Pedagogical Innovation

As a community of educators our faculty use research-based methods of teaching, strive for innovation, and share best teaching practices. We bring diverse interests and varied experiences to classroom instruction and, through our enthusiasm, convey to our students the excitement inherent in the study of biology. Many of our faculty have been recognized with teaching awards. Listen to our recent Tina & Bellet Teaching Excellence Award winners talk about their work:

In addition, our faculty undertake Science Education Research.

 

Teaching Awards

Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award

Graham Hatfull, Biological Sciences (2011)
Jeffrey Brodsky, Biological Sciences (2008)

Provost's Diversity in the Curriculum Award

Erica McGreevy, Department of Biological Sciences with Kevin Binning, Department of Psychology and Chandralekha Singh, Department of Physics and Astronomy (2019)

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This award is for a belonging intervention used in Foundations of Biology 1 that you can read about in a PittWire article.

Tina & David Bellet Teaching Excellence Award

Erica McGreevy, Biological Sciences (2020)

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Alison Slinskey-Legg, Biological Sciences (2017)

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Rick A. Relyea, Biological Sciences (2014)

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Anthony Bledsoe, Biological Sciences (2006)

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Iain Campbell, Biological Sciences (2000)

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Pedagogical Innovations

Discipline-Based Science Education Research (dB-SERC) Grants for Course Transformations

2023

Developing interactive digital resources using the HTML5 Package (H5P) educational technology to enhance instruction in undergraduate general anatomy and neuroanatomy laboratories

Burhan Gharaibeh, Department of Biological Sciences; and Erika E. Fanselow, Department of Neuroscience

Interactive online materials are superior to conventional didactic teaching methods, but suitable resources are scarce or inadequate for undergraduate anatomy courses and can be technically complex to implement and integrate into learning management systems. This project aims to develop a new anatomy teaching resource using the HTML5 Package educational technology.

Peer-Driven BIOSC UTA training: Enhancing student learning in large introductory biology with evidence-based asynchronous peer-driven UTA training

Saoirse S. McSharry, Department of Biological Sciences

Implementation of the large-enrollment introductory biology courses relies on undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs). In this project, a student-centered asynchronous Peer-Driven UTA Training Module will ensure the UTAs are well-prepared for their roles in courses.

Improving sense of belonging in Natural Sciences by implementing inclusive active learning modules

David Outomuro and Rory Carroll, Department of Biological Sciences

The aim of this project is to empower students with knowledge, validation and sense of belonging in ecology by implementing inclusive active teaching and creating a module on reproductive strategies that challenges the traditional perception of gender and sex and gender roles.

Using student-led engagement with journal articles and their authors to increase student self-efficacy and belonging

Jessica F. Stephenson, Department of Biological Sciences

Videoconferencing makes bringing researchers into the classroom manageable across course types and empowers students to engage with primary research.  We will collect survey data which measures the impact of researcher interactions on student self-efficacy and belongingness. Additionally, this project aims to incorporate more researchers from identities historically excluded from STEM, and to investigate if more researcher diversity can affect student outcomes.

Help me help you: Enhancing student perception and usage of office hours

Dan Wetzel, Department of Biological Sciences

Office hours provide a space for mentoring and student engagement. However, in many cases, office hours are underutilized, particularly by students that could benefit the most from them. We will leverage data collected from student surveys to design and implement four interventions to address the most commonly reported barriers to office hours usage.

2022

Transforming Large Lecture-Based STEM Courses Through Personalized Coaching: Expanding ECoach at Pitt into Introductory STEM Courses

Jessica Wandelt, Department of Biological Sciences; Jennifer Ganger, Department of Psychology; and Lingfeng “Kitty” Liu; Department of Chemistry

“ECoach” is a personalized coaching tool that supports student success through tailored communication and interventions. We will implement ECoach in two large-enrollment courses (Introductory Biology and General Chemistry 1) to provide a strong foundation of study skills, meta-cognitive awareness and equitable resources to incoming first-year students at Pitt. 

2021

Transforming undergraduate physiology laboratory by using web-based data acquisition and analyses setup to run lab instruments

Burhan Gharaibeh, Department of Biological Sciences

Physiology Laboratory will be transformed to using a web-based platform, LabChart. This transformation will increase student engagement in the labs, initiate more interaction among group members, and increase the depth of learning of physiological concepts.

Stop and drop a definition: Using dual-process theory to improve student performance on essay-type questions

Kirill Kiselyov, Department of Biological Sciences

Improved essay-style questions for an upper level cell biology lecture course will be developed that will allow students to fully show their knowledge during the essay-type formative assessment tasks to improve student engagement and performance in the course.

Increasing student belonging and self-efficacy while leveraging a virtual learning environment via primary literature and author interactions

Mentor, Jessica Stephonson; graduate student mentees, Rachel Kramp and Faith Rovenolt; Department of Biological Sciences

This project aims to engage students in an upper-level animal behavior course to analyze primary literature and discuss the concepts with the articles author via videoconferencing. The goal is to improve student belonging and self-efficacy while helping them develop a good grasp of foundational concepts.

2020

Transforming Large Lecture-Based STEM Courses Through Personalized Coaching: Establishing ECoach at Pitt

Jessica Wandelt, Department of Biological Sciences; Jennifer Ganger, Department of Psychology; and Kitty Liu, Department of Chemistry

BIOSC 0805 The Human Body for Non-Majors will be redesigned to incorporate the personalized online coaching tool ECoach along with other courses in the Departments of Psychology and Chemistry. The tool will be shared with other educators in large STEM courses.

