2023 Conference Theme
This conference proposes to take stock of the dramatic developments from the past two years to ask:
Variants in Biology Education: What can we learn from pandemics?
Variants in Biology Education: What can we learn from pandemics?
Over the last two years, teaching and learning has grappled with the demands of change in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic within a highly politicized landscape for which science is on the defense and misinformation is rampant. Never before have so many questions arisen about the implications for mainstream organismal biology education, and never before has the speed and scale of innovation been put into practice. The “pandemic” symbolizes change, resistance, immunity, adaptation, and opportunity at so many different levels – literally, in our personal lives, in education, and in mass culture. It compels us to consider the workforce needs of the future where pandemics are now ubiquitous among all living organisms: people, plants, and animals (domestic and wild).
- How have pandemics influenced education and has teaching and learning evolved and/or adapted to meet this challenge?
- How do we prepare our students for a fast-evolving scientific phenomenon and perhaps an even faster “viral” spread of divergent sources of information that resist the scientific base for evolution and science in general?
- Where are the jobs and careers in our field headed over the next 5-10 years, considering reliance on government sources of funding? How are educators preparing our students in an evolving job market?
What participants say about the 2021 conference
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Conference Vibe
“This was a great location. Great tone of acceptance, excitement, humility and innovation.”
— Higher Education Faculty -
Working Collaboratively
“ I especially enjoyed that there was plenty of time to meet with others and chat about potential collaborations.”
— K-12 Teacher -
Teaching Network
“What I enjoyed the most is that this event included teachers from high schools, community colleges, and all the way up to tier 1 research universities”
— Higher Education Faculty -
Feedback on Ideas
“I would love to see more on assessments in ecology and how we measure the benefits of the interventions used to break down barriers in ecology. ”
— Higher Education Faculty
2021 Life Discovery Conference
Submit your teaching idea to the LifeDiscoveryEd Digital Library!