New paper: Next‐generation field courses: Integrating Open Science and online learning

Posted onNovember 23, 2020Authorjonathans

Abstract

As Open Science practices become more commonplace, there is a need for the next generation of scientists to be well versed in these aspects of scientific research. Yet, many training opportunities for early career researchers (ECRs) could better emphasize or integrate Open Science elements. Field courses provide opportunities for ECRs to apply theoretical knowledge, practice new methodological approaches, and gain an appreciation for the challenges of real‐life research, and could provide an excellent platform for integrating training in Open Science practices. Our recent experience, as primarily ECRs engaged in a field course interrupted by COVID‐19, led us to reflect on the potential to enhance learning outcomes in field courses by integrating Open Science practices and online learning components. Specifically, we highlight the opportunity for field courses to align teaching activities with the recent developments and trends in how we conduct research, including training in: publishing registered reports, collecting data using standardized methods, adopting high‐quality data documentation, managing data through reproducible workflows, and sharing and publishing data through appropriate channels. We also discuss how field courses can use online tools to optimize time in the field, develop open access resources, and cultivate collaborations. By integrating these elements, we suggest that the next generation of field courses will offer excellent arenas for participants to adopt Open Science practices.

Keywords: career development, early career researchers, FAIR principles, higher education, pedagogy, reproducible research

Reference and link to the article

Geange SR, von Oppen J, Strydom T, et al. Next-generation field courses: Integrating Open Science and online learning. Ecol Evol. 2020;00:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7009

New paper: The effects of a goal-framing and need-supportive app on undergraduates’ intentions, effort, and achievement in mobile science learning

Posted onSeptember 23, 2020February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Lucas M. Jeno (Department of Education, University of Bergen and bioCEED), Ulrich Dettweiler (Department of Cultural Studies and Languages, University of Stavanger) and John-Arvid Grytnes (Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen) have recently published the paper “The effects of a goal-framing and need-supportive app on undergraduates’ intentions, effort, and achievement in mobile science learning” in Computers & Education.

Abstract

In this study we investigate the effect of manipulating intrinsic goals, relative to extrinsic goals, in a mobile learning tool and traditional textbook for biology students. Using Self- Determination Theory, we hypothesized that framing intrinsic goals in a need-supportive mobile learning app would enhance motivation, intentions, effort, and achievement, relative to extrinsic goals in a traditional tool (textbook). We randomized 128 undergraduate students learning to identify species in this 2 × 2 experiment. Using Bayesian analyses, results show a credible interaction effect between the mobile app and intrinsic goal-framing for intentions and identified regulation. For effort and achievement, the main effect of mobile learning is credible with substantial effect sizes. We argue that these findings are due to the need-supportive features within the mobile app and need-satisfying experience of pursuing intrinsic goals. For intrinsic motivation and amotivation, however, extrinsic goal-framing and intrinsic goal-framing, respectively, are credible and positive main effects, which is unexpected. More research is needed to investigate if this contradictory finding is replicated by others, or if students are pursuing extrinsic goals for autonomous motivation. Bayesian multigroup path analysis found across both groups that identified regulation predicted intentions, and intrinsic motivation predicted effort and achievement. For the extrinsic goal-framing group, amotivation predicted achievement, identified regulation predicted effort and achievement, and intrinsic motivation negatively predicted intentions. The results of our study provide theoretical implications for how goal-framing energizes different types of motivation within the mLearning context, and how manipulation within technology may have a differential effect on motivation than a physical agent.

Keywords: Self-Determination Theory, Bayesian analysis, Goal-framing, Higher education, mLearning.

Reference and link to the article

Jeno, L. M., Dettweiler, U. and Grytnes, J.-A. (2020). The effects of a goal-framing and need-supportive app on undergraduates’ intentions, effort, and achievement in mobile science learning. Computers & Education 159 (2020) 104022

About the author

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Relevans, lissom?

Posted onJune 9, 2020June 9, 2020AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Snevert markedstilpasset kompetanse er neppe det morgendagens arbeidsgivere trenger, skriver de seks innleggsforfatterne fra UiB.

