Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Dr. Karen Resendes, Westminster College assistant professor of biology, presented at the 50th annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology Dec. 12-15 in Philadelphia.
Resendes' invited paper, "Clash of the Titans: Analysis of Biological Concept Retention in Blended Web vs. Traditional Instruction," detailed a study conducted in collaboration with faculty from San Diego State University (SDSU) and was given as part of an Education Initiative Forum on technology in the classroom.
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 2010 semester "Concepts of Biology" course participated. According to Resendes, researchers found surprisingly similar outcomes from both schools.
The work was also presented as a poster in the Pre-College and College Science Education session.
"Because this work was well received by both audiences, we are now working to incorporate the suggestions we received on the project and are preparing the work for publication," Resendes said.
Resendes presented a second poster on research performed in her laboratory with Robin McCarthy, a 2010 Westminster graduate who is pursuing a master's degree in biology. The poster, "Calcium-Mediated Regulation of the Ran Gradient and Karyopherin Nuclear Transport Receptors," was included in the session on Nuclear Import and Export Signals.
"This poster was well received," Resendes said. "I received some critical feedback that will allow me to continue this research in the spring 2011 semester with undergraduates in the biology capstone course."
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.
Contact Resendes at (724) 946-7211 or e-mail resendkk@westminster.edu for additional information.
