Newswise — (Rockville, Md.) June 17, 2022—Physiology educators will gather in Madison, Wisconsin, June 21–24, 2022, for the American Physiological Society (APS) Institute on Teaching and Learning (ITL). The interactive multiday workshop will engage educators in sessions focused on the latest research and best practices in teaching, learning and assessment.

“We are very excited that APS President Dee Silverthorn, PhD, FAPS, will be giving the keynote lecture for the fifth ITL. The meeting will cover topics such as inclusive and anti-racist teaching, mentoring and advising; assessment; helping students cope with failure in research; career transitions to teaching; and tools for teaching challenging physiology concepts. Something new this year will be featured workshops to bookend the conference,” said co-organizers Beth Beason-Abmayr, PhD, of Rice University in Houston, and Ryan Downey, PhD, of the American University of the Caribbean in Saint Maarten, in a statement.

Highlighted sessions are listed below. View the meeting program for more information.

Program Highlights

Tuesday, June 21

Featured workshop—Scientific communication through improv: talking about tough ideas

Facilitator: Monkey Business InstituteMadison, Wisconsin

 

Keynote lectureAdapting to change: reflections on the evolution of teaching and learning

Speaker: Dee Silverthorn, PhD, FAPS, University of Texas at Austin

 

Wednesday, June 22

Plenary lecture 1—Where do we go from here? Key considerations for equity-focused teaching in dynamic times

Speaker: Kayon Murray-Johnson, PhDUniversity of Rhode Island

 

Workshop 1—Navigating difficult dialogues on race and justice: building capacity for when emotions run high

Facilitator: Kayon Murray-Johnson, PhDUniversity of Rhode Island

 

Workshop 2—Effective and inclusive assessment strategies in physiology

Facilitator: Josef Brandauer, PhD, Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania

 

Workshop 3—A framework for reasoning about complex physiological systems

Facilitator: Tara Slominski, PhD, North Dakota State University

 

Plenary lecture 2—Toward more inclusive biology learning environments: identifying inequities and possible underlying mechanisms

Speaker: Katelyn Cooper, PhD, Arizona State University

 

Workshop 4—Building inclusive and fair classrooms: spotting sources of bias in biology classrooms

Facilitator: Katelyn Cooper, PhD, Arizona State University  

 

Workshop 5—The joys and challenges of mentoring students and colleagues in teaching settings

Facilitators: Robert Carroll, PhD, FAPS, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina UniversityDee Silverthorn, PhD, FAPS, University of Texas at Austin  

 

Workshop 6—Teaching strategies/tools: Learning how to use dramatization to teach difficult concepts in physiology

Facilitators: Helena Carvalho, PhD, Virginia Tech Carilion School of MedicinePatricia Halpin, PhDUniversity of New Hampshire at Manchester; Elke Scholz-Morris, PhD, Methodist College Unity Point Health, Peoria, Illinois

 

Thursday, June 23

Plenary lecture 3—Anti-racist and inclusive pedagogies

Speaker: Amanda Jungels, PhD, Rice University, Houston

 

Workshop 7—Using anti-racist and inclusive techniques in the classroom

Facilitator: Amanda Jungels, PhD, Rice University, Houston  

 

Workshop 8—Inclusive and productive advising

Facilitator: Katie Johnson, PhD, Trail Build LLC, East Troy, Wisconsin  

 

Workshop 9—How do I move up or over? Making transitions to teaching and education

Facilitator: Sydella Blatch, PhD, National Institutes of Health/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland

 

Plenary lecture 4—Failing (in order) to succeed: Exploring how challenge and failure in course-based undergraduate research experiences can become a learning opportunity

Speaker: Lisa Corwin, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder

 

Workshop 10—Failing (in order) to succeed: helping STEM students to approach challenges, cope with failures and develop scientific resilience

Facilitator: Lisa Corwin, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder  

 

Workshop 11—Putting our points where our mouths are: pre-specifying exam structure to improve cognitive richness and fairness

Facilitators: Gregory Crowther, PhD, Everett Community College, SeattleBenjamin Wiggins, PhD, University of Washington  

 

Workshop 12—Teaching strategies/tools: tools for teaching cell signaling, bioenergetics and the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve

Facilitators: Zhiyong Cheng, PhD, University of FloridaAlice Villalobos, PhD, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

 

Friday, June 24

Plenary lecture 5—Bearing witness to trauma and resilience of our students

Speaker: Mays Imad, PhD, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona

 

Featured workshop—Engaging students and identifying barriers to inclusion in physiology classrooms

Facilitators: Monica Cardenas GuzmanUniversity of Maryland; Jeff Schinske, PhD, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California

 

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: The APS Institute on Teaching and Learning will be held June 21–24 in Madison, Wisconsin. To schedule an interview with the researchers, conference organizers or presenters, contact APS Media Relations or call 301.634.7314. Find more highlights in our Newsroom

 

Physiology is a broad area of scientific inquiry that focuses on how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function in health and disease. The American Physiological Society connects a global, multidisciplinary community of more than 10,000 biomedical scientists and educators as part of its mission to advance scientific discovery, understand life and improve health. The Society drives collaboration and spotlights scientific discoveries through its 16 scholarly journals and programming that support researchers and educators in their work. 

 

Meeting Link: APS Institute on Teaching and Learning