Utdanning skal gi faglig kunnskap og overblikk, erfaring og ferdigheter i å kunne utøve faglighet og faglig skjønn, og evne til faglig egenutvikling og samarbeid. Utdanning er ikke ferskvare – den skal forberede studentene på mange tiårs yrkesliv i et arbeidsmarked i rask endring. Fremtidens arbeidstakere, arbeidsgivere, og utdanningsinstitusjoner har felles langsiktige interesser i utdanninger som sikter bredere enn å tilby spesifikke ferdigheter tilpasset dagens jobbmarked.

Forslaget fra Arbeiderpartiet, Senterpartiet og Fremskrittspartiet om en ny indikator i finansieringssystemet for høyere utdanning, basert på antallet studenter som får relevant arbeid etter studiene, kan i utgangspunktet synes tilforlatelig. Selvsagt skal og vil vi som jobber ved universiteter og høyskoler utdanne kompetente kandidater som er attraktive i jobbmarkedet! Av dette følger ett viktige spørsmål: Hvilken kompetanse er relevant for arbeidslivet? […]

Les mer i Khrono: https://khrono.no/relevans-lissom/494749

Dette innlegget er undertegnet av:

Gaute Velle (professor 2, Institutt for biovitenskap ved Universitetet i Bergen og forsker NORCE Norwegian research center),
Oddfrid Førland (rådgiver, Institutt for biovitenskap),
Marte Haave (førsteamanuensis 2, Kjemisk Institutt),
Lucas Jeno (førsteamanuensis, Institutt for pedagogikk,),
Christian Bianchi Strømme (postdoktor, Institutt for biovitenskap),
Vigdis Vandvik (professor, Institutt for biovitenskap), alle ansatt ved UiB.

Motivation tips for students working at home.

Posted onApril 24, 2020November 20, 2020AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Motivasjonslunsj med Lucas Jeno – 24. april kl.12

Posted onApril 23, 2020April 24, 2020AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Click on the picture below to see the presentation slides – Klikk på det følgende bildet for å se presentasjonen.

Viktig for utdanningskvaliteten

Posted onApril 23, 2020April 23, 2020AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

– Et Senter for fremragende utdanning skal være nytenkende og anerkjenne viktigheten av å involvere studenter i utvikling av utdanningene. Ordningen er viktig for å få institusjoner og fagmiljø til å prioritere arbeid med utdanningskvalitet.

Read this article at Diku.no

– Forskning skal inn i utdannelsen, vi leker ikke butikk

Posted onApril 23, 2020April 23, 2020AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Annual Report 2019

Posted onMarch 20, 2020AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Click HERE to read our Annual Report for 2019.

Ny vår for undervisning

Posted onFebruary 11, 2020February 11, 2020AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

bioCEED deputy leader Pernille Bronken Eidesen and Øyvind Fiksen were recently interviewed in an article in Forskerforum:

– Gode undervisarar er bevisste på kva dei held på med, og dei tenkjer mykje på korleis dei kan bli betre. Det som har gjort meg til ein betre undervisar dei siste åra, er at eg har våga å prøve nye ting, sjølv om det er ein risiko for at alt kan gå skeis. Studentane er utruleg rause og opne når dei forstår at eg prøver ut endringar til det beste for dei.

Reference:

Ny vår for undervisning. (2020) Forskerforum, 52(2), p18.

Vi vil ha full revolusjon: Studiebarometeret 2.0!

Posted onFebruary 10, 2020February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

bioCEED leader Vigdis Vandvik and colleagues Lucas M. Jeno, Arild Raaheim, Torstein N. Hole and Gaute Velle have just published the following article in Khrono:

Med årvisse åpne data om tilstanden i norsk høyere utdanning markerte Studiebarometeret et veiskille for sektoren. Nå er tiden moden for neste skritt på veien: Studiebarometeret 2.0 må spisses til å belyse faktorer som direkte påvirker kvaliteten i utdanningene – og slik hjelpe institusjonene til å prioritere de mest effektive tiltakene for økt studiekvalitet og for at studentene skal lykkes!

