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• A Multiple Intelligences Approach to Teaching and Learning
  Ruth Beattie, University of Kentucky, KY
  
• Ten Ways to Turn Teaching Frustrations into Learning Opportunities
  Amy Cheng Vollmer, Swarthmore College, PA
• Hands-On BiologyLabs On-Line
  Michael Palladino, Monmouth University, NJ
• Hands-On PhysioEx™ V5.0
  Susan Baxley, Troy State University, AL
• Strategies for Active Group Learning
  Robin Patterson, Butler County Community College, PA
• Web-Based Learning in a Large Undergraduate Biology Course
  Carla Hass and Denise Woodward, Penn State, PA
• Teaching a Hands-On Lab Course Over the Internet
  Jennifer Herzog, Herkimer Community College, NY
• Tools of Bioinformatics in Genome Analysis (NEW SESSION ADDED)
  Dr. Leelavati R. Murthy, Community College of Allegheny County, PA / University of Pittsburgh, PA
• Building Science Acquisiton Skills: A Library Project Using Electronic Resources
  Kevin C. Wolbach and Leslie A. Bowman, University of the Sciences, PA
• Exploring the Human Genome Project
  Michael Palladino, Monmouth University, NJ
• Online Course Management
  Marv Meneeley, Benjamin Cummings

A Multiple Intelligences Approach to Teaching and Learning
Teaching and learning are often one-dimensional. Knowledge is transmitted in one intellectual direction and a learner receives it in one intellectual way. In an effort to further increase student learning, participation and interaction in introductory biology classes, Dr. Beattie has incorporated a variety of interactive activities, based on Howard Gardner¹s Multiple Intelligences Theory, into her classroom instruction. The purpose of this presentation is (a) to describe a variety of classroom activities, based on Howard Gardner¹s multiple intelligence types, that have been successfully used to promote student participation, interaction and learning in introductory biology courses, and (b) to briefly discuss the results of student evaluations of these activities.

• Dr. Ruth Beattie is an Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky. In 1987 she graduated from Queen¹s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, with a Ph.D. in biochemistry. She completed two postdoctoral fellowships at the Hipple Cancer Research Center and at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Beattie then taught at Ball State University, Muncie, IN, for four years. In 1995, she joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky as an instructional specialist, where her primary responsibility is teaching large-enrollment freshman level biology and microbiology classes. In 2000, Dr. Beattie was the recipient of a University of Kentucky¹s Chancellor¹s Award for Outstanding Teaching and has also been named a Top Ten Teacher in the College of Arts and Sciences for 2000, 2002 and 2003.

Ten Ways to Turn Teaching Frustrations into Learning Opportunities
How can you take a boring or dry topic and turn it into something that is more enjoyable for you and your students? How do you ensure that your students "know" a topic, without designing an onerous exam or having them write an essay? How can you break a long paper into shorter parts, so that you can spread out the grading and give students feedback that will improve their writing? How is it possible to avoid reading answers to the same question over and over? Participants will be engaged in short activities that will show them simple ways to convert their assignments or lecture materials into interactive or creative exercises. Students¹ retention of the material and their ability to apply their knowledge to new situations are the rewards of these efforts.

• Dr. Amy Cheng Vollmer completed her B.A. in biochemistry in 1977 at Rice University and her Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1983 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her post-doctoral research in T-cell immunology took place at Stanford University and in 1985, she joined the faculty at Mills College in Oakland, CA. After four years at Mills, she took a series of three, one-year positions at Swarthmore College. In 1992, she was hired into a tenure-track position at Swarthmore, teaching microbiology and biotechnology courses. She currently serves as chair of the Department of Biology there. Her research is in the area of bacterial stress response, and she engages many undergraduate students in projects in her laboratory. She served as the editor-in-chief for the inaugural issue, as well as the next three volumes, of Microbiology Education, a peer-reviewed journal highlighting the scholarship of teaching, published by the American Society for Microbiology. She particularly enjoys teaching laboratories and creating assignments that are enjoyable for student learners and faculty who grade them.

Hands-On BiologyLabs On-Line
This session will provide faculty an opportunity to use web-based simulations that are designed to involve students in the scientific process. Although the labs are designed for general biology students, they are appropriate for many upper division courses. In addition to actually running the labs, participants will be given sample assignments for the use of the labs with their students. Session attendance limited to 24.

