Biological Sciences (61). "Creating a Bean Beetle Curriculum Development Network" is a collaborative project between Emory University and Morehouse College. The goal of the project is to expand the use of inquiry-based laboratory exercises with the bean beetle model system, Callosobruchus maculatus. There are four primary objectives. The first objective is to use faculty workshops, along with the handbook and website created as part of an earlier project, to develop faculty expertise in the use of bean beetles in inquiry-based laboratory courses. The faculty recruited for these workshops will be from biology disciplines, such as animal physiology, neurobiology, molecular biology, genetics, and developmental biology that were not addressed in the previous project. The second objective is to provide faculty in the workshops the opportunity to adapt the inquiry-based laboratory exercises developed in the previous project to fit their curricula and institutions. Fulfilling this objective is allowing the implementation of these educational innovations in a greater diversity of educational institutions. The third objective is for faculty in the workshops to develop and implement new inquiry-based laboratory studies (i.e., new learning materials) using bean beetles in the areas of animal physiology, neurobiology, molecular biology, genetics, and developmental biology. Finally, the fourth objective is for network participants to develop or adapt assessment tools to evaluate their new laboratory exercises and to implement those assessments.
The intellectual merit of the project lies in the development, testing and implementation of inquiry-based laboratory experiments, which have been shown to increase student understanding of scientific content, experimental design, and the nature of science. By creating a curriculum development network, the project is broadening significantly the disciplines within biology that will be able to use bean beetles as a model system for inquiry-based laboratory courses. New laboratory materials are being produced for courses in animal physiology, neurobiology, molecular biology, genetics, and developmental biology. Finally, the project is assessing the effectiveness of inquiry-based learning in laboratory courses across a diversity of institutions and disciplines in biology.
The broader impacts of the project emerge from the recruitment of faculty for workshops from a diverse array of institutions. As a result, the curriculum development network established at the proposed workshops is promoting better teaching and learning in diverse settings. In addition, the workshops are establishing partnerships that will continue to improve laboratory education in biology. Furthermore, to increase involvement of under-represented minorities in inquiry-based research, some workshop slots are being set aside for faculty from community colleges and minority-serving institutions. Finally, the materials developed by participants in the curriculum development network are being disseminated through a devoted website, workshops and presentations at annual meetings of the undergraduate STEM education community, and publication in journals related to undergraduate STEM education.