About the authors

bioCEED seminar – Helping students grow as disciplinary writers

Posted onJanuary 21, 2020January 21, 2020AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Interested in learning more about supporting students developing their academic writing? bioCEED invites you to a seminar with Lene Nordrum (Lund University).

Wednesday 29th January, 13:15-14:00 at Auditorium 4, Realfagbygget, UiB

Disciplinary literacy – how to read, write, and talk in a specific discipline – is the key to knowledge and success in university education. Yet, many university teachers find it challenging to help their students develop such literacy. It may be easy for language and communication experts, but not necessarily a walk in the park for teachers with other disciplinary backgrounds. In this seminar, we will zoom in on how writing skills can be developed across the disciplines. The focus will be on how we can get students to write and how we can help them structure their texts. As such, the overall aim is to find keys to how we can help students grow as disciplinary writers, without being language teachers.

Lene Nordrum is a senior lecturer at English Studies at Lund University. She is also an educational developer who specialize in academic writing.

NOKUT rapport: Praksis i fremragende miljøer

Posted onOctober 17, 2019October 17, 2019AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

NOKUT – Nasjonalt organ for kvalitet i utdanningen – har publisert den rapporten “Praksis i fremragende miljøer – Innblikk i arbeidet med praksis i tre Sentre for fremragende utdanning“.

Sammendrag
Praksis har kommet på dagsorden etter at økt arbeidslivsrelevans for høyere utdanning ble et tydelig ønske fra politikere og andre samfunnsaktører. Praksis er ofte sett som en del av løsningen på den opplevde eller faktiske mangelen på arbeidslivsrelevans. Dette til tross for de mange utfordringene med kvalitet og kvalitetssikring de fagene med lang tradisjon for praksis opplever.
I denne rapporten får vi innblikk i hvordan tre Sentre for fremragende utdanning (SFU-er), bioCEED, CEMPE og ProTed, har arbeidet med praksis og erfaringene deres. Praksis benyttes som læringsform, læringsarena og kunnskap som er knyttet til sentrenes ulike disipliner, kulturer og rammer. De nærmer seg arbeidslivsrelevans og praksis i lys av sin faglig kontekst og den kunnskapen de ønsker studenten skal ta del i (…).

Denne rapporten er en del av Operasjon praksis, et NOKUT prosjekt der målet er å samle, systematisere og dele kunnskap om praksis i høyere utdanning.

Using 3D-printed models of pollen grains as teaching material

Posted onOctober 17, 2019October 17, 2019AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Identifying pollen grains under the microscope may be challenging, especially to the untrained eye. This goes also for a multitude of biological structures with complex shapes, whether embedded in tissues or isolated from their original environment.

The course BIO250 – Palaeoecology at the Department of Biological Sciences in Bergen has now started to use 3D-printed models of pollen grains to help students recognize their many facets and aspects. Providing students with 3D-prints instead of (or in addition to) light- or electron microscopy pictures gives them the opportunity to look at these grains from all possible angles.

Scorzoneroides autumnalis – Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Willis, Kathy J (2017).

Let’s take an example with the pollen of Scorzoneroides autumnalis (a.k.a autumn hawkbit). This picture shows the grain (and all its complexity and beauty) under the microscope.

It is however challenging to get an idea of the global shape of the grain based on this single view.

3D print of Scorzoneroides autumnalis

Here is the 3D-print of the pollen grain of the autumn hawkbit. It is approximately 2000 times bigger than the real pollen grain and made of PLA (polylactic acid), a type of bioplastic produced from fermented starch which is both resistant and biodegradable.

The video at the bottom of this article shows the same grain and helps realize how easy it becomes to recognize the features (spikes, cavities, etc) that characterize the species.

BIO250’s growing collection of 3D prints

BI0250 students had the opportunity to handle the printed models of up to 16 species while training for identification of pollen in field samples at the lab. These prints are based on a larger collection of 3D models created by Oliver Wilson, as part of the 3D pollen project. You may read more about the 3D pollen project here, find more models here and download them there.

