Topics & Speakers | Agenda | Registration | Hotel Information | Driving Directions

• KEYNOTE: Active Teaching: Applying Brain Biology in our Classrooms
  Robin Wright, University of Minnesota, MN
• Chemistry: Ways to Help them "Get It"
  Nicole Powell, Tuskegee University, AL
• Hands-On PhysioEx™ V6.0
  Susan Baxley, Troy State University, AL
• Bioethics Debates for Biotechnology Students
  Michael Palladino, Monmouth University, NJ
• Gathering and Utilizing Mid Semester Instructional Feedback
  Sharon Roberts, Auburn University, AL
• Starting Off on the Right Foot: Promoting Success in the Sciences
  Joe March, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL
• Using HIV/AIDS as a Campus-Wide Educational Focus
  David Wessner, Davidson University, NC
• Integrating Lab and Lecture: Everyone Wins
  Kutty Pariyadath, University of South Carolina, Aiken, SC
• Helpful Hints in Teaching Histology
  Nina Zanetti, Siena College, NY
• Encouraging Organic Chemistry Students to Embrace the Mechanistic Approach
  Joel Karty, Elon University, NC
• Exploring the Human Genome Project
  Michael Palladino, Monmouth University, NJ
• Tips for Online Course Management
  Susan Baxley, Troy State University, AL
  Dinya Norris, Benjamin Cummings
• Using Technology to Enliven the Lecture Course: Two Perspectives
  Robert D. Locy, Auburn University, AL
  James F. Battey, Georgia Perimeter College, GA

KEYNOTE: Active Teaching: Applying Brain Biology in our Classrooms
Have you ever delivered the world’s best lecture, only to have students ask questions that prove they didn’t learn anything you were trying to teach them? Understanding the physiology of learning can help us develop ways to help our students learn more effectively. In this address, we will consider the relationship between Kolb’s Learning Cycle, brain structure, and the physiology of learning. Then we will explore a variety of active learning strategies and see how they complete the learning cycle, helping students make long-term memories and apply what they know.

Robin Wright is Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs in the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) and professor of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development at the University of Minnesota. Her research examines the genetic control of cell structure, using yeast as a model organism. In her previous position at the University of Washington her teaching effectiveness was recognized by a Distinguished Teaching Award in 2000. At the University of Minnesota, she chairs the College of Biological Sciences Curriculum Task Force as well as the University’s Council on Enhancing Student Learning. In addition to she also helped to develop and co-teach an orientation/enrichment course required for all incoming freshmen in the college called "The Nature of Life."

Chemistry: Ways to Help Them "Get It"
"Chemistry is difficult. I just pray I can get a C." This is the all too familiar quote we hear from our students. In this workshop, we will look ways to integrate theory with laboratory and some of the benefits of doing so. In the process we will look at strategies to help students become active participants in the learning process, aid knowledge retention, and foster a positive attitude towards science.

Nichole L. Powell received her Ph.D. from Georgia State University. She is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Tuskegee University where she teaches Introductory, General, and Allied Health Chemistry courses. Dr. Powell also serves as secretary of the Auburn Chapter of the American Chemical Society.

Hands-On PhysioEx™ V6.0
A common challenge for A&P and Human Physiology laboratory courses is that many good learning activities may be too costly, too time-consuming, or too dangerous to perform in an actual wet lab. This session will allow you to explore a few of the 40 PhysioEx™ physiology lab simulations that may be used to supplement or substitute for wet labs. Suggestions will be given on its use in the laboratory as well as in a lecture setting. Session attendance limited to 24.

Dr. Susan T. Baxley is the Science Department Chair at Troy University Montgomery Campus in Montgomery, AL. She has a B.S. in Biology from Auburn University and an M.A. from Troy State University, Montgomery. Susan currently teaches the laboratory portion of the 300 level, two-semester Human Anatomy & Physiology courses. In 1996, she was named Teacher of the Year for TSUM, and in 2000 and 2002 was the recipient of the President's Excellence Award for Full Time Faculty at TSUM. She is an active member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS).

Bioethics Debates for Biotechnology Students
Biotechnology is an exciting and rapidly emerging area of biology education because of recent developments in gene identification, genetic therapies, genetically-modified foods, stem cells and cloning technologies and many other topics. Few disciplines of biology elicit the complex range of bioethical challenges for both scientists and the general public that biotechnology presents. This workshop will describe a teaching approach for using bioethics debate sessions to allow students to learn about and debate bioethical aspects of current topics in biotechnology. Participants will be involved in an impromptu debate.