2019

The impact of presentation exchange on learning and professional development of undergraduate students

Kirill Kiselyov, Department of Biological Sciences

Kiselyov’s unique peer-reviewed presentation exchange gives students the opportunity to engage with contemporary literature in the field by presenting a paper review online. This year, he will connect his students with experts in the field to gauge the effectiveness of the presentation exchange.

Using 3D printed models to promote student understanding of macromolecular structure/function and spatial interactions

Zuzana Swigonova and Laura Zapanta, Department of Biological Sciences

Understanding the function and interactions of macromolecules is essential for modern biology and biochemistry, but students often struggle to visualize these complex structures. To help students, Swigonova and Zapanta are 3D printing color-coded, structurally informative, scientifically accurate models that they will use as a focus for student learning activities in their classrooms.

2018

Using TopHat to personalize student learning and expand the scientific skillset in a large biological science classroom

Candice Damiani, Department of Biological Sciences

It can be tough to meet the needs of individual students in large introductory courses. However, with the aid of TopHat, an in-class, online learning platform, Damiani hopes to hone in on students’ individual needs. This program will help asses individual students’ strengths and weaknesses through tests students can take on their own electronics during class.

Storytelling in cell biology: Vertically integrating a complicated class

Kirill Kiselyov, Department of Biological Sciences

Complicated biological processes will be broken down into digestible “storylines” for students in his cell biology course. These stories will be given to different groups of students who will fill out the details using concepts discussed in class.

2017

Engaging student scientists to enhance our understanding of forest degradation and promote inquiry based scientific skills

Walter Carson, Department of Biological Sciences

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Increasing the pass rate of biology 1-repeating students and increasing student persistence in STEM

Kathryn Gardner, Nancy Kaufmann, and Erica McGreevy, Department of Biological Sciences

2015

Using technology to scale up innovative research-based introductory laboratories

Welkin Pope, Department of Biological Sciences

Implementation of peer reviewed presentations in a biology course

Kirill Kiselyov, Department of Biological Sciences

2014

Integrating modeling instruction throughout a large lecture introductory biology course

Mentor, Samuel Donovan; graduate student mentee, Lisa Limeri; Department of Biological Sciences

Provost Course Incubator Grant

2018

Transforming Foundations of Biology 1 and 2

Suzanna Gribble, Lesley Ashmore, Candice Damiani, Samuel Donovan, Kathryn Gardner, Erica McGreevy, Valerie Oke, Linda O’Reilly, Laurel Roberts, Zuzana Swigonova and Laura Zapanta

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Provost Open Education Resources Grants

2021

Computational Biology for All! Development of an interactive, accessible, and student-customizable computational biology text

Nathan Brouwer, Department of Biological Sciences

Development of Open Educational Resources Suitable for a Majors Microbiology Course

Candice Damiani and Erica McGreevy, Department of Biological Sciences

2020

Peer Teaching in a Large Enrollment Class

Linda O'Reilly, Department of Biological Sciences

Microbiology Lab Open Education Resources

Kimberly Payne, Department of Biological Sciences

Provost Forge Your Own Path - Personalized Education Grants

2020

Biology Transfer Students: Building Personalized Connections

Jessica Wandelt (PI), Kevin Wu, Christine Berliner, Candice Damiani, Department of Biological Sciences; Mary Mulcahy, and Lauren Yaich, Division of Biological and Health Sciences at Pitt Bradford

Personalized Course Coaching at Scale: Bringing ECoach to Pitt

Jessica Wandelt, Department of Biological Sciences; Jennifer Ganger, Department of Psychology; and Kitty Liu, Department of Chemistry

2019

Biology Career Exploration Academic Communities (BioCEAC; “BioSeek”)

Kevin Wu and Ellen Kelsey, Department of Biological Sciences

Biology Transfer Students: A Personalized Approach

Jessica Wandelt and Christine Berliner, Department of Biological Sciences; Melissa Warthen, Director of New Student Programs

Provost Innovation in Education Awards

2023

Developing interactive digital resources using HTML5 Package (H5P) educational technology to enhance instruction in undergraduate general anatomy and neuroanatomy laboratories

Burhan Gharaibeh, Department of Biological Sciences; and Erika Fanselow, Department of Neuroscience

Scaling the storytelling approach: An online teaching and learning paradigm for modern undergraduate classrooms

Kirill Kiselyov, Department of Biological Sciences

2022

Enhancing Student Biochemical Learning through the Gaming of Metabolic Pathway

Linda O’Reilly, Department of Biological Sciences

2020

Development and application of 3D-printed models to enhance teaching of molecular structure and function

Zuzana Swigonova, Department of Biological Sciences

2018

Enhancing the Introductory Biology Curriculum: Learning in the Context of Current Research Practices and Building STEM Communities Through a Flipped Classroom

Zuzana Swigonova, Department of Biological Sciences

2017

ProteinVR: Micro and Structural Biology in a Virtual World

Jacob Durrant, Department of Biological Sciences

A pre-assessment tool for new and critical insights to guide Foundations of Biology 1

Suzanna Gribble, Department of Biological Sciences

2011

Losing the Lecture: Student-Centered, Inquiry-Based Learning in an Entry-Level Biology Course

Lydia Daniels, Department of Biological Sciences

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Outreach Education Grants

The STEM PUSH Network: A National Alliance of PreCollege Stem Programs and accreditation system to broaden participation in STEM fields.

NSF INCLUDES Program. Alison Slinskey Legg (PI). Total award:  $10M. (2019-2024).