIRST.II goal 5

• 7. Support a national dissemination network to
  sustain improvement in teaching initiated by
  faculty. FIRST.II goal 6

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Faculty Knowledge of Effective Teaching

• This is a joint effort between Archbold and
  participants to draw jointly from our
  cumulative knowledge. Network
• No need to re-develop techniques and approaches
  that others have tested and disseminated. Point
  to Resources.
• Emphasis on developing a culture of
  collegiality or a teaching community. Teams

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http//www.first2.org The specific goals of the
FIRST II project are to
1. Enable faculty to gain experience in active,
inquiry-based science teaching that increases
student learning through workshops that model
this kind of teaching 2. Enable faculty to learn
and use multiple assessment strategies that
provide evidence of student learning which their
peers accept 3.Develop eight teams of faculty as
professional developers of biology faculty in
their regions 4.Use field stations, marine
laboratories, or other field sites that have an
educational mission in eight regions throughout
the United States as foci to maintain and expand
coalitions of faculty who will implement and
sustain reform in undergraduate biology education
in their colleges and universities 5.Facilitate
collaboration among faculty about their reforms
toward achieving excellence in science teaching,
and about the emerging criteria and strategies
for the scholarship of teaching, so that teaching
can be recognized, evaluated, and rewarded within
institutions 6.Support a national dissemination
network to sustain improvement in teaching
initiated by faculty
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Archbold Biological Station Institutional
Teams See participant list Surveys Review
personal goals
University of Central Florida
Florida Gulf Coast University
Florida International University
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FIRST II Institutions by Carnegie Classification
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FIRST II Participants by Position Title
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FIRST II Participants by number of years teaching
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FL Universities 5 - 6 h commute Barry
University University of Central Florida
Eckerd College University of North Florida
Florida Gulf Coast University University of
South Florida Florida Institute of
Technology University of Miami Florida
International University University of
Tampa Florida A M University USF at St.
Petersburg Florida Atlantic University Communi
ty Colleges 2h commute Florida Memorial College
Brevard Community College Florida Southern
College Broward Community College Florida
State University Central Florida Community
College Jacksonville University Daytona
Beach Community College Johnson Wales
University Edison Community College Keiser
College Hillsborough Community College
Lynn University Indian River Community
College Northwood University Lake-Sumter
Community College Nova-Southeastern
University Manatee Community College Palm
Beach Atlantic College Miami-Dade Community
College Rollins College Palm Beach
Community College Saint Leo College
Pasco-Hernando Community College St. Thomas
University Polk Community College Stetson
University St. Petersburg Junior College
University of Florida Santa Fe Community
College USF New College Sarasota Seminole
Community College South Florida Community
College Valencia Community College
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Guiding principles for this series of FIRST II
workshops and the need for feedback
1. We want to know where you think you would like
help, not simply prepare pre-arranged workshops
we are looking for feedback for future workshops.
2. We will try to ensure when we introduce new
concepts (like cooperative learning) that we give
opportunities to discuss why, when, where and how
such concepts may be valuable to participants.
3. In order for you to try some changes in
practices you need opportunities to try things
out and receive feedback. We want to develop the
capacity to judge successful transfer of
technique to students and its effectiveness on
students (major focus of FIRST II).

• 4. We want a community centered approach and do
  not want to conduct these workshops in isolation.
  Opportunities for team development focus on
  Friday on means of communication what tools,
  especially Internet based, can we develop for
  teams

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Agenda, notebook, organization for this workshop

• Agenda review schedule, emphasize modeling role
  (setting goals, determining preconceptions,
  strategies including cooperative groups,
  inquiry-based learning, assessment). Handouts.

• Resources available reference list, web sites,
  bookshelf, Angelo and Cross, other team purchases
  as required. Be selective!

• Survey forms

• Human subjects form

• Feedback

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Goals for This Workshop

• As a result of your participation in this
  workshop, you will...
• Gain experience in student-centered science
  teaching.
• Begin to develop and use teaching goals,
  assessments, and teaching strategies to support
  student-centered science teaching.
• Learn about Archbold Biological Station
  resources.
• Start to collaborate with Florida FIRST II
  faculty members (within and among Institutional
  Teams).
• Begin to develop an action plan for implementing
  student-centered teaching and learning in at
  least one of your courses