Life Science Professional Societies Expand Undergraduate Education Efforts

Abstract

Support provided by scientific societies for undergraduate education and changes during the Vision and Change era were explored and documented. Society representatives described programs, awards, meetings, membership, teaching resources, publications, staffing, finances, evaluation, and collaborations that address undergraduate faculty and students.

Fear of the CURE: A Beginner’s Guide to Overcoming Barriers in Creating a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience

“…There are now numerous papers outlining CURE courses being taught on a wide variety of topics (16)(17)(18) and websites containing project ideas for CURE courses (see Appendix 1). Additionally, several professional scientific societies, including the American Society for Microbiology and the Genetics Society of America, have embraced CUREs and offer workshops and resources to assist in course development (19). Networking within these workshops can be a valuable resource for mentorship as you embark on CURE development.…”

Undergraduate neuroscience education: Meeting the challenges of the 21st century

“…The evolution of these curricula often echoed the recommendations made by concurrent efforts at the American Association for the Advancement of Science [ 9 ], the National Research Council [ [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] ], and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute [ 14 ]. Notably, curricular recommendations for undergraduate education from life science professional societies are relatively unusual and would be a welcome addition to support educational initiatives in undergraduate science education more broadly [ 15 ]. Ultimately, this investment in the neuroscience curriculum led to the establishment of the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education , FUN’s flagship journal that Barbara Lom as Editor-in-Chief and I as Senior Editor founded in 2002, to create a forum for sharing curricular ideas as well as innovations in neuroscience education whether in the classroom, the laboratory, or other venues [ 16 ].…”

Why scientific societies should involve more early-career researchers

“…Scientific societies provide scientists at all career stages with the opportunity to network, to contribute to scientific meetings and conferences, and to participate in professional development activities ( Matyas et al, 2017 ; Ansmann et al, 2014 ; Kaplan, 2013 ). These organizations are particularly well-positioned to include early-career researchers (ECRs) in leadership positions for the following reasons:…”