• Dr. Michael Palladino is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Monmouth University in New Jersey. He received his Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology from the University of Virginia. His research activities involving undergraduate students include the cell and molecular biology of male reproductive organs, and DNA fingerprinting of E. coli for detecting fecal pollution in estuaries. In 1993, he received the New Investigator Award of the American Society of Andrology, and he received the 1997-1998 Outstanding Colleague Award for teaching excellence at Brookdale Community College. Dr. Palladino is the author of Understanding the Human Genome Project and the student lab manual for BiologyLabs On-Line. He is also co-author of the recently published Introductory to Biotechnology text by Benjamin Cummings.

Hands-On PhysioEx™ V5.0
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 36 PhysioEx� physiology lab simulations that may be used to supplement or substitute for wet labs. Suggestions will be given for use in the laboratory as well as in a lecture setting. Session attendance limited to 24.

• Susan Baxley is the Science Department Chair at Troy State University, Montgomery in Montgomery, AL. She has a B.S. in Biology from Auburn University and a 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 2001-2002 and 1999-2000 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).

Strategies for Active Group Learning
Collaborative, or small group, learning is one strategy to make learning an active and effective process. During this session, Dr. Patterson will share techniques for introducing your students to small group learning using low-risk activities. These activities will increase the students¹ comfort level with active participation in a group by using short, well-designed group projects and, finally, to working on major projects that are assessed as part of their course grade. Student and instructor concerns regarding group learning and assessment will be addressed while the participants actively engage in simple exercises that can be adapted to group learning in a variety of situations.

• Dr. Robin Patterson has been teaching microbiology, anatomy & physiology, and biology at Butler County Community College for 13 years. Over the years, her teaching style has evolved from teacher-centered to student-centered. Realizing that "Rome wasn¹t built in a day," she shares her transformation with others through speaking engagements and workshops, encouraging educators to examine their teaching through the lens of educational theory and to make changes a little at a time. She also emphasizes the importance of collecting data to assess the effects those changes have made. Patterson is actively involved with the American Society for Microbiology as former chair of the Education Division, co-vice-chair of the 1999 Gordon Research Conference on Microbiology Education, and chair of the Committee for Precollege Education. In 2003 she received the Outstanding Faculty Educator Award at Butler County Community College.

Web-Based Learning in a Large Undergraduate Biology Course
The goal of our project has been to increase learning efficiency by increasing student engagement in an introductory majors basic biology course, the first of four core courses in our department. By learning efficiency, we mean more than simply "time-on-task." We have developed approaches that allow students to quickly identify what they know about a subject, and then focus on material that they do not yet understand. Engagement refers to an intellectual process, during which the students must work through difficult material, not allowing them to "gloss over" concepts that they do not understand. At each step, we want students to focus on what the presented information means, and how it can be applied to understand the complexities of life. The online tutorials were designed with this goal in mind, allowing students to interact with the material in a way that is different from a traditional lecture and textbook. During this session, we will introduce conference participants to the tutorials that we have developed in the Penn State Biology Department, as well as share some of our research findings and classroom experiences. This approach is still a work in progress.

• Dr. Carla Hass earned her B.S. in biology at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, and her M.S. and B.S in zoology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She did postdoctoral research in molecular systematics at Penn State, University Park, and began teaching in a non-majors general biology course in 1994. She now is an instructional assistant professor, teaching primarily at the introductory level for both majors and non-majors. Dr. Hass also has developed a web-based non majors general biology course that is offered through Penn State¹s World Campus, and has administered a number of summer enrichment programs in the sciences.

• Dr. Denise Woodward received her B.S. in zoology from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and M.S. in zoology and Ph.D. in science education at the University of Minnesota. She has been at Penn State since 2001 and has been actively involved in the development and assessment of the Penn State Biology Department¹s online tutorial project. In addition she teaches introductory biology, human genetics for non-majors, ecotoxicology, and a course on teaching in the sciences.

Teaching a Hands-On Lab Course Over the Internet
In response to changing student needs, many institutions have begun to grant degrees entirely through the completion of Internet-based coursework. Although the idea has been well-received by students, a stumbling block in obtaining a degree in most colleges is the requirement that at least one lab science course be completed upon graduation. Very few lab science courses are taught online today, and the few that do exist do not allow the students to acquire basic skills and techniques learned in the on-campus setting. In response to this situation, an online general biology course taught with an accompanying hands-on laboratory component has been developed. In this session, you will participate as a "student" and see how innovative techniques convey the hands-on learning environment of the on-campus classroom over the internet.

