Derting receives NSF grant to improve undergraduate biology education
Drs. Terry Derting and Diane Ebert-May (Michigan State University) received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to improve student learning through improved teaching by new biology professors. The project focuses on creating a national network of 200 postdoctoral scholars who are prepared and mentored in scientific teaching before they assume faculty roles in academic institutions. Regional teams of trained faculty at six Biology Field Stations around the nation will implement professional development workshops, provide mentoring in teaching and long-term support for the postdoctoral scholars, and advance their own teaching and scholarship in education. The postdoctoral scholars will learn teaching strategies and constructing an entire biology course based on scientific teaching. They are adapting pre-existing materials and tools that are learner-centered, and tested and validated by other faculty. It is anticipated that the postdoctoral scholars will begin their new faculty positions formally prepared to teach with a course in hand. The project will also evaluate the effect of professional development on postdoctoral understanding and implementation of the scientific approach to teaching and active student-centered learning.