For those who have the patience to explore the Internet for hidden treasures, there are millions of 3D models of nearly everything available for download. The National Institute of Health (NIH) provides free models which are relevant for educational activities in the field of biomedical sciences (https://3dprint.nih.gov/). Other commercial platforms also provide models relevant for biology, for free or for sale. Among them are CGTrader, Thingiverse, Free3D, …

Credits and references:

Microscopy picture of Scorzoneroides autumnalis under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Willis, Kathy J (2017). Scorzoneroides autumnalis (169.159.4 – 1). Digitised palynological slide. In: European Reference Collection (Version 4). Obtained from Martin & Harvey (2017) 10.1111/2041-210X.12752. Retrieved from globalpollenproject.org on 10/10/2019.

Smaller Classes Promote Equitable Student Participation in STEM

Posted onJuly 29, 2019February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Cissy Ballen, Anne E .Bjune, Christian Jørgensen and Sehoya Cotner have recently published the paper “Smaller Classes Promote Equitable Student Participation in STEM” in BioScience.

Abstract

As science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms in higher education transition from lecturing to active learning, the frequency of student interactions in class increases. Previous research documents a gender bias in participation, with women participating less than would be expected on the basis of their numeric proportions. In the present study, we asked which attributes of the learning environment contribute to decreased female participation: the abundance of in-class interactions, the diversity of interactions, the proportion of women in class, the instructor’s gender, the class size, and whether the course targeted lower division (first and second year) or upper division (third or fourth year) students. We calculated likelihood ratios of female participation from over 5300 student–instructor interactions observed across multiple institutions. We falsified several alternative hypotheses and demonstrate that increasing class size has the largest negative effect. We also found that when the instructors used a diverse range of teaching strategies, the women were more likely to participate after small-group discussions.

Reference and link to the article

Cissy J Ballen, Stepfanie M Aguillon, Azza Awwad, Anne E Bjune, Daniel Challou, Abby Grace Drake, Michelle Driessen, Aziza Ellozy, Vivian E Ferry, Emma E Goldberg, William Harcombe, Steve Jensen, Christian Jørgensen, Zoe Koth, Suzanne McGaugh, Caroline Mitry, Bryan Mosher, Hoda Mostafa, Renee H Petipas, Paula A G Soneral, Shana Watters, Deena Wassenberg, Stacey L Weiss, Azariah Yonas, Kelly R Zamudio, Sehoya Cotner, Smaller Classes Promote Equitable Student Participation in STEM, BioScience, , biz069, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz069

Instructors´ motivation for teaching predicts teaching style

Posted onMay 27, 2019February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Lucas M. Jeno (Department of Education, University of Bergen and bioCEED), Maï Yasué (Quest University, Canada) and Jody L. Langdon (Georgia Southern University) have recently published the paper “Are Autonomously Motivated University Instructors More Autonomy-Supportive Teachers?” in the International journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Abstract

We extended the research on autonomy-supportive teaching to universities and examined the relationships between autonomous motivation to teach and autonomy-supportive teaching. Autonomously motivated university instructors were more autonomy-supportive instructors. The freedom to make pedagogical decisions was negatively correlated with external motivation towards teaching. Participants indicated that large class sizes, high teaching loads, publication pressures, and a culture that undervalues effective undergraduate teaching undermined both student learning and their feelings of autonomy. Together these results presents a picture of a subset of university instructors who remained autonomously motivated to teach, irrespective of barriers they experienced from university administrators or policies.

Keywords: Self-Determination Theory, Intrinsic Motivation, Undergraduate, Mixed-methods.

Reference and link to the article

Yasué, M., Jeno, L. M., and Langdon, J. L. (2019). Are Autonomously Motivated University Instructors More Autonomy-Supportive Teachers? IJ-SoTL, Vol. 13 [2019], No. 2, Art. 2

About the author

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PhD Defense Torstein N. Hole – Learning through practice in biology education

Posted onApril 23, 2019April 30, 2019AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Thursday, April 25th, 2019 was a new big day for bioCEED, as Torstein N. Hole defended his PhD degree at the University of Bergen with the dissertation: “Learning through practice in biology education». Torstein becomes the second bioCEED student to complete his doctoral degree at UiB. We warmly congratulate him with an excellent thesis and defense!

https://twitter.com/RagnhildGya/status/1121333496423776257

The following Evaluation Committee was appointed by The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences to evaluate the thesis:

Professor Anne Line Wittek, University of Oslo
Professor Roger Säljö, University of Gothenburg, Sverige
Associate professor, Anne Elisabeth Bjune, Department of Biological Sciences, UiB (chair of the committee).

