Part of the research we conduct focuses on instructional practices and student perception of instructional practices in introductory biology courses at UT. We use our research findings to inform practices here at UT, hopefully those across the nation as well. Recent lab projects include:
- Examining student perceptions of anxiety and its impacts on student persistence in the major (see recent publication in CBE LSE)
- Assessing student perceptions of instructor supportiveness (in review)
Lab members Maryrose Weatherton and Hope Ferguson are both interested in aspects of the biology graduate student experience. Maryrose is investigating how graduate students define success within their programs, and how those definitions interact with the resources graduate students find and use. Hope is interested in imposter phenomenon and how graduate students attribute their failures as graduate students.
Beth has a long-standing interest in research on teaching professional development (TPD) for biology graduate students. This research has been boosted by an NSF Research Coordination Network Undergraduate Biology Education grant to form a national network of individuals who want to improve TPD for GTAs (Biology Teaching Assistant Project; BioTAP).