2018 Bio-Link Summer Fellows Forum

Soil Microbiome Project at CCC: On Campus Internship, Authentic Service to Community Customer, Recruiting STEM Students Workshop Presenter: Katie Krolikowski In response to analysis of labor needs for the high concentration of R&D firms in the region, the biotechnology program at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, CA has been increasing its focus on making its training attractive to STEM students intending to transfer to 4-year institutions, while continuing to serve certificate- and associates degree populations. Learn how we have contextualized our ’standard’ training curriculum to a research project that surveys the changes in the microbiome in the soil of ... Read more

Presenters: Mary Slowinski and Abbe Kesterson AC2 Regional Bio-Link is building Communities of Practice for bioscience education, and at last year's Summer Fellows Forum the team recognized an increasing community interest in CSOs & incubators. The CoP leadership team decided to focus on CSO network building and the result is cincNet.org, a website built with two overarching recommendations in mind: to form a Bioscience CSO/incubator network and to develop a comprehensive CSO/incubator toolkit. The intentions of the website are: Facilitate a distributed leadership, expertise (classic CoP) Collaboration network grant Development of nodes Contributors are welcome, please visit the website and ... Read more

Presenters : Sandra Porter, PhD, Digital World Biology, Bio-Link National Center, Austin Community College, Shoreline Community College and Todd Smith, PhD, Digital World Biology The wide application of DNA sequencing has made it possible to identify numerous missense mutations. Unfortunately, the act of translating the potential impact of these mutations to practical advice requires either an in-depth understanding of biochemistry and molecular interactions or access to a knowledgebase containing this kind of information. If we can teach students how to predict the effects of mutations, we could have students participate in annotating molecular structures and build that knowledgebase for clinicians, ... Read more

Presenters : Mary Slowinski (AC2 Bio-Link) and Abbe Kesterson (Bluegrass Community and Technical College, AC2 Bio-Link) Getting buy-in on your ideas and proposals from your department and college administrators can be daunting and often the first hurdle to clear when you are ready to embrace a new project or plan. Join us for this interactive session to review the basics of pitching ideas, practice your pitching skills in small groups, and take away insights on how to approach and successfully sell your ideas to your administration. Read more

Presenters : Lisa Seidman, (Bio-Link Leadership Team, Madison College), Jennifer Lazare, (Anderson High School, Austin Community College, AC2 Bio-Link), Bridgette Kirkpatrick (Collin College) Employers, instructors of technical subjects, and mathematics educators who participated in a three-day conference on January 12-15, 2018, focused on how mathematics education might better reflect the concepts and skills that are needed for success in the workplace. Making math instruction relevant can change math from a barrier that keeps students out of STEM to a pathway for success. Read more

Presenters : Linnea Fletcher (AC2 Bio-Link, Austin Community College) and Sheela Vemu (Waubonsee Community College) Biology education research (BER), where biology faculty investigate teaching and learning within their own discipline, is considered a vital tool for transforming undergraduate biology education and enhancing student success. However, even though approximately half of biology majors complete coursework at community colleges (CCs), including disproportionate numbers of under-served students, only 3% of recent BER papers included a CC author or CC study context. This raises concerns that existing BER may have failed to characterize the educational experiences of half of the relevant undergraduate population and ... Read more

Presenter : Candiya Mann, (Advisory Group for the National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education Evaluation Community of Practice) An evaluator can be an incredibly valuable asset to your project team, but how can you make sure that you get the most out of this relationship? This session will give tips and guidance on how to select an evaluator and how to work with them through proposal development and project implementation. Special emphasis will be placed on evaluation of National Science Foundation grants. Read more

Presenter : R. Deborah Overath, (Texas Southmost College) Whether students just need a little review or "brush up" or need to deal with math anxiety, many resources are now available that can help students improve their quantitative skills. The presentation will start with a couple of short activities that can help students have a more positive mindset towards their quantitative skills and lead participants through some of the resources available on the web by having them perform parts of some of the available exercises. Participants will leave with a list of links to resources explored, as well as some activities ... Read more

Presenters : Bridgette Kirkpatrick (Collin College) and Kevin Simpson (Delgado Community College) This workshop will be a hands-on activity, which includes a novel approach to introducing quantitative data analysis in an engaging contextual setting. Using a previously prepared ELISA based format, the class will be able to complete “disease” (or other) diagnostics and analysis in a BSL-1 environment with no specialized chemicals or equipment needed. The activity is designed to introduce students (secondary and college) to basic statistical analysis and the importance of proper curve generation and quality control. Examples of variability in standard curves and out of range control ... Read more

Moderator : Kristen Wolslegel, (Executive Director, Bay Area Bioscience Education Community) There are a wide variety of options for partnering with your local K-12 schools. This session covered 4 innovative new strategies that take articulation agreements and dual enrollment to new levels. These efforts can increase enrollment in community college biotech programs, and will help create strong career pathways for students from an early age. Four models for outreach were presented, however many more are being used throughout the community. 1. Dual enrollment model - early stage Jennifer Lazare, Associate Professor at Austin Community College, Austin TX. High School Outreach ... Read more