And this is how his work was summarized for the press release (in Norwegian):

Praksis har lange tradisjoner i profesjonsfag, men har sjelden vært en del i av undervisningen i disiplinfag som biologi. I sin ph.d. har Hole undersøkt hvordan studenter lærer i tre ulike former for praksis i biologi, feltkurs som er en type praksis som har flere likhetstrekk med praksis hos profesjonsfag, arbeidspraksis som har blitt undersøkt via studenters blogginnlegg, og arbeidspraksis hos fiskehelsebiologer, musikkprofesjonsstudenter og lærerstudenter.

I analysen av studentenes læring har det kommet frem hvordan opplevelser i praksis henger sammen med utviklingen av studenters personlige epistemologi. Gjennom en sosiokulturell analyse av disse har Hole studert hvordan studentene utviklet sin forståelse av fagene de studerer, deres tilnærming til læring og sin egen rolle som fremtidig biolog. I de ulike studiene påpekes det også ulike pedagogiske muligheter i feltkursundervisning, gjennom samhandling mellom naturvitenskapelige fenomener og student, vurdering av studenter gjennom blogginnlegg og sammenhengen mellom opplevelser i praksis og undervisning på universitetet i ulike utdanninger.

Note also that Torstein N. Hole held his trial lecture on March 8th on the topic: “Active learning and active students – when, how, and why?”. This lecture was videorecorded and is available here.

Seminar – 24. april kl. 13:15

Posted onMarch 20, 2019March 20, 2019Authorjonathans1 Comment

Evolution of a portfolio-based design in ecology: a three-year design cycle.

Posted onMarch 12, 2019February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Rachelle Esterhazy (Department of Education, University of Oslo) and Øyvind Fiksen (Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen) have recently published the paper “Evolution of a portfolio-based design in ecology: a three-year design cycle” in Uniped.

Abstract

Portfolio-based designs are among the most popular student-centered approaches in higher education. While the pedagogical literature typically provides generic advice on ideal portfolio-based designs, there is little empirical data on how such designs are developed over time and what design decisions teachers take in response to challenges in practice. This article provides an empirical account of a three-year design cycle of a portfolio-based ecology course at a Norwegian university. It investigates how the design changed over the years and how these changes related to the challenges the teacher met during the enactment of the course. To that end, a thematic analysis of course plans, evaluations, and interviews with the designing teacher was conducted. The findings show how the teacher introduced, removed, and (re-)configured different course components in order to address challenges related to the limited coherence between portfolio items and organized class meetings, and students’ limited engagement with the disciplinary knowledge. Thereby, the course design gradually evolved from a portfolio-based design towards a hybrid design combining portfolio, traditional exam and team-based learning. This study illustrates that portfolio-based designs have great potential but no guarantee to support students in active engagement with knowledge; and that teachers need to actively maintain their student-centered focus in their designs by responding flexibly to the emerging challenges.

Keywords: portfolios, course design, biology education

Reference and link to the article

Esterhazy, R. and Fiksen, Ø. (2019). Evolution of a portfolio-based design in ecology: a three-year design cycle. Uniped, 01/2019 (volum 42) https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1893-8981-2019-01-05

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PhD Trial Lecture – Torstein Nielsen Hole

Posted onMarch 6, 2019March 26, 2019AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Torstein Nielsen Hole’s trial lecture “Active learning and active students – when, how and why?”, held on March 8th, was streamed live on bioCEED’s youtube channel and is currently available here.

Annual Report 2018

Posted onMarch 4, 2019March 6, 2019AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Click HERE to read our Annual Report for 2018.

The bioBREAKFAST webpage is ready!

