Chapman Undergraduates Shine at SABER West 2026
Ten undergraduate students from Chapman University, including six dedicated majors and minors from Schmid College of Science and Technology, recently had the remarkable opportunity to present their re...
Last month, 17 members of the Chapman Biology Education Research lab attended the @sabercommunity.bsky.social SABER West conference. Check out the university coverage of our undergraduate students presenting their work at SABER West - I'm so proud of my mentees! blogs.chapman.edu/scst/2026/02...
15.02.2026 04:55 β
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Group photo for quantitative reasoning conference
That's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who came to Chapman for our interdisciplinary conference on advancing research on quantitative reasoning in STEM education! We had nearly 100 attendees from 46 institutions and 26 states, and an engaging and intellectually stimulating two days of conversations!
17.01.2026 16:22 β
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List of presentations for Chapman Biology Education Research Group at Society for Advancement of Biology Education Research West 2026
Next, our lab is attending the @sabercommunity.bsky.social SABER West conference. Our group is giving 3 oral talks and 6 posters. Check out the lineup below, which includes many undergraduate students presenting their research! 2/2
11.01.2026 21:08 β
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Conference logo reading "Conference on advancing research on quantitative reasoning in STEM education"
What an exciting week for the Chapman Biology Education Research Group! First, we're hosting a conference on advancing research on quantitative reasoning in STEM education. We have 5 keynotes, 30 talks, and 10 posters, with nearly 100 attendees from 46 institutions across 26 states! 1/2
11.01.2026 21:08 β
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Conference on Advancing Research on Quantitative Reasoning in STEM Education | January 15-16, 2026 at Chapman University
A reminder about the upcoming abstract deadline (extended to 11/1) for our conference on advancing research on quantitative reasoning (QR) in STEM education in January! We welcome research as well as innovations in teaching & assessing QR. Works in progress welcome! sites.chapman.edu/qrstemeducat...
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We are so glad to see this collaboration for our O.A. journal!
Thanks for partnering with us @sabercommunity.bsky.social (& @hsubox.bsky.social for being AE on this grouping)
& go here to find out more:
academic.oup.com/iob/pages/tr...
09.09.2025 11:49 β
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Transforming the Teaching of Integrative and Organismal Biology
Integrative and Organismal Biology, the open access online journal of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), is excited to announce a speci
Call for Papers: Teaching Integrative & Organismal Biology! Integrative and Organismal Biology is excited to announce a collaboration b/w @sicbjournals.bsky.social & @sabercommunity.bsky.social. Manuscripts submitted by 2/28 will form core of collection. More info: academic.oup.com/iob/pages/tr...
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2οΈβ£Invite students early and often! Students reported how frequent reminders made them feel more comfortable and likely to attend.
3οΈβ£Lower fear of negative evaluation by encouraging all questions, telling students to come listen to others' questions, and inviting students to attend with friends.
6/7
05.08.2025 22:19 β
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π£ This is the first longitudinal study of how new college students perceive STEM course office hours.
π‘ Our work leads to a few recommendations for instructors:
1οΈβ£Clearly explain what office hours are for. For instance, does your syllabus describe what office hours are and their benefits?
5/7
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π A key finding: familiarity with office hours grows over time, and students who attend office hours overwhelmingly report that the experience is helpfulβand that it boosts their self-efficacy (though for more reasons than you might think!).
4/7
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β Misconceptions about office hours:
1οΈβ£Like an independent study hall
2οΈβ£Just for struggling students
3οΈβ£Only useful if students have specific questions ready in advance
We use expectancy-value theory to track how their perceptions and motivations to attend shift across time.
3/7
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Most first-year students report entering college already familiar with the idea of office hours. But... what they think office hours are for can vary quite a bit. Some expectations are spot-on. Others? Not so much. For instance, we find that many students hold the following misconceptions: 2/7
05.08.2025 22:19 β
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Call for Posters
Abstract submission for joint NABT @nabtbio.bsky.social & @sabercommunity.bsky.social SABER Midwest Biology Education Poster Session (in St. Louis, 11/1) extended to 8/15! Any work on bio teaching & learning welcome; includes student competitions for bio ed research & more! nabt.org/Call-for-Pos...
