Though nearly half of all undergraduates are enrolled at community colleges (CCs), only 3% of papers from a sample of biology education research (BER) journals related to CC contexts. This paper reports the results of a meeting convened to identify affordances and constraints associated with CC BER and describes support strategies for advancing CC BER going forward.

Abstract-A toxic unit (TU) approach was used to test the response addition model for mixtures of pesticides with differing modes of action. Atrazine was tested in binary and ternary combinations with the organochlorine insecticide methoxychlor and organophosphate insecticide methyl-parathion. Atrazine was also tested in binary combinations with additional organophosphates. The TU for atrazine was set slightly below its water solubility limits (TU ϭ 20 ppm), which is well below its 96-h 50% effective concentration for the fourth instar of the midge, Chironomus tentans. In 96-h acute toxicity tests using C. tentans, atrazine was found to produce synergistic (greater than additive) toxicity in a binary mixture with methyl-parathion. Less than additive toxicity was found for the combination of atrazine with methoxychlor (likely due to the low TU assigned to atrazine). The ternary combination of atrazine ϩ methyl-parathion ϩ methoxychlor was found to be marginally synergistic. Results of toxicity tests with atrazine in binary combinations with other organophosphates indicate more than additive toxicity for all compounds except mevinophos. Possible hypotheses are presented in an attempt to explain the noted synergistic relationship between atrazine and various organophosphorous insecticides. These results suggest that the response addition model does not always accurately predict mixture toxicity for chemicals with differing modes of action.

This paper describes the development and validation of the PULSE Vision & Change Rubrics, version 1.0, a reliable tool for measuring departmental change. It was found that liberal arts institutions are farther along in implementing the recommendations of Vision and Change and that institutions overall earned the highest scores on the Curriculum rubric and the lowest scores on the Assessment rubric.

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A suite of resources aligned with the core concepts of Vision and Change are presented to help instructors teach and assess student understanding of the core concepts.

To test the hypothesis that adding course structure may encourage self-regulated learning skills resulting in an increase in student exam performance in the community college setting, we added daily preclass online, open-book reading quizzes to an introductory biology course. We compared three control terms without reading quizzes and three experimental terms with online, open-book reading quizzes; the instructor of record, class size, and instructional time did not vary. Analyzing the Bloom’s taxonomy level of a random sample of exam questions indicated a similar cognitive level of high-stakes assessments across all six terms in the study. To control for possible changes in student preparation or ability over time, we calculated each student’s grade point average in courses other than biology during the term under study and included it as a predictor variable in our regression models. Our final model showed that students in the experimental terms had significantly higher exam scores than students in the control terms. This result shows that online reading quizzes can boost achievement in community college students. We also comment on the importance of discipline-based education research in community college settings and the structure of our community college/4-year institution collaboration.

The pilot certification process is an ambitious, nationwide endeavor designed to motivate important changes in life sciences education that are in line with the recommendations of the 2011 Vision and Change Report: A Call to Action (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2011). It is the goal of the certification process to acknowledge departments that have progressed towards full implementation of the tenets of Vision and Change and to motivate departments that have not begun to adopt the recommendations to consider doing so. More than 70 life science departments applied to be part of the pilot certification process, funded by a National Science Foundation grant, and eight were selected based on initial evidence of transformed and innovative educational practices. The programs chosen represent a wide variety of schools, including two-year colleges, liberal-arts institutions, regional comprehensive colleges, research universities and minority serving institutions. Outcomes from this pilot were released June 1, 2015 (www.pulsecommunity.org), with all eight programs being recognized as having progressed along a continuum of change. Five levels of achievement were defined as PULSE Pilot Progression Levels. Of the eight departments in the pilot, one achieved “PULSE Progression Level III: Accomplished”. Six departments achieved “PULSE Progression Level II: Developing” and one pilot department achieved “PULSE Progression Level I: Beginning”. All of the schools have made significant movement towards the recommendations of Vision and Change relative to a traditional life sciences curriculum. Overall, the response from the eight pilot schools has been positive.

Community colleges are significant in the landscape of undergraduate STEM (science technology, engineering, and mathematics) education (9), including biology, premedical, and other preprofessional education. Thirty percent of first-year medical school students in 2012 attended a community college. Students attend at different times in high school, their first 2 yr of college, and postbaccalaureate. The community college pathway is particularly important for traditionally underrepresented groups. Premedical students who first attend community college are more likely to practice in underserved communities (2). For many students, community colleges have significant advantages over 4-yr institutions. Pragmatically, they are local, affordable, and flexible, which accommodates students' work and family commitments. Academically, community colleges offer teaching faculty, smaller class sizes, and accessible learning support systems. Community colleges are fertile ground for universities and medical schools to recruit diverse students and support faculty. Community college students and faculty face several challenges (6, 8). There are limited interactions between 2- and 4-yr institutions, and the ease of transfer processes varies. In addition, faculty who study and work to improve the physiology education experience often encounter obstacles. Here, we describe barriers and detail existing resources and opportunities useful in navigating challenges. We invite physiology educators from 2- and 4-yr institutions to engage in sharing resources and facilitating physiology education improvement across institutions. Given the need for STEM majors and health care professionals, 4-yr colleges and universities will continue to benefit from students who take introductory biology, physiology, and anatomy and physiology courses at community colleges.