Plenary Sessions

Evidence-based teaching: Just the facts or thinking like scientists?

Opening Plenary Session, Friday, June 1, 2012, 5:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m

Presenter: Diane Ebert-May, Michigan State University

Science in the 21st century is driven by cross-cutting questions that involve many disciplines yet, undergraduate introductory science courses are widely criticized for overemphasizing details and rote memorization at the expense of helping students develop higher-level cognitive skills. We are participating in a revolution to address this problem by creating courses and curricula designed to help students develop the skills and build conceptual connections within biology and across the curriculum. We will critically examine our research that addresses questions about teachers teaching and students learning, and how we use data to drive instructional decisions. Together we will think about, how learner-centered is our teaching?