30.07.2025 02:35 β
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Congrats, Carrie!!!
20.07.2025 21:06 β
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Flier for QR conference
We are hosting an interdisciplinary conference on advancing research on quantitative reasoning in STEM ed at Chapman in January! Registration & abstract submission now open! Conference is adjacent to @sabercommunity.bsky.social SABER West. More info: sites.chapman.edu/qrstemeducat... See you there!
20.07.2025 04:58 β
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Congrats on the paper - excited to read soon!
03.07.2025 03:20 β
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Congrats, @alisonfeder.bsky.social !!!
19.06.2025 14:03 β
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Last weekβs SABER East brought together a vibrant community for three days of learning and collaboration.
π
3 days
π₯ 120 attendees
π 9 workshops
π¦ 4 Shark Tank presenters
π¬ 30 short talks
π€ 2 keynotes
π Huge congrats to the SABER East planning committee on a fantastic conference!
04.06.2025 15:06 β
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Examining the influence of Vision and Change and a mentoring network on teaching philosophies and strategies | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education
About 15 years ago, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science sponsored a large-scale rethinking of undergraduate biology education, resulting in the 2011 report Vision and Change: A Call to Action (V&C) (1). V&C outlines a set of core concepts and core competencies for biology undergraduates and promotes evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs) and undergraduate research (see box 1 in reference 2). The report sparked systematic efforts to increase the use of evidence-based practices and transform undergraduate biology education, including the open-access journal of peer-reviewed teaching resources for undergraduate biology, CourseSource (3β7). In addition, multiple tools for course design aligned with V&C have been published, including the BioCore Guide and the BioSkills Guide (8, 9). Similarly, there have been several implementation frameworks and assessment instruments published that align with V&C (10β13).
In paper 2οΈβ£ @dinanewman.bsky.social, several fantastic Bsky-less colleagues, and I examine the influence of Vision & Change and the Promoting Active Learning and Mentoring (PALM) Network on participants' teaching philosophies and strategies. Check out our JMBE ms! 5/5 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
02.06.2025 16:59 β
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Table 3 from Dauber and Hsu 2025 https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.24-08-0214
We come up with multiple implications for instructors based on our work - check it out below or in table 3 of our paper! 4/5
02.06.2025 16:59 β
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We also identify that how peers & instructors communicate about OH (both in class and in the syllabus) influences students' perceptions of OH. We also apply the theory of racialized opportunity cost, finding that student and instructor identities can shape students' experiences. 3/5
02.06.2025 16:59 β
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Putative model of the factors that shape students' decision to attend STEM course office hours based on expectancy value theory. The model shows how students' expectancies of achieving success, perceived value, and perceived costs of attending STEM course office hours likely influence their decision on whether to attend STEM course office hours. Dashed lines indicate putative factors that may influence students' expectancies and perceived value and cost of attending office hours. Diagram adapted from Cooper et al. (2017) and based on Wigfield and Eccles (2000).
experiences in OH. We apply expectancy value theory, finding that multiple factors shape students' expectancies, values, and costs for attending OH. For instance, many students highlight how their high schools offered OH, shaping their perception of college OH (often incorrectly). 2/5
02.06.2025 16:59 β
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Photo showing opening of conference
The SABER East planning team
Thank you to everyone at @sabercommunity.bsky.social SABER East 2025 for a fantastic conference and some great conversations and ideas! A huge shout out to @dinanewman.bsky.social and the rest of the SABER East planning team for all of your hard work!
31.05.2025 14:51 β
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Coverage from New York Times on the devastating cuts to STEM education research around the country. Our country needs to continue investing in STEM education to support our students and our STEM and healthcare infrastructure.
23.05.2025 18:01 β
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Office Hours: An Old Tool for New Challenges (opinion)
Rethinking office hours and how we talk about them can unlock new opportunities for improving student learning, Jeremy Hsu writes.
New piece out in @insidehighered.com, examining office hours and providing suggestions for improving OH! I draw upon research our group and collaborators have done in investigating student and faculty experiences in OH. Check it out and please share! www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
13.05.2025 15:25 β
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