Posted on Thursday, July 1, 2010
Four Westminster College faculty participated at the "Undergraduate Research as Transformative Practice: Developing Leaders and Solutions for a Better Society" biennial national meeting of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) June 19-22 in Ogden, Utah.
Dr. Karen Resendes, assistant professor of biology, presented a poster, "David vs. Goliath? Analysis of Biological Concept Retention in Blended Web vs. Traditional Instruction," that detailed a study conducted in collaboration with faculty at San Diego State University (SDSU).
The study compared students' retention of certain biological concepts in introductory biology courses for non-majors to determine if a blended web/large lecture course (SDSU) would result in the same educational outcomes as a lecture/laboratory course with a small number of students (Westminster). Westminster students in two sections of the spring semester "Concepts of Biology" course participated.
"We changed the title of our poster for the conference to 'Clash of the Titans,' as we saw surprisingly similar outcomes from both institutions," Resendes said. "We hope to continue the study and will likely include 'Foundations in Biology' for majors in the fall semester."
Resendes, who joined the Westminster faculty in 2009, earned an undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary and Ph.D. from Brown University.
Dr. Sandra Webster, professor of psychology and faculty development officer, presented at two sessions.
She led an interactive workshop, "Finding the Fit of Undergraduate Research in Early Faculty Career Development." Facilitators included Resendes and Dr. Douglas Armstead, assistant professor of physics. Webster will write a summary for the participants that includes their action plans for the next five or 10 years.
Webster led "Wiki Work with Undergraduates," a workshop with Joanne Altman of Washburn University. They demonstrated the use of wikis (multi-user Internet tools for file sharing and collaborative writing) in the context of classes and undergraduate research supervision. Participants were invited to explore the wiki created by Altman and encouraged to create their own.
Webster also attended CUR's business meeting as an elected psychology councilor and a member of its finance committee.
Webster, who has been with Westminster since 1983, earned undergraduate and master's degrees and Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
Dr. Terri Lenox, associate professor of computer science, attended CUR's business meeting as an elected councilor in the computer science division and a member of the publication board.
Contact Webster at (724) 946-7359 or e-mail websters@westminster.edu for additional information.