Posted onFebruary 7, 2019AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The bioBREAKFAST webpage is now up and running! Here you will get an overview of what bioBREAKFAST is and why it is arranged. Every time the breakfast is arranged at UNIS, it will be posted there. The webpage is developed in cooperation between students and employees. Its aim is to make it easy accessible to read about this initiative at UNIS, and show this project in connection with the work bioCEED has done. The bioBREAKFAST is a successful project going on at UNIS, and we want to spread this initiative to others.

UNIS launches its first internship course for Arctic Biology students

Posted onFebruary 7, 2019February 7, 2019AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Photo: Simen Hjelle
AB-208 students eager to start on the new course

This spring semester, UNIS runs the AB-208 course “Internship in Arctic Biology” for bachelor students for the first time. The course aims at giving students the possibility to get knowledge and skills not easily obtained in class-room settings. It has been developed in close collaboration and with help from the internship course BIO298 run at UiB (https://bioceed.w.uib.no/biopraksis/; bioCEED PRIME project).

The course developed at UNIS is longer than the one run at UiB. Worth 15 ECTS, it includes a rather long internship of 240 hours. While the student’s main task will be doing hard work for and with locals employers, the course also involves participation to seminars and reflection and documentation of their internship experience. All students will write and share blog-posts online, and if you are interested in reading about their journey, they will be available at https://blog.learningarcticbiology.info/, with the first batch of blogs being posted around February, 3^rd.

Since this is the first time such a course is given at UNIS, it will be interesting to see how it all turns out. The course will start out with five students, working for five different employers here in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The students and their employers are Anna C. Grimsby, UNIS Arctic Biology tech; Ingvild L. Sørensen, SIOS (Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System); Simen S. Hjelle, bioCEED; James Davidson, Arctic Permaculture; and Dagny Døskeland, Longyearbyen school.

If you want more info about the course, visit https://www.unis.no/course/ab-208-internship-arctic-biology-15-ects/.

Text by Simen Hjelle (AB-208 student and bioCEED intern) and Eike Stübner.

Welcome to our new student representatives at BIO and UNIS!

Posted onFebruary 7, 2019February 7, 2019AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Ingrid Oline Tveranger (BIO) and Ørjan Vabø (AB, UNIS) are our new student representatives in bioCEED this semester. Ingrid Oline is a 22 years old post bachelor student in molecular biology at the University of Bergen. Her plan is to proceed in this field, taking a master in molecular biology. During her bachelor she have been very active in the student organizations, particularly working for a better student environment, both socially and academically. She will join in together with Sondre Olai Spjeld who has been a student representative in the past few months in Bergen.

Ørjan will join in together with Ingvild Lande Sørensen who will also continue this semester as a student representative. Ørjan is doing his last year of a bachelor´s program in Biology at UiB, but is currently enrolled in a semester at UNIS. His main interests have always been the ocean and marine biology. He is doing Arctic Marine Biology and Arctic Environmental Management at UNIS, which he thinks is an amazing opportunity to get to know the Arctic region. He has some teaching experience himself, from elementary school and field work with elementary schools with Naturvernforbundet, and he has also spent time in New Zealand at University of Otago.

Both Ingrid Oline and Ørjan are looking very much forward to contribute into bioCEED and we welcome them warmly!

Biology students at work: Using blogs to investigate personal epistemologies.

Posted onJanuary 31, 2019February 15, 2021Authorjonathans1 Comment

Torstein Nielsen Hole, Gaute Velle, Hanne Riese, Arild Raaheim and Anne Laure Simonelli have written an article about learning in work placements among biology students. To investigate learning they have focused on personal epistemologies. That is, students’ accounts of learning and knowing. Students have written about their learning experiences in blogs; using student blogs as a data source for epistemologies is quite novel. Further, this emphasizes the value of blogs as a tool to foster student reflection through assessment. On the basis of their analysis, they conceptualize how students’ personal epistemologies develop in work placements through interactions with various contexts, dispositions and conceptual and procedural knowing. For further details on the work placement course itself, see this paper by Velle et al.

Abstract

This paper reports an investigation of biology students’ discussion of knowing in work placements, as accounted in blogs. Twenty-two blogs, containing 78 individual entries, written in conjunction with a work placement course for students in a tertiary level biology program, have been analysed in the study (The blogs are publicly available here: https://biopraksis.w.uib.no). The aim of the paper is to increase understanding of how work placements shape biology students’ personal epistemological trajectories. The analysis is performed by employing a theoretical lens that emphasizes the situated nature of knowing, as enacted in working practices. The blog accounts consist of the students’ appraisal of their own learning and knowing in work placements, situated in biology undergraduate education. The investigation suggests that the students’ personal epistemologies develop in an interplay with context and personal epistemologies to shape their trajectories toward biology knowing. These trajectories have been analysed in terms of their procedural, conceptual, and dispositional dimensions. The use of blogs as a data source is argued to be appropriate to analyse personal epistemologies. Other strengths and weaknesses of this design are discussed.

Reference and link to the article

Hole, T. N., Velle, G., Riese, H., Raaheim, A., & Simonelli, A. L. (2018). Biology students at work: Using blogs to investigate personal epistemologies. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1563026. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2018.1563026

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The “Species” Concept as a Gateway to Nature of Science

Posted onNovember 16, 2018February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Jorun Nyléhn, Associate Professor at bioCEED and BIO, and colleagues have recently published the article “The “Species” Concept as a Gateway to Nature of Science.” in Science & Education.

Understanding how science works has become a primary goal in education, as it connects to critical thinking and the foundations of knowledge. This includes the more complex and overarching topics like evolutionary biology. In this recently published paper from the Department of Biosciences, UiB and the Department of Teacher Education and School Research, UiO, the potential of using species concepts as a means to increase the knowledge of the science of biology is investigated. The article focus on the most common species concepts in science, includes aspects from the philosophy and nature of science, and four recommendations for teaching biology are given.

Abstract

The nature of science (NOS) is a primary goal in school science. Most teachers are not well-prepared for teaching NOS, but a sophisticated and in-depth understanding of NOS is necessary for effective teaching. Some authors emphasize the need for teaching NOS in context. Species, a central concept in biology, is proposed in this article as a concrete example of a means for achieving increased understanding of NOS. Although species are commonly presented in textbooks as fixed entities with a single definition, the concept of species is a highly discussed one in the science and the philosophy of biology. A multitude of species concepts exist, reflecting both the views and interests of researchers and their utility in different organism groups. The present study serves to address the following questions: How do textbooks in Norwegian primary and lower secondary schools present the concept of species? Can inquiries into the concept of “species” serve to highlight aspects of NOS? A review of the available literature on species and species concepts in school is also performed. In the schoolbooks, the biological species concept is commonly used as the main definition, whereas the morphological species concept is represented by additional remarks of similarity. The potential and pitfalls of using the species concept for teaching NOS are discussed, with NOS being discussed both as a family resemblance concept and as a consensus list. Teacher education is proposed as a starting point for inducing a more sophisticated view of biology into schools.

Reference and link to the article

Nyléhn, J., & Ødegaard, M. (2018). The “Species” Concept as a Gateway to Nature of Science. Species Concepts in Norwegian Textbooks. Science & Education, 27(7-8), 685-714. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-018-0007-7

About the author

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New episode of NOKUT-podden on “students who teach”, including an interview with Sehoya Cotner

Posted onNovember 16, 2018November 16, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Here comes the latest edition of NOKUT-podden (NOKUT’s podcast on higher education which topic is “Students who teach” and to which Sehoya Cotner, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota and Professor II at bioCEED) was invited to participate.

There is much to learn from this NOKUT-podden, especially if you understand Norwegian.

Check also the other episodes:

NOKUT (the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education) is an independent expert body under the Ministry of Education and Research. NOKUT’s work is intended to contribute to society at large having confidence in Norwegian higher education and tertiary vocational education as well as recognised foreign education.

