Come explore new models of
instruction for the large undergraduate biology classroom.
June 2009
University of Wisconsin-Madison
An introductory undergraduate biology class might be the only exposure
many students have to the life sciences, or to any of the sciences.
It often serves as the best opportunity to interest students in a biomedical
research or other life science career.
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Academies
invite research university faculty to build teaching skills and transform
the undergraduate biology classroom at a week-long gathering in beautiful
Madison, Wisconsin. This unique Summer Institute on Undergraduate
Education in Biology is designed to model the scientific teaching
principles on which it is founded and draws on the expertise of both
participants and presenters. Current research, active learning,
assessment, and diversity are woven through the week, creating a
forum for participants to share ideas and develop innovative
instructional materials which they implement when they return to their own
campuses.
The idea for the Institute emerged from the 2003 National Research
Council report,
Bio2010: Transforming
Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists. The report
concludes that faculty development is a crucial component for improving
undergraduate biology education. It maintains that universities need to
provide faculty with opportunities to refine classroom techniques and to better
integrate concepts in math and physical sciences with biology.
This website provides information on past, present, and future Summer
Institutes. Read
news and journal
articles about the Summer Institute and
Bio2010 or find out
about
how to apply for future Summer Institutes.
The National Academies Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education Biology
is organized by the National Research Council's
Board on Life Sciences
and
Center for
Education in partnership with the
Wisconsin Program for Scientific
Teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Support for the National Academies Summer Institute is provided by:
