Speaker: Amanda Haage, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences assistant professor of biomedical sciences and Kaess Endowed Professor in Anatomy and Cell Biology

Title: "Designing STEM courses for impact"

Abstract: In 2020, the University of North Dakota moved to offering a combined anatomy and physiology (A&P) 200-level sequence from previous stand-alone courses. The goal of this move was to modernize, and the opportunity arose to design them with a phased introduction to student four-year plans. At the same time, the pandemic changed higher education as we know it, so plans for multiple modalities (online asynchronous, self-paced, and traditional in-person) were necessary. While the content for such a sequence is generally standardized by the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) learning outcomes, designing from scratch meant the freedom to deliver that content using a number of evidence-based, high impact methods in line with each modality. Anyone in education knows deciding on what methods to use can quickly lead to decision fatigue. This session will serve as an in-depth case study that goes through how teaching philosophy, external constraints, and ultimately a strong commitment to student learning guided how these courses were designed and implemented. This will be followed by an extensive look at student data, including the standardized HAPS exam measures and an intercultural inventory tool, demonstrating the success of the chosen methods.

Host: Ian Schneider, associate professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Courtesy Joint Faculty in GDCB)