The objective of this project is to provide structured professional development opportunities that engage undergraduate biology faculty in exploring contemporary teaching practices. Biology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology faculty participate in twelve workshops emphasizing collaborative curriculum development and in project-based online group work. Professional development activities are built around the effective use of existing and publicly accessible digital library materials; networked computing and communications technologies; and E-science resources.
This project, conducted jointly by the University of Pittsburg and Beloit College, engages biology faculty in cyberlearning experiences and prepares them to help their students take advantage of cyberlearning opportunities. This work provides insights into the ways that science educators take advantage of new knowledge-sharing tools to make their own learning accessible, and how enhancing the collective understanding in professional teaching communities informs the use of these same tools in classrooms.
This project addresses challenges faced by community college science educators by helping biology faculty enhance science teaching and learning by effectively using publicly available materials and tools. By partnering with teaching societies and digital libraries that actively reach out to two-year faculty the project has access to workshop attendees and large numbers of teachers who participate in online faculty development projects.