• Jennifer Herzog is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Herkimer County Community College in upstate New York. She received her M.S. and M.Phil degrees at the Yale Univeristy School of Medicine, where she studied the pathogenesis of Kaposi¹s Sarcoma Herpesvirus (KSHV). Along with her continued research in microbiology, Professor Herzog has become interested in developing novel teaching strategies for science education. She is currently involved with programs aimed toward student retention in the sciences, and her venture into online teaching has afforded her the opportunity to develop many innovative ways to convey biological concepts and techniques online.

Tools of Bioinformatics in Genome Analysis (NEW SESSION ADDED)
The tools of Bioinformatics involve the application of information technology to the management and analysis of biological data ranging from artificial intelligence to genome analysis to robotics. The advent of the Human Genome Project focused attention on sequence analysis. Within the framework of genome analysis, the tools of Bioinformatics was initially applied to the computational manipulation of DNA sequence data and protein sequence data. Join us as we use the tools of Bioinformatics to compare and convert sequence information into meaningful biochemical knowledge, that may help to decode the structural, functional and evolutionary clues encoded in the language of DNA and protein sequences.

• Dr. Leelavati R. Murthy is an Associate Professor of Biology/Biotechnology at the Community College of Allegheny County, PA and a Research Faculty at the Department of Human Genetics at University of Pittsburgh, PA. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Bombay, India and received postdoctoral research training in Molecular Biology at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA and at the University of California at Berkeley, CA. She worked as a research faculty at Columbia University,NY , at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York and as a Consultant at Sloan-Kettering  Cancer Center, NY. She was a recipient of NIH Service Awards. She was a Fellow of The International Atomic Energy Agency and has been a Principal Investigator on a NIH grant.

Building Science Acquisition Skills: A Library Project Using Electronic Resources
Introducing first-year students to scientific literature and library resources at the same time, this laboratory project caps a year of studying and utilizing the scientific method. Taking advantage of the wealth of electronic infrastructure and resources on campus, our students learn how the different components of the scientific method are revealed in the publication of a peer-reviewed primary scientific article. Students learn how to identify those components within the article and how to acquire additional literature about their topic of interest. Students¹ final projects can then be sent to the faculty electronically for grading. Participants will be able to adapt this project to their own campus resources.

• Kevin C. Wolbach earned his M.S. at Lehigh University and has been teaching in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia since 1992. In addition to his teaching, he also coordinates the B.S. program in Environmental Science. He is interested in enhancing learning in large lecture classes, through active learning and "real world" activities. Professor Wolbach has received several teaching awards including the university¹s William F. Homiller Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2000, Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1997, and Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society Outstanding Freshman Professor for 1994.

• Leslie A. Bowman earned her AMLS at the University of Michigan and is an Associate Professor in the Information Science Department at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, where she is currently the Coordinator of Instructional Services. Working with students in the library since 1984, her interests include collaboration with faculty from subject disciplines. Professor Bowman is a member of USP¹s Learning Community on Learning-Centered Teaching. Ms. Bowman received the USP Faculty Special Award in 1998.

Exploring the Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project has advanced at a pace that is 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 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. We will explore student-friendly sites that present up-to-date information on genetic technologies, chromosome maps, recently identified genes, genetic diseases, and ethical, legal and social aspects of the Human Genome Project. Session attendance limited to 24.

• Dr. Michael Palladino is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Monmouth University in New Jersey. He received his Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology from the University of Virginia. His research activities involving undergraduate students include the cell and molecular biology of male reproductive organs, and DNA fingerprinting of E. coli for detecting fecal pollution in estuaries. In 1993, he received the New Investigator Award of the American Society of Andrology, and he received the 1997-1998 Outstanding Colleague Award for teaching excellence at Brookdale Community College. Dr. Palladino is the author of Understanding the Human Genome Project and the student lab manual for BiologyLabs On-Line. He is also co-author of the recently published Introductory to Biotechnology text by Benjamin Cummings.

Online Course Management
As advances in Internet technology are helping instructors teach online science courses more effectively, the variety of options for online course management can be overwhelming. This session will demonstrate CourseCompass� powered by Blackboard and highlight Benjamin Cummings¹ customizable content, including lecture outlines, chapter-specific test and quiz questions, interactive exercises, case studies, web-based research activities, and more. Session attendance limited to 24.

• Marv Meneeley is a Technology Specialist for Benjamin Cummings.

• Christopher Harendza, Coordinator and Associate Professor of Biology, Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA