There is an international movement to transform STEM courses using evidence-based teaching practices. As ecologists we teach students how organisms interact with their environment, a topic full of opportunities for student engagement and interaction with course material. By teaching innovative inclusive courses that develop students into critical thinkers capable of many different scientific practices, we are preparing a diverse student body for a multitude of different careers.

The Early Career Ecologists Section will run a workshop to help ecologists create a scaffold for developing more effective courses. This workshop will focus on Backward Design and Inclusive pedagogy, which includes brainstorming learning objectives, designing assessments, and building course materials that reflect the goals of a course. All aspects of the workshop are informed by evidence-based teaching practices and participants will be exposed to a variety of teaching tools, strategies, and resources.

Participants will leave the workshop with a comprehensive course design informed by Discipline-Based Education Research. The workshop will be most effective if participants bring a course syllabus to the workshop for constructive feedback and redevelopment. Topics are not limited to ecology courses, but can be anything related to biology or environmental science. Building a course from scratch is also possible, so come ready to share your ideas!

The workshop is BYO Lunch and BYO Syllabus.