Toward More Inclusive Large-Enrollment Undergraduate Biology Classrooms: Identifying Inequities and Possible Underlying Mechanisms

Katelyn Cooper

To what extent do students experience college biology classrooms differently because of their social identities (gender, LGBTQIA status, anxiety levels)? How has transitioning traditional lecture courses to active learning spaces worsened and improved the experiences for students with different identities? What can instructors do to create more inclusive college biology classrooms? 

In this talk, presenter Katelyn Cooper will discuss her work which has identified social identity inequities in the undergraduate biology classroom, focusing on the experiences of female students and students with anxiety in biology active learning classrooms. Cooper will also highlight how instructor teaching practices, such as using student names and instructor use of humor, can be used to alleviate or exacerbate inequities in the college biology classroom.

Cooper, a doctoral student in biology and program manager for LEAP Scholars, explores the influence of student characteristics (e.g. gender, anxiety, LGBTQIA status, transfer student status) on student experiences in college biology active learning classrooms. Additionally, her work explores how students seek and leverage undergraduate research experiences and Course Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) to accrue social, cultural, and human capital in undergraduate biology.

This presentation is part of the Evidence-Based Teaching in STEM Seminar Series. For more information and coming events, go to: http://links.asu.edu/TeachTech

Carl Jimenez
School of Life Sciences
480-727-3617
carlj@asu.edu
https://sols.asu.edu
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Life Sciences E, room 106