Winter/Spring 2021 Events
Please see below for our schedule of events this winter and spring. These events include talks organized by SEISMIC and SEISMIC institutions, as well as events SEISMIC is co-sponsoring, and are open to anyone interested to attend. For more information, please contact our Speaker Events Bureau at seismic.speakers.bureau@umich.edu
Thursday
Jan. 21
12 pm EST
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“Interrogating the center of STEM education”
Speaker: Cynthia Bauerle, PhD
Decades of effort designed to increase diverse participation and build a representative STEM enterprise through expanded educational access have not resulted in gains sufficient to keep pace with rapidly changing US demographics. Scholars in gender studies and critical race theory are helping to refocus national STEM discourse on how scientific culture and practices have functioned to exclude participation on the basis of gender, race and ethnicity. Yet in undergraduate science classrooms and laboratories, students of color, women and other minoritized students in STEM continue to report marginalizing treatment and disproportionately switch out of their intended field of study. To make progress toward equity, we must engage in the critical work of interrogating standards and practices informing the educational context within which we teach and students learn science. An equity lens can identify exclusionary practices to be eliminated and center inclusive excellence that supports the success and persistence of all students.
Monday
Feb. 1
12 pm EST
Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh
“Challenges for students with disabilities”
Speaker: Sara Brownell, Arizona State University
Students with disabilities are one of the most underrepresented groups in STEM. Although universities are legally required to provide accommodations for students with disabilities, changing college learning environments present challenges for students with disabilities to receive the accommodations that they need. This talk highlights work that we have done exploring the experiences of students with disabilities in active learning courses, in online courses after the rapid transition online due to COVID-19, and the experiences of students with disabilities in undergraduate research experiences. This work illuminates current challenges for students with disabilities and ways that universities can better support students with disabilities.
Thursday
Feb. 4
12 pm EST
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“Addressing students’ basic needs with a culture of caring during the pandemic”
Speaker: Sara Goldrick-Rab, PhD
Financial stability is critical to success in college. In this talk, Dr. Goldrick-Rab discusses the new economics of college and how they create conditions of poverty and additional challenges during the pandemic. Based on her extensive research, she documents the consequences for what she calls “#RealCollege” students and colleges and describes approaches for addressing these challenges with a culture of caring. This includes a multi-level approach to shifting both practice and policy, and that begins by recognizing that students are humans first.
Monday
Feb. 15
12 pm EST
Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh
“Transitioning to a Student-Center Communication Model”
Speakers: Rebecca Lindell, Tiliadal Solutions for STEM Higher Education (top) and Rebecca Rosenblatt, AAAS-Science Technology Policy Fellow (bottom)
We as faculty are experts in science and some of us are even experts at science communication. However, we are not always expert at the interpersonal communication skills necessary to communicate effectively with our students. Traditionally, faculty utilize a variation of a faculty-centered communication model, where students must come to them and must learn how to communicate with them. Couple this with the belief that a professor’s time is more valuable than a student’s and this presents a huge stumbling block for many students who would rather drop or withdraw from the class than seek out the help they desperately want and need. An alternative communication model is a student-centered communication model, which focuses on faculty reaching out to students and using communication to help us communicate with our students to both not only learn the course content and but also thrive in the college environment. This model of communication requires faculty to become cognizant of the students’ needs and difficulties both with the content and in their personal lives. In this talk, we will discuss ways for centering the student in your communication strategies as well as what we believe we should be communicating to the students beyond basic course information to help them succeed.
Sign-up form: http://dbserc.pitt.edu/
Tuesday
Feb. 16
4-5:30 pm EST
Hosted by Indiana University
“Writing-based Strategies for Learning: How Writing Can Change the Way Students Learn Science”
Speaker: Ginger Shultz, University of Michigan
In this session, Shultz tells the story of an effort to increase the use of writing to learn at the University of Michigan and other U.S Institutions. As part of this effort, they conducted a national survey aimed at understanding our audience, science instructors, and what motivates their classroom decisions so that they could better support faculty in the use of writing.
