Seeking UG Instructors teaching genetics
Teresa Mourad
Dear colleagues
See the request below from BSCS and Cornell about a study on genetics instruction. This is not an ESA study. Please direct questions to Monica Weindling mwein...@bscs.org
Teresa
Teresa Mourad
Director, Education and Diversity Programs
Ecological Society of America
The study is being conducted jointly by BSCS and Cornell University and is titled: Honoring the Complexity of Genetics – Exploring how undergraduate learning of multifactorial genetics affects belief in genetic determinism. We are looking for undergraduate instructors who are teaching genetics (either as a whole course or a topic within a course) in the Spring 2024 term to ask their students to work through online modules about multifactorial genetics.
Below is some information about this work and what would be asked of participating professors and their students, should they consent to participating.
This work aims to understand how to design an introductory genetics curriculum at the undergraduate level that informs students about genes without promoting genetic determinism. This research is funded by NSF (NSF DUE 1914965 and 1914843), and we have IRB approval to run this experiment (Cornell research protocol # 2103010232, BSCS research protocol #00006625). Student participation in this research requires their consent and is anonymous.
We have developed four online interventions that focus on either single gene inheritance, polygenic inheritance, environmental influence , or gene-by-environment interactions. These interventions are rooted in contemporary theories of science learning.
Students will first be given an online pre-test that should take them approximately 20 minutes to complete. One week later, students will be randomly assigned to one of the four online interventions that should take them approximately 40 minutes to complete. The following week students will be given an online post-test to complete that should take them approximately 20 minutes to complete. The pre- and post-intervention questions focus on their prior knowledge/beliefs about genetics, belief in genetic determinism, growth mindset, and motivation to study science.
We are asking that they complete the interventions and surveys during class time. Participation will require three portions of class time - 20 minutes of one class meeting to complete the pre-survey, 40 minutes of another class meeting to complete the intervention, and 20 minutes of another class meeting to complete the post-survey.
Students will be given access to a code at the completion of the intervention that they can submit through the course management system (e.g. Canvas, Blackboard). We recommend instructors award a small amount of participation credit to incentivize student participation. As the instructor of the course, you also will receive a report with the aggregate results. These results may provide insight into how modifications to the genetics curriculum can reduce deterministic thinking among students.
After the online assignment has closed for your class, students will receive access to all four interventions if they wish to use them for studying.
Interested professors can complete the short survey: https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8vV17ETC7Y48E62
We would greatly appreciate your help in building participation for this study!