New PNAS Publication on an Algorithm that Uses Sound to Identify Teaching Practices in College Classrooms!

Detecting active learning in college classrooms 

Researchers designed an algorithm that uses sound to identify teaching practices in college classrooms. Previous studies show that classes with active learning, when students learn through talking and problem solving, result in higher learning gains and student retention than lecture-only classes. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested to shift science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) college courses from the common lecture-based teaching style to more active learning. Kimberly Tanner and colleagues designed Decibel Analysis for Research in Teaching (DART), a machine-learning algorithm that rapidly analyzes classroom audio recordings, to quantify the frequency of different teaching practices in a classroom. For 1,486 recordings from 67 college courses across 21 community colleges and universities, DART distinguished the amount of classroom time spent with no voices or thinking/writing time, one voice or lecture/question-and-answer time, and multiple voices or discussion time. DART identified teaching styles with an approximately 90% accuracy rate and worked well in both small and large classes. The amount of time spent on active learning activities—both no voices and multiple voices activities—was higher for courses for STEM majors than courses for non-STEM majors, and 88% of courses analyzed here used active learning in at least half of class sessions. Given its efficiency, DART makes regular, systematic analyses of the use of active learning in classrooms possible for individual instructors, departments, institutions, and researchers, according to the authors.

For more information, click here

Congratulations Analisa: Moving forward in the CSU Student Research Competition!!

Congratulations on winning the SFSU level of the CSU Student Research Competition in the Area of Education and being chosen to compete at the CSU level for your biology research efforts investigating the experiences of Black students in the SFSU Biology department!!

Hello From Fresno at the Noyce Regional Conference!

SPIKE Alum Jake Campupos at the Noyce Regional Conference with a long time collaborator Dr. Seth Bush at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo!

Thanks PSam! : Formal SEPAL Student Giving Back

Students in Professor of Biology KimberlyTanner’s Science Partners in K-12 Education class, an SF State Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory (SEPAL) course, got into the spirit of giving last week. They wrote letters to middle-schoolers in Burkina Faso and filled backpacks with school supplies. The project was part of a partnership with a former SEPAL student who started his own nonprofit to help needy students in Africa.

Congratulation to our HHMI EXROP Awardees!

Congratulations to Donovan Ruiz and Justine Ramos, two SFSU students, have been chosen for the 2017 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Exceptional Research Opportunities Program.

Congratulations to our SEPAL Graduate, Melissa Richard, for defending her thesis!

Congratulations to our SEPAL Graduate, Melissa Richard, for presenting her thesis defense on

Intuitive Reasoning and Evolution Knowledge in Explanations of Antibiotic Resistance.

Left to Right:  Trisha de Vera, Chris Moffat, John Coley, Kimberly Tanner, Sarah Bissonnette,

Melissa Richard, Analisa Brown,Kristin De Nesnera,  Derik Gonzalez, Tiffy Nguyen, and John Rodriguez

Congratulations to our SEPAL Graduate, Tiffy Nguyen, for defending her thesis!

Congratulations to our SEPAL Graduate, Tiffy Nguyen, for presenting her thesis defense on:

Investing Instructor Talk in Community College Biology Classrooms

Pictured here: Tiffy Nguyen

Congratulations Analisa!

SEPAL graduate student, Analisa Brown, was awarded a University Scholarship and a 100 Black Men Scholarship. Congratulations Analisa!

Congratulations Brianna!

SFSU Biology and SEPAL alumnus, Brianna McCoy, is now a Lead Zoo Ambassador Coordinator at the Oregon Zoo. She will be managing volunteers for a program called Zoo Quest aimed at showing how food waste harms wildlife and what every day actions one can take to limit one’s own food waste.

Brianna completed her MS with a concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology (EECB).

Congratulations to SEPAL’s Undergraduate Researchers!

Alycia Maria Escobedo, Kristen Liang, and Katie Lam presented their research poster titled “Examining Differences in Non-Content Instructor Talk Across Varying Instructor Demographics” at the 2016 COSE Student Project Showcase at SFSU. They won 2nd place in the category for Undergraduate Life Sciences. Congratulations to you all!