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I am first and foremost a biology teacher; my research interests lie in how biology students learn biology, and my “research lab” is the biology classroom. What are the biology concepts that trip students up, and how can we use this information to our advantage to solve some of the problems students encounter when they learn biology? How can instructors structure the learning environment to promote understanding of important biology concepts? I am interested in how students’ understanding of the central dogma (DNA codes for RNA, and RNA codes for protein) changes as they progress through their biology coursework. I have also participated in research that showed that students in Introductory Biology can learn how to apply math to biological problems, increasing both their quantitative skills and their understanding about basic biological concepts. What we have learned in our work has significantly changed the way we teach in our MCB courses.
I am currently working to help instructors use their instructional teams better so they can use more evidence-based teaching strategies in their classrooms. These strategies can be applied in biology and other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) classes. I am also involved in efforts to make meaningful changes in biology laboratory classes by helping students to use models as tools to design experiments and interpret data from those experiments.Show Less
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Courses
- CDBCell and Developmental Biology
- AGTAdvanced Genetics for Teachers
- SBLCSecondary Biology Laboratory Curriculum
- BLUDBiology Lesson Unit Development
- BNTBiology Nutrition for Teachers
- HGSCDHuman Genetics: Sex, Crime, and Disease
- EEEEvolution and the Early Earth
- CBCell Biology
- AETAdvanced Evolution for Teachers
- IGEEIntroduction to the General Education Experience
- KEYSRKEYS Research
- BTMSTBiology Teaching Methods for Secondary Teachers
- IBIIntroductory Biology I
Grants
- Using Co-Teaching to Expand Evidence-Based Teaching Practices in Undergraduate STEM Courses
Co-Investigator (COI)
2019
$20.0K
Active - Developing Instructional Teams for Evidence-Based Instruction in Large Collaborative Learning Environments
Co-Investigator (COI)
2016
$2.8M
Active - Authentic Scientific Practices in the Classroom: A Model-Based-Inquiry Curriculum for the Introductory Biology Laboratory
Co-Investigator (COI)
2016
$598.7K
- UA AAU STEM Undergraduate Education Project
Co-Investigator (COI)
2013
$500.0K
- AZ-Start: Arizona Science Teacher Advancement and Research Training
Principal Investigator (PI)
2007
$1.0M
News
- UA at the Forefront as Climate Change Heats Up
2016
- UA Science Lecture Series to Focus on Climate Change
2016
- UA Paves Way to Redefine STEM Education
2014
- UA One of Only Eight Institutions Selected for Nationwide STEM Initiative
2013
- UA receives $830K Grant to Aid in K-12 Education Effort
2007
- Science Teachers Get Their Hands on Research in UA Labs
2005
- Prop. 301 to Fund Water Research at UA
2003
- $7.5 Million Grant to Support Cancer Education and Research for Native Americans
2002
- Tucson Teacher/UA Grad Wins State Farm Good Neighbor Teacher Award
2001
- Scientists, Engineers Invited to Education Forum April 1
2000
- Elfring and Taylor to Discuss Fingerprinting at Crime Convention
2000
Publications (34)
Recent
- Using an Instructional Team During Pandemic Remote Teaching Enhanced Student Outcomes in a Large STEM Course Breadcrumb
2022
- Using an instructional team during pandemic remote teaching enhanced student outcomes in a large STEM course
2022
- Assessment Work in an Academic Professional Development Center
2022
- Is a Framework of Support Enough?
2022
- Responsive teaching in online learning environments
2021
- A close look at change: the role of community on an instructor's evolution during instructional reform
2021
- STEM education as a vital preventive response to a pandemic
2021
- Benefits and Challenges in the Implementation of an Instructional-Teams Model for Supporting Evidence-Based Instructional Practices in Large-Enrollment STEM Courses
2021
- Responsive Teaching in Online Learning Environments: Using an Instructional Team to Promote Formative Assessment and Sense of Community
2021
- A close look at change: the role of an instructional-team community on an Instructor’s evolution during instructional reform
2021
- Undergraduate Student Conceptions of DNA and Their Understanding of Basic Science
2021
- Best Professional Development for Online Faculty? Take an Online Course Breadcrumb
2021
- Exploring Undergraduate Students' Abilities to Collect and Interpret Formative Assessment Data
2020
- Exploring undergraduate students’ abilities to collect and interpret formative assessment data
2020
- Learning researchers
2019
- Learning Researchers: Promoting Formative Assessment in STEM Courses
2019
- Authentic Inquiry through Modeling in Biology (AIM-Bio): An Introductory Laboratory Curriculum that Increases Undergraduates' Scientific Agency and Skills.
2018
- Authentic Inquiry through Modeling in Biology (AIM-Bio): An introductory laboratory curriculum that increases undergraduates’ scientific agency and skills
2018
- Engaging students in the large‐lecture biology classroom
2017
- What do earwax, spinners and cats have in common? Probabilistic reasoning in undergraduate genetics problem-solving
2017
- Helping Teachers in the Evolution-Teaching Dilemma: Understanding Evolution by Kostas Kampourakis
2016
- Developing faculty cultures for evidence-based teaching practices in STEM: A progress report
2015
- Integrating quantitative thinking into an introductory biology course improves students’ mathematical reasoning in biological contexts
2014
- Reading Questions in Large-Lecture Courses.
2008
- Ph.D. in Biochemistry (Education)!
2008
- Ph. D. in biochemistry (education)!
2008
- Impact of Including Authentic Inquiry Experiences in Methods Courses for Pre-Service Secondary Teachers
2007
- A genetic screen for suppressors and enhancers of the Drosophila PAN GU cell cycle kinase identifies cyclin B as a target
2001
- PAN GU: a protein kinase that inhibits S phase and promotes mitosis in early Drosophila development
2000
- Genetic analysis of brahma: The drosophila homolog of the yeast chromatin remodeling factor SWI2/SNF2
1998
- Drosophila PLUTONIUM protein is a specialized cell cycle regulator required at the onset of embryogenesis
1997
- Genetic and molecular analysis of the Drosophila brahma (brm) locus.
1995
- Identification and characterization of Drosophila relatives of the yeast transcriptional activator SNF2/SWI2
1994
- Genetic analysis of the brahma gene of Drosophila melanogaster and polytene chromosome subdivisions 72AB
1994
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