Michael Palladino is an Associate Professor of Biology at Monmouth University in New Jersey. He received his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology from the University of Virginia. At Monmouth he teaches undergraduate courses in biotechnology, genetics, and cell and molecular biology, and directs an active laboratory of undergraduate students conducting research on gene expression in male reproductive organs. He is the recipient of several teaching and research awards including the 2004-2005 Distinguished Teacher Award, the Outstanding Colleague Award for teaching excellence at Brookdale Community College, and the New Investigator Award of the American Society of Andrology. Dr. Palladino is Series Editor for the Benjamin Cummings Special Topics in Biology, author of the student lab manual for BiologyLabs On-Line, and he recently co-authored the text Introductory to Biotechnology published by Benjamin Cummings.

Gathering and Utilizing Mid Semester Instructional Feedback
Small Group Instructional Feedback (SGIF) provides student feedback and course evaluation to the instructor midterm, giving the instructor time to make adjustments before the end of the term. The benefits of midterm assessment, as well as the use of small groups to collect information, and the evaluation of the results by a trained SGIF facilitator and the instructor will be described.

Sharon Roberts is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a Faculty Fellow of the Auburn University Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Her research interest is the evolution of host-parasite interactions and she teaches Immunology and Virology. She has broad experience teaching both large and small lecture courses as well as laboratory classes.

Starting Off on the Right Foot: Promoting Success in the Sciences
Early Success in the Sciences Workshops (ESSW) have been created to expose students to the expectations of first year science classes. The program presents materials and activities that allow students to realize the excitement and breadth of science; learn about academic expectations in the sciences; promote self-realization of abilities and interests; and, create an academic success plan that includes short and long term academic goals. ESSW have given students the opportunity to interact with faculty members from across the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, academic advisors from General Studies, and undergraduate science.

Joe March received his Ph.D in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin where he studied the Chemistry of the Fullerenes. As Laboratory Director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Joe designed and implemented a modified-guided-inquiry approach to the large university setting as part of the National Science Foundation funded New Traditions Project. In 1999, Joe was hired at The University of Alabama at Birmingham as the General Chemistry Coordinator. He has established several programs designed to improve student retention including the establishment of learning communities, development of active learning strategies in recitation, incorporation of technology in the laboratory, implementation of a Chemistry Fellows program, and the initiation of the Early Success in Science Workshops. For his efforts in undergraduate education, he was named the 2003 Council for the Advancement of Secondary Education and Carnegie Foundation's Alabama Professor of the Year.

Using HIV/AIDS as a Campus-Wide Educational Focus
All of us want to share our enthusiasm for our area of expertise with as many students as possible. The question, though, is: how? This session will highlight an ever-growing program using HIV/AIDS as a thematic tool to teach undergraduates about HIV, virology, biology, and public health. An upper-level seminar on HIV has given rise to a new non-majors class, an informal discussion group, an annual HIV awareness program, several freely accessible Web resources, and student-coauthored publications and presentations. A single course in one’s area of expertise, thus, can serve as the gateway to more widespread learning.

David Wessner is an Associate Professor of Biology at Davidson College, where he teaches courses in Genetics, Microbiology, and Infectious Diseases. He received his undergraduate degree from Franklin and Marshall College and his Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics from Harvard University. His current research interests include characterization of viral disassembly mutants and HIV/AIDS education pedagogy.

Integrating Lab and Lecture: Everyone Wins
By reallocating lecture and lab into continuous time slots Dr. Pariyadath and the University of South Carolina, Aiken (USCA) chemistry department have increased course effectiveness. Integrating these two periods has created an environment to immediately connect lecture material with lab activities. This workshop will discuss how schools with reasonable class size and lab and lecture rooms near one another can benefit from integration and will present suggestions for making this transition at your own school.

Kutty Pariyadath was born in Kerala, India and earned his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at Stony Brook University, NY. He has taught Advanced Inorganic Chemistry and the General Chemistry for the past 21 years at USCA. Kutty has helped to change the way General Chemistry is taught at USCA by integrating both the lab and the lecture sessions into one. What used to be three 1-hour lectures and one 3-hour lab is now three 2-hour lecture/lab combination sessions. Kutty was instrumental in introducing a chemistry course for nonscience majors, Chemistry and Society, which has become the most popular general education science elective at USCA.

Helpful Hints in Teaching Histology
Histology, an integral component of most Human A&P courses, can be challenging for both students and instructors. Many of the challenges relate to difficulties in interpreting microscope slides. This workshop is designed to help instructors develop their own skills at interpreting slides, and to provide tips on teaching histology to undergraduates. Topics will include: choosing the best slides; problems of 2- D to 3-D interpretation; histological “look-alikes”; “artifacts”; interpretation of special stains. The workshop will also present examples of “active learning” approaches for histology. Participants will have opportunity to discuss issues relating to interpretation and presentation of histological images.

