Undergraduate Biology Education and Research - A New Vision for Change: Re-imagining Biology Education through Social Justice

This project aims to serve the national interest by convening experts to showcase the latest research on broadening participation in undergraduate biology. The conference is part of the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) portfolio, which consists of hundreds of conferences each year, three of which are in education areas. The Undergraduate Biology Education Research GRC is a premier, international scientific conference focused on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages.

The Undergraduate Biology Education Research GRC is the first in the GRC family to focus exclusively on investigating how attention to social justice issues can inform improvements in undergraduate biology learning and teaching. This conference will bring together students, postdoctoral scholars, researchers, educators, administrators, policy makers, and publishers, providing a forum to share emerging research and practices that promote inclusion, diversity, equity, access, and social justice in undergraduate biology education across disciplines and sectors.

The undergraduate biology education research community has witnessed significant changes in its discourse since the last Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar in 2019. Two key drivers for such changes include disruptions to the educational system by the COVID-19 pandemic and intensified conversations about the important role that learning environments informed by a social justice lens can play in leading to improved biology learning and teaching.

A renewed recognition emerged from these disruptions: The community of undergraduate biology education researchers and practitioners values partnering with students and scholars from different communities and intersections of identities to create inclusive learning environments. This recognition compels renewed conversations on research that may reshape institutional practices and policies, propelling further action to implement changes at institutions across the nation.

Specifically, the conference invites on-going scholarship that strives to center people and communities, foster collaborations and systemic changes, and create new visions toward social justice. This project is funded by NSF's IUSE: EDU Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students and by the Division of Biological Infrastructure.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.