Join this free webinar series, featuring discussions with authors from recently published articles in ® (JMBE). Come meet other biologists who do discipline-based education research (DBER); become more familiar with study design and interpretation of data of DBER studies; and learn how to improve your teaching in the process. Register for each webinar individually. Free for everyone!
After attending JMBE Live! webinars, participants will be able to do the following:- Discuss critical aspects of DBER research study design.
- Interpret results of DBER studies.
- Describe how DBER studies can inform classroom or laboratory teaching.
- Be more motivated to conduct your own DBER study and publish in JMBE.
Register for Upcoming Webinars
Friday, March 27 | 12 p.m. ET
Traditional assessments, such as tests and laboratory reports, often limit the learning process, while alternative assessment strategies, such as ungrading, increase the focus on feedback and growth. Research from Beth Beason-Abmayr, Ph.D., and Thomas Michael McCabe, Ph.D., provides a framework for the implementation of ungrading in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and a case example of ungrading in an advanced laboratory course.  With ungrading, students are more engaged during class and seem less stressed because they are not worried about earning as many points as possible for each assignment. Adoption of this alternative assessment strategy promotes student engagement and self-motivated learning and, while presented here in a format suited to adoption into CUREs, can be adapted to any level of laboratory or lecture-based instruction.
Join us for a lively discussion where the authors will share their experience with alternative assessments in an advanced undergraduate lab course. The authors will discuss their unique laboratory course learning goals and outcome metrics, which prepare undergraduates for future professional scientific roles. They will provide examples of how their course-based undergraduate research experience was modified to an “ungraded” course and provide evidence about how the course modification improved learning. Finally, the authors will help you reflect upon your own course goals and assessment strategy to improve student learning. No matter what level course you teach, this webinar will provide fresh ideas to inform your practice as an educator.
Key Learning Objectives:
- Describe how the alternative grading strategy of “ungrading” is different than traditional assessments.
- List the benefits of ungrading in any laboratory or lecture-based instruction to student learning.
- Explain how ungrading in a course-based undergraduate research experience increases student learning outcomes.
Speakers:
- Beth Beason-Abmayr, Ph.D., Rice University.
- Thomas Michael McCabe, Ph.D., Rice University.
- Moderated by , JMBE Editor in Chief, San Diego State University.
Friday, April 10 | 1 p.m. ET
Supporting students in their progression from dependent to self-directed learners is crucial for their success in the technology-rich and rapidly evolving global workforce of the 21st century. Self-directed learning supports students to become more critical and adaptable in their learning efforts, as students who readily engage with self-directed learning are more adept at problem-solving.
Join us for a lively discussion with the authors, Brandon Lowry, Ph.D., Heather Hall, Ph.D., and Tod Clapp, Ph.D., and the JMBE Editor in Chief Stanley Maloy, which will help biology educators consider a thoughtful way to engage a low-effort/high-impact AI-enhanced approach to support student learning processes. They will discuss their findings from their 8-week experiment with graduate neuroanatomy students into a novel application of customized GPTs in supporting the development of self-directed learners.
Key Learning Objectives:
- Identify why self-directed learning and metacognition is an important skill for student learning.
- Explore ways in which you could use an artificial generative intelligence model to cultivate students’ metacognition and promote readiness for self-directed learning in any course.
Speakers:
- Brandon Lowry, Ph.D., Colorado State University.
- Heather Hall, Ph.D., Colorado State University.
- Tod Clapp, Ph.D., Colorado State University.
- Moderated by , JMBE Editor in Chief, San Diego State University.
About the Journal
The ® (JMBE) offers original, previously unpublished, peer-reviewed articles that foster scholarly teaching and provide readily adoptable resources in biology education at the undergraduate, graduate, professional (e.g., medical school), K-12 and informal education levels. JMBE is edited by informed science educators who are active in the pursuit of scholarly teaching and biology education reform.Explore past JMBE Live! webinars on our YouTube playlist.