Document: DIA-3-28-13

Faculty institutes reforming science teaching through field stations (IRST): A model for faculty professional development.

EBERT-MAY, D.* ¹, J.HODDER ² and B.MARSHALL ¹

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48825 USA ¹
University of Oregon, Charleston, OR 97420 USA ²

Abstract:
Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST) enhanced the educational mission of biological field stations by using them as sites to increase the number of science faculty who learned how to teach using strategies that promoted learning science through inquiry. FIRST increased the number of opportunities for undergraduates both at their home institutions and at field stations to ask their own questions, design and conduct their own investigations, use appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, think critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, and communicate scientific arguments. Coalitions of faculty were recruited from regions around five field stations throughout the United States. Leadership teams of scientists from field stations worked with the principal investigators to gain skills as professional developers who implemented workshops for faculty teams from regional institutions of higher education. At workshops faculty learned the methods and processes of inquiry-based teaching strategies and multiple ways to assess student learning. Long-term sustainability and support for regional faculty was provided by the leadership teams at field stations and principal investigators through additional workshops and visits to home institutions. Preliminary data suggest that faculty sustained successful use of inquiry-based learning techniques and cooperative learning strategies, and importantly, changed their traditional beliefs about teaching. Student-feedback from courses positively supported their active role in learning and showed evidence of their improved understanding of science.

Keywords: Inquiry-based Learning, Field Stations, Faculty Professional Development

This abstract is being presented at: 2:30 PM in session:
Oral Session #29: Communicating Ecology.