Biology Learning Research
The Biology Education Research Group (BERG) includes those biology educators who are conducting biology education research beyond the teaching and testing strategies used in their own courses. Although all members of our department work to improve their own delivery of biology education, this dinner table provides an opportunity for investigators to meet others engaged in education research specifically focused on biology beyond their own courses, to contribute to the conversation about future directions in biology education, to share their research, and to help define the needs of a growing community of biology education investigators. Many BERG faculty collaborate with faculty from other departments in the Purdue International Biology Education Research Group (PIBERG).
Edward Bartlett
The Central Auditory Processing Lab is interested in how neurons in the
inferior colliculus, auditory thalamus, and auditory cortex represent
features of sound in normal and impaired conditions such as those found in
aging, dyslexia or autism, using primarily neurophysiological techniques. Ed
is the director of the NSF Purdue Scholarship Program in Quantitative
Physiology, and for the HHMI-funded project, "Deviating from the Standard:
Integrating Statistical Analysis and Experimental Design into Life
Science Education," he directs initiatives for creating "plug and play"
modules to interweave quantitative and statistical analysis into bioscience
courses.
Kari Clase (Technology)
Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of biotechnology, proteomics and bioinformatics. She has developed and taught undergraduate-level courses in these areas.
Purdue International Biology Education Research Group
(PIBERG) member.
Rupa De
Continuing Lecturer
David Eichinger
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
(Science education) Professional preparation and development of both elementary and secondary teachers; collaborative problem solving and its role in the teaching and learning of science; the nature of science in science education and its importance for both teachers and students.
James Forney (Biochem)
Eukaryotic cell differentiation is generally considered to be a property of metazoa (multicellular organisms), yet dramatic examples of regulated cellular changes also occur in protozoa. Our laboratory is investigating two such examples; one is the formation of the macronucleus during sexual reproduction in ciliated protozoa and the other is the morphological differentiation of Leishmania parasites as they move from insect vector to human hosts.
Stephanie Gardner
I teach undergraduate lecture and laboratory courses in Physiology and
Neurobiology in the Department of Biological Sciences. I have recently begun
implementing the CASPiE (Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education)
model in introductory biology lab courses which engages students in authentic
research as freshmen as part of an NSF-funded project.
Purdue International Biology Education Research Group
(PIBERG) member.
Sue Karcher
(Plant molecular biology) Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Plant-phytopathogen interactions. Methods of teaching of molecular biology laboratories.
Dennis Minchella
Professor of Biological Sciences
Transformation of the life science curriculum from introducing authentic research experiences in introductory labs to the integration of statistics and experimental design into early life science courses
Nancy Pelaez
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Vascular smooth muscle physiology and signal transduction, physiology and evolution, biology education, physiology education.
Purdue International Biology Education Research Group
(PIBERG) member.
Jenna Rickus (BME)
The Rickus research group is part of the Physiological Sensing Facility (PSF) located in the Bindley Bioscience Center and the Birck Nanotechnology Center. The mission of the PSF to develop new materials, devices, and technologies for measuring dynamic physiological/biochemical processes in living cells, tissues, and organisms.
Ann Rundell (BME)
The Rundell research laboratory is devoted to developing effective quantitative approaches to design therapeutic and experimental strategies for the predictable manipulation of physiological and cellular processes in desired manners as well as refine the understanding of the underlying mechanisms.
Thomas Walters
Currently teach all or parts of three undergraduate and graduate microbiology and molecular biology courses. BIOL 439 is an introductory microbiology lab for students who have a good general biology background. Labs pertain to bacterial growth, enzyme kinetics, tests used to identify specific bacteria, and bacterial physiology. In addition to the lab work, students are expected to complete a two week final project involving literature research and one or two independent experiments based on this research. This has proven to be an excellent opportunity for students to realize the type of planning involved in experimental microbiology.
Denise Zielinski
Continuing Lecturer