From snewell1 at olemiss.edu Mon Jun 2 17:33:56 2025 From: snewell1 at olemiss.edu (Sharday Nicole Ewell) Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2025 17:33:56 +0000 Subject: [FUN_Mail] Recruiting for Active Learning in Undergraduate Neuroscience Courses Project- Please Share Widely! Message-ID: Greetings! My name is Sharday Ewell. I am an Assistant Professor in the department of Biology at The University of Mississippi. My lab is conducting a study to examine how undergraduate neuroscience students perceive and respond to active learning strategies. Using the Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) framework, this project investigates students' motivation, perceived value of activities, and emotional engagement during active learning sessions. Given that active learning has been demonstrated to enhance understanding and retention in other STEM contexts, this study will provide a better understanding how students experience these strategies in neuroscience courses where students often grapple with complex and abstract topics. This is a valuable opportunity to contribute to improving undergraduate neuroscience education through a deeper understanding of what drives student engagement and success. I am writing because you are a neuroscience instructor. I am recruiting instructors who teach undergraduate neuroscience courses that incorporate at least one active learning session and would be willing to allow my research group to survey students in their courses starting Fall 2025. The minimum age to participate is 18 years of age and the survey will take approximately 20 minutes for students to complete. To ensure a viable response rate and to decrease response bias, I am also asking instructors to give a small amount of extra credit to students for completing the survey and/or provide an alternative extra credit assignment for students who do not wish to complete the survey. To facilitate this process, the instructor can send me their roster list and I can mark who completed the survey and send that list back to instructors. If instructors agree to allow my research group to survey their students, they will need to: 1. Respond to this email to confirm participation and provide the following course details: * Class enrollment * Course description * Number of exams * Exam format * Lecture style * Topic covered for active learning activity * Active learning technique(s) used 2) Forward the following message via email or learning management system to their students that contains the link to the survey once it becomes available: ?You have just participated in an active learning activity, well done! You now have the opportunity to earn a small amount of extra credit! To earn this extra credit, click on the following link and complete the survey. If you want extra credit but do not want to complete the survey, please contact me for an alternative assignment.? 3) Award extra credit for students who complete the survey and provide an alternative extra credit assignment for students who opt out. The alternative assignment is as follows: Read a short article or watch a short video about active learning in science education, then write a brief reflection (200?300 words) addressing the following: 1. What is active learning, and how does it differ from traditional lecture-based teaching? Based on your own experience, do you think active learning strategies help you learn more effectively? Why or why not? You can choose one of the following resources to base your reflection on: * Article: ?Active Learning Increases Student Performance in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics? (Freeman et al., PNAS, 2014) ? https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1319030111 * Video: ?What is Active Learning?? YouTube: https://youtu.be/3k1pg1YJ7Yo?si=fYRI80Nk_nmOKk8Q 4) Complete a brief instructor survey that asks the following questions: (https://uofmississippi.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5bdDN9uI2Ba4XWK) * How do you incorporate active learning strategies into your neuroscience course? * What is your general approach to fostering student engagement (e.g., group discussions, case studies, etc.) * What are your expectations for student participation during active learning activities? * How many years of experience do you have teaching neuroscience? * Do you have any training in active learning? You will be contacted again with this request one more time during the next two weeks. If you would prefer not to be contacted again, please respond with OPT OUT. If you have any questions about the study, please contact me. This study has been reviewed and determined to be Exempt by The University of Mississippi?s Institutional Review Board (IRB). If you have any questions, concerns, or reports regarding your rights as a participant of research, please contact the IRB at (662) 915-5046 or irb at olemiss.edu. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you soon! Sharday N. Ewell, M.Ed, Ph.D (she/hers) Assistant Professor of Biology Department of Biology The University of Mississippi Address: 414 Shoemaker Hall, University, MS 38677 Email: snewell1 at olemiss.edu Website: http://drshardayewell.weebly.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From seeaton2 at asu.edu Wed Jun 18 19:50:07 2025 From: seeaton2 at asu.edu (Shannon Eaton) Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2025 12:50:07 -0700 Subject: [FUN_Mail] FUN Final Friday June 27th- Demystifying the IRB process Message-ID: Hello FUN Humans! I hope all of you had or are having a great summer! We will be having our second installment on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning next Friday. If you are interested in the IRB process- there is more information and you can sign up at the link below. *Friday, June 27th, 4 pm (ET)* We will discuss the *process of obtaining ethical approval* (through your institutional review board or IRB) for the data that you collect for the Scholarship for Teaching and Learning study. Though some neuroscientists use IRB processes for their research, many of us are new to working with human research participants and this session will demystify ethical approval through discussion with experienced colleagues. Register here for June 27: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-zo5yJreSAWmKdWFd1Auxg Looking forward to seeing you all! Happy summer! Your FFF team, Shannon Eaton, Amy Jo Stavnezer, Coleman Sapp and Ashley Nemes-Baran ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ?*We can unknowingly strive to be a racist. We can knowingly strive to be an anti-racist. Like fighting an addiction, being an anti-racist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination*? (Kendi, 2019) Shannon E. Eaton, Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor Pronouns: she, her, hers SCOB 371 Black Lives Matter, Love is Love, No Person is Illegal ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dickinss at stolaf.edu Mon Jun 30 17:54:21 2025 From: dickinss at stolaf.edu (Shelly Dickinson) Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:54:21 -0500 Subject: [FUN_Mail] chemistry sequence? Message-ID: Hi FUN friends, Our Chemistry department is reconsidering the structure of their introductory chem courses and Neuro is being invited to weigh in. Currently, Biochemistry is not available to students until they have a year of general chem AND a year of organic chem. I've heard a legend that somewhere out there is a chemistry course for neuro-oriented students that combines some organic and biochem in a one semester course. Is this a myth? Does anyone out there have a great solution for chemistry requirements for Neuroscience students? Would love to hear about successes as well as flops! Thank you! Shelly -- *Shelly Dickinson, Ph.D.* Associate Professor | Psychology Department & Neuroscience Program [image: St. Olaf College] *Office: *507-786-3147 <(507)%20786-2222> 1520 St. Olaf Avenue Northfield, MN 55057 stolaf.edu Make an appointment with me here . "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." Maya Angelou -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: