On Friday, March 11, the first meeting of the newly reformed Biology Education Group drew an enthusiastic crowd of 30 to learn about the Biology Department's outreach activities, and the recently updated visualization tool, Star Genetics.
Prof Graham Walker addressed the attendees with a few introductory words about the importance of re-establishing the Biology Education Group, and how "the more we have opportunities to meet and discuss education, the more we improve teaching and learning.”
Dr. Lourdes Aleman followed with a presentation on the wide range of outreach activities that faculty and students at the Biology Department have engaged in. Various partners (institutions, organizations, and invididuals such as Whitehead Institute, Melissa Kosinski-Collins at Brandeis University, Kathy Vandiver at Center for Environmental Health Sciences, who is doing workshops for high school teachers) have been working with the group.
Dr. Stacie Bumgarner talked about the Star Genetics implementation case at Suffolk University where Star Genetics was embedded in various educational activities. Her subsequent demo gave the audience a vivid sense of how StarGenetics was actually used by Dr Bumgarner, her teaching colleagues, and students. She also shared an example exercise which was freely available for download on the StarGenetics website.
The reach of Star Genetics continues to grow, with currently 12,241 visits over the past year, from 110 countries and 1,391 cities.
Make sure you stay tuned for more Biology Education Group activities later this spring.
-- Toru Iiyoshi
Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Building NE48-308, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Phone: (617) 252-1981; Fax: (617) 452-4044