Faculty Summer Research

Sara Brownell, Assistant Professor studying biology education, reports that the Biology Education Research Lab has had a productive summer thus far. The lab had two papers published in the June issue of CBE--Life Sciences Education, the top journal in their field. One of these papers reported on college instructor attitudes and practices for teaching evolution. The other one highlighted how exam characteristics impact the performance of women and low socioeconomic status students. Sara has a packed travel schedule, giving invited talks in June at the American Society for Microbiology Microbe meeting in Boston, MA, National Academies Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences Summer Institute in Austin, TX, and the Society for the Advancement in Biology Education Research meeting in Minneapolis, MN, as well as the American Society for Microbiology Committee on Undergraduate Education (ASMCUE) meeting in Bethesda, MD, in July.

She is also participating in an invitation-only meeting on course-based undergraduate research experiences for non-majors in Minneapolis, MN.  Sara has been invited to join the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology Development Committee, a committee of twelve people who play a key role in the development of the AP test.  Her yearlong appointment started on July 1st.  Finally, Sara is gearing up to start a new NSF-funded project in her BIO 360 Animal Physiology class in collaboration with ASU professor Micki Chi.

 More Information: Sara Brownell (Sara.Brownell@asu.edu)