Zoom Details: https://events.iu.edu/seismic/event/167027
Thursday
Feb. 18
12 pm EST
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“Structural racism, institutional transformation & diversifying the STEM faculty”
Speaker: Kimberly Griffin, PhD
The small number of Black, Latinx/a/o, and Native American faculty in STEM has been increasingly identified as cause for concern, and multiple interventions have been proposed and implemented to increase representation. Decades of research suggest that interventions must go beyond focusing on “fixing” minoritized scientists, instead turning our attention to how campuses and STEM disciplines perpetuate racism and inequality. This interactive session will engage the audience in critical conversations about research on the structural barriers minoritized scientists face on their pathway to the professoriate, promising interventions and strategies, and how we can support change efforts.
Thursday
Feb. 18
4 pm EST
Hosted by University of California Irvine
“Studies on student learning in an organic chemistry curriculum designed to deepen understanding of reactivity and chemistry principles”
Speaker: Alison Flynn, University of Ottawa
Presentation Details: The Education Research Initiative team is thrilled to introduce our next speaker in the ERI seminar series, Alison Flynn, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Her work includes developing online learning tools as Open Education Resources to support student learning, including OrgChem101 and a Growth & Goals Module. Her research group examines student learning in organic chemistry and the impacts of the Growth & Goals module. In all her work, she is committed to helping students succeed in their chosen careers and goals.
Zoom Link: https://uci.zoom.us/j/91778126067?pwd=RldRd0YycW5KdzV1QjM4THR4bnhvdz09 (Meeting ID: 917 7812 6067; passcode: 910214)
Thursday
Feb. 25
12 pm EST
Hosted by the University of Michigan
“Factors that predict student persistence in research: From lab environment to mental health”
Speaker: Katelyn Cooper, Arizona State University
Undergraduate research is one of the most lucrative activities that undergraduates can participate in, but is it always a positive experience for students? In this talk, we will examine what factors cause students to
Thursday
Mar. 4
12 pm EST
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“The influence of kindness and community in broadening participation”
Speaker: Mica Estrada, PhD
African Americans, Latinas/Latinos, and Native Americans are people historically excluded because of their ethnicity and race (PEER) in academia and underrepresented among Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) degree earners and career pathways. Why do we stay and why do we go? Viewed from a perspective of social influence, the pattern suggests that PEER students do not become part of STEM communities at the same rate as non-PEER students. Building on Kelman’s (1958, 2006) tripartite integration model of social influence (TIMSI), Dr. Estrada will talk about how this model has been used to understand how PEER students orient to their discipline communities and how this relates to persistence in those career pathways years after completing their college degree. By longitudinally tracking and examining psychosocial variables, we are better able to see what types of STEM training programs and mentorship are more likely to result in students persisting in STEM career pathways. Further, she will talk about how institutional policies and climate that provide kindness cues that affirm social inclusion may impact the integration experience for HU college students, faculty and administrators.
Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/84227261538
Thursday
Mar. 11
3 pm EST
Hosted by SEISMIC
“Why teaching the weed-out way is dysfunctional for STEM education. What is needed to remedy this?“
Speaker: Representatives from E&ER and Gardner Institute
Research conducted for the (2019) Talking about Leaving Revisited study identified characteristics that distinguish weed-out courses, including ‘hardness’ that is constructed rather that intrinsic, as well as distinctive patterns of grades and courses with high rates of DFWIs. Researchers from the TALR study team and from the Gardner Institute discuss these findings and which groups of students are at risk of switching, relocating, or of dropping out of college altogether after taking a STEM weed-out course: the loss of women, majors from other disciplines, and the intersection of race/ethnicity/class in the loss of under-prepared entrants. The patterned dysfunctional outcomes of the STEM weed-out system point to the urgent need for understanding the faculty belief systems that underpin and perpetuate them.
