Join this free webinar series, featuring discussions with authors from recently published articles in Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education® (JMBE). Come meet other biologists who do discipline-based education research (DBER), become more familiar with study design and interpretation of data of DBER studies and learn how to improve your teaching in the process. Register for each webinar individually. Free for everyone!

After attending JMBE Live! webinars, participants will be able to do the following:
  • Discuss critical aspects of DBER research study design.
  • Interpret results of DBER studies.
  • Describe how DBER studies can inform classroom or laboratory teaching.
  • Be more motivated to conduct your own DBER study and publish in JMBE.

JMBE Live! at Microbe 2024—June 15, 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ET

Evidence vs Pseudoscience: Ensuring Students Understand How Science is Done

Most undergraduate lectures focus on “what we know,” often oversimplifying the experimental process that led to the conclusions. This gives students little insight into how science is done, the discovery process that requires iterative hypotheses, experiments and interpretation that is built upon prior research. In contrast to this spectator approach, when students participate in meaningful laboratory research, they gain a personal understanding of how scientific evidence is acquired. Although undergraduate research experiences provide this opportunity, because the number of students exceeds research labs, these experiences are often limited to select seniors. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) can provide all students with these experiences by providing genuine research experiences in laboratory courses. An entire class of students authentically engages in hands-on experiments, redesigning and repeating things that didn’t work, analyzing experimental data and rigorously evaluating the results.

This JMBE Live! will focus on examples of effective Microbiology CURES, including both required and elective courses. The participants will engage in a discussion of the logistics of designing and implementing a CURE, as well as student learning outcomes and retention. 

Speakers:  

  • Samantha Parks, Ph.D., Georgia State University, JMBE Editor.
  • Jeffrey Olimpo, Ph.D., University of Texas at El Paso.
  • Katrina Twing, Ph.D., Weber State University.
  • Moderated by Stanley Maloy, Ph.D., JMBE Editor in Chief, San Diego State University.


Catch up on past events when you watch recordings on the JMBE YouTube playlist.

Contact Information

Rachel Horak, Ph.D., education@asmusa.org