Nina Zanetti is a Professor of Biology at Siena College, NY. She received a Ph.D. in Biology from Syracuse University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Developmental Biology at the University of Iowa. Dr. Zanetti teaches a variety of undergraduate courses including Histology, Developmental Biology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Scientific Writing, Pathobiology, and General Biology. Her research interests include development of the embryonic limb and skeletal tissue differentiation.

Encouraging Organic Chemistry Students to Embrace the Mechanistic Approach
Anyone who has taught Organic Chemistry at the undergraduate level knows how strongly students resist the reaction mechanism. Students are simply uncomfortable and unwilling to graduate from flashcard use and memorization. At the same time, we, as professors, know that mechanisms and the application of fundamental concepts are the key to success and that memorization is detrimental. In this session, we will explore the barriers we face as professors in getting the students to embrace fundamental concepts and mechanisms, many of which are inherent in the textbooks we use. I will also present a teaching methodology that, for me and my students, has effectively removed those barriers, and has led to far superior outcomes, both in student performance and in student morale.

Dr. Joel Karty is the author of The Nuts and Bolts of Organic Chemistry: A Student’s Guide to Success. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Puget Sound and earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Elon University in Elon, NC. With a background in Physical-Organic Chemistry, he teaches courses across the discipline, including Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, General Chemistry and Physical Organic Chemistry. He also teaches an Organic Chemistry prep course in the summers for the Summer Medical Education Program at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Exploring the Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project advanced at a pace that was far too rapid to chronicle in a textbook, so how can faculty and students develop an accurate understanding of what can be learned from studying the human genome? This hands-on computer lab workshop will demonstrate how the Internet can be used as a tool to actively engage students, both majors and non-majors, to learn about goals, outcomes, and implications of the Human Genome Project. Participants will explore student-friendly, up-to-date sites that present a wealth of information including: genetic technologies, chromosome maps, recently identified genes, genetic diseases, resources for educators, and thought-provoking discussions on ethical, legal and social aspects of the Human Genome Project.

Michael Palladino is an Associate Professor of Biology at Monmouth University in New Jersey. He received his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology from the University of Virginia. At Monmouth he teaches undergraduate courses in biotechnology, genetics, and cell and molecular biology, and directs an active laboratory of undergraduate students conducting research on gene expression in male reproductive organs. He is the recipient of several teaching and research awards including the 2004-2005 Distinguished Teacher Award, the Outstanding Colleague Award for teaching excellence at Brookdale Community College, and the New Investigator Award of the American Society of Andrology. Dr. Palladino is Series Editor for the Benjamin Cummings Special Topics in Biology, author of the student lab manual for BiologyLabs On-Line, and he recently co-authored the text Introductory to Biotechnology published by Benjamin Cummings.

Tips for Online Course Management
As advances in Internet technology are helping instructors teach science courses more effectively, the variety of functions in online course management tools can be overwhelming. The session will demonstrate a variety of popular course management options while highlighting customizable content, including lecture outlines, chapter-specific test and quiz questions, interactive exercises, case studies, and more.

Dr. Susan T. Baxley is the Science Department Chair at Troy University Montgomery Campus in Montgomery, AL. She has a B.S. in Biology from Auburn University and an M.A. from Troy State University, Montgomery. Susan currently teaches the laboratory portion of the 300 level, two-semester Human Anatomy & Physiology courses. In 1996, she was named Teacher of the Year for TSUM, and in 2000 and 2002 was the recipient of the President's Excellence Award for Full Time Faculty at TSUM. She is an active member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS).

Dinya Norris is the Benjamin Cummings' Technology Specialist for Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama.

Using Technology to Enliven the Lecture Course: Two Perspectives
In this two-part presentation, instructors from two different colleges will share their strategies for enlivening their General Biology lectures through the use of new technologies. The first half of the session will focus on time-saving techniques for creating engaging visual presentations and related course materials with commonly-available instructor resources, including the PowerPoint presentation tool and Benjamin Cummings Media Manager. The second half of the session will provide tips and suggestions for using wireless classroom response systems ("clickers") to increase student participation and change a passive lecture into a more active experience for students.

Robert D. Locy is Professor and Undergraduate Program Officer in the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University. He earned is Ph.D in Plant Biochemistry at Purdue University. Since arriving at Auburn, his research interests have focused on the metabolic pathways and genes involved in plant adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. In addition to coordinating the General Biology program, he also teaches Genomic Biology and advanced courses in Plant Physiology and Plant Metabolism.

James F. Battey is an Associate Professor of Biology at Georgia Perimeter College, where he teaches courses in General Biology, Non-Majors Biology, Environmental Science, Cell Biology and Genetics. He received his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Georgia, and taught for 12 years at the University of The Virgin Islands, where his research explored coral reef communities and biotechnology.