Before attending: Please read the foreword by Dr. Shirley Malcom to the 2019 book Talking About Leaving Revisited
Zoom Link: https://umich.zoom.us/j/99032920268
Thursday
Mar. 11
4 pm EST
Hosted by University of California Irvine
“A Case for Policy & Practice Relevant Research of Graduate Education“
Speaker: Hironao Okahana, PhD
Presentation Details: The Education Research Initiative team is thrilled to introduce our next speaker in the ERI seminar series, Dr. Hironao Okahana, currently working for the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) as Associate Vice President, Research and Policy Analysis. Dr. Okahana studies master’s and doctoral education with particular emphasis on enrollment trends, diversity and inclusiveness, as well as, career pathways and labor market outcomes.
Thursday
Mar. 18
12 pm EDT
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“Systemic disadvantages for LGBTQ professionals in STEM?”
Speaker: Erin Cech, PhD
Researchers have documented race and gender bias in STEM for decades, but there has been little parallel examination of LGBTQ status as an axis of inequality. How do LGBTQ-identifying STEM professionals fare in STEM? Drawing on the NSF-funded STEM Inclusion Study data of over 25,000 STEM workers, Dr. Cech will discuss her recent study of LGBTQ inequality among STEM professionals. Her research is the first to document persistent and systemic disadvantages for LGBTQ STEM professionals, compared to their non-LGBTQ peers, and she documents these disadvantages along numerous dimensions: day-to-day workplace experiences, career limitations, professional devaluation, marginalization and harassment, turnover intentions, and health and wellness issues. This research reveals LGBTQ status as a clear axis of inequality in STEM and underscores the need for organizational and cultural shifts to address these patterns.
Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/85960514095
Monday
Mar. 29
12 pm EDT
Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh
TBA
Speakers: Marco Molinaro (top) & Kem Saichaie (bottom), University of California Davis
Presentation Content: Data from introductory courses, the Know Your Students approach, and approaches to supporting pedagogical innovation and experimentation.
Zoom Link: TBA
Thursday
Apr. 1
12 pm EDT
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“Using a social justice lens to explore perceptions of inclusion and disability in higher education”
Speaker: Anjali Forber-Pratt, PhD
The purpose of this discussion is to share insights about disability culture and disability identity and highlight lived academic ableism experiences and potential solutions related to aspects of physical access, the job market, teaching, and conferences pertinent to the academy.
Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/83511417657
Thursday
Apr. 15
12 pm EDT
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“Land of milk and ‘honey’: Confronting gendered experiences in field research”
Speaker: Katie Hinde, PhD
Leveraging insights gained from the Survey of Field Experiences (SAFE) in 2014 and the follow-up interviews reported in SAFE2 (2017), Dr. Hinde will discuss experiences and contexts of gender and sexual harassment within research teams during fieldwork. Further, Dr. Hinde will explore different approaches, cognizant of positionality, to confront and sustainably reshape professional cultures.
Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/89677849040
Thursday
Apr. 29
12 pm EDT
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“Nature-culture relations and engaging multiple ways of knowing”
Speaker: Megan Bang, PhD
In this talk, Dr. Bang will present research that examines how cross-cultural variation in core cognitive models and relational construals of humans with the natural world impact reasoning and sense-making. For example, these models impact how people frame questions or make observation or even what people think is important to study. Further, she will explore how cultural ways of knowing and experience shape these processes. Dr. Bang will extend these experimental studies to the design of learning environments and explore key pedagogical practices that support improved science learning. Her work has implications for the study of biological phenomena, even for expert scientists.
Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/89818832388
Thursday
May 13
12 pm EDT
Hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) & co-sponsored by SEISMIC, Arizona State University’s Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, and the Community College Bio INSITES
“Beyond information: Walking the path of truth, reconciliation, and liberation to make academic biology more inclusive”
Speaker: Mays Imad, PhD
Desmond Tutu reminds us that our “humanity is caught up and is inextricably bound up in others.” In this seminar, we will build on the previous seminars in this series to examine the work of social justice using the lens of our interconnectedness and interdependence. Together, we will consider why we must strive to move beyond ally-ship and statements of solidarity toward truth, reconciliation, and liberation. Specifically, how can we take what we have learned in this seminar series and move towards action.
Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/81853972131