Utlysing av verv som studentrepresentant i bioCEED – Senter for fremragende utdanning i biologi – 2018

Posted onNovember 15, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

bioCEED søker en ny studentrepresentant fra UiB.

bioCEED er et Senter for fremragende utdanning (SFU) i fagområdet biologi og er et samarbeid mellom Institutt for biovitenskap (BIO) ved UIB, Avdeling for arktisk biologi ved UNIS, Seksjon for Universitetspedagogikk ved UIB og Havforskningsinstituttet. bioCEED er finansiert av Kunnskaps-departementet og partnerne. SFU-ordningens fremste formål er å fremme kvalitet i høyere utdanning.

bioCEED skal arbeide for å utvikle innovativ og fremragende undervisning i biologi. Sentrale punkt i planene er:

Gi studenter brei kunnskap og erfaring gjennom å knytte den teoretiske kunnskapen til de praktiske ferdighetene og samfunnsrelevante oppgaver. Blant annet ved å tilby utplassering i forskning, forvaltning og næringsliv.
Aktivisere og engasjere studenter og undervisere i læringsprosessen, og utvikle nye læringsmetoder
Dokumentere, forske på og spre kunnskap om biologiundervisning

UiB har to studentrepresentanter som samarbeider med to studentrepresentanter ved UNIS. Studentrepresentantene representerer også studentene i bioCEEDs styringsgruppe og Styre. Vervet er i utgangspunktet med et års varighet fra oppnevning, med mulighet for forlengelse.

Hvem er kvalifisert for å søke?

Du er student ved BIO
Du er engasjert i utdanningskvalitet og utvikling av undervisning
Du er aktiv i studentmiljøet og har et godt kontaktnett blant studentene
Erfaring fra studentorganisasjoner, styrer, råd eller arbeidsgrupper er en fordel
Erfaring som undervisningsassistent o.l. er en fordel

Arbeidsoppgaver:

Representere studentene i bioCEEDs styringsgruppe og i bioCEED sine aktiviteter
Være kontaktledd mellom bioCEED og studentene
Bidra i bioCEED-aktiviteter og formidling av bioCEEDs arbeid
Lede det studentdrevne prosjektet biORAKEL, og bidra inn i andre bioCEED-prosjekter

Søknad: Skriv litt om deg selv og din utdanning og erfaring. Hvorfor ønsker du å være studentrepresentant og hva kan du bidra med? Frist: 1. desember 2018. Søknad sendes på e-post til: oddfrid.forland@uib.no og merkes studentverv bioCEED.

Mer informasjon: Kontakt senterleder Vigdis Vandvik, koordinator Oddfrid Forland eller sittende studentrepresentanter fra BIO Endre Lygre og Sondre Olai Spjeld.

“The Slacker’s guide to teaching in the Active Learning Spaces”

Posted onOctober 15, 2018October 15, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Testing the novelty effect of an m-learning tool on internalization and achievement: A Self-Determination Theory approach

Posted onOctober 12, 2018February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Lucas Jeno, Vigdis Vandvik, Sigrunn Eliassen, John-Arvid Grytnes from bioCEED and BIO have recently published the article “Testing the novelty effect of an m-learning tool on internalization and achievement: A Self-Determination Theory approach.”

Abstract

Perceived novelty in mobile applications is an inevitable aspect of today’s technologies. Studies suggest that this perceived novelty effect increases motivation but wanes once the user becomes accustomed to the product. Using a Self-Determination Theory approach, the present study investigates how different tools relate to students’ motivation, basic psychological needs, and achievement, over and above the effect of perceived novelty. The results from a randomized controlled experiment show that a mobile-learning tool and a digital version of a textbook are perceived as more novel than a traditional textbook. However, only the mobile-learning tool enhances the students’ basic psychological needs. Additionally, using path-analysis, we find that the mobile-learning tool, need-satisfaction within the mobile-learning tool, and autonomous motivation account for achievement and internalization, over and above the effect of novelty. We argue that this finding is due to the inherent need-supportive elements within the mobile-learning tool that satisfy the basic psychological needs.

Reference and link to the article

Jeno L.M., Vandvik V., Eliassen S. & Grytnes J.-A., Testing the novelty effect of an m-learning tool on internalization and achievement: A Self-Determination Theory approach,
Computers & Education (2018), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.10.008

About the author

`[simple-staff-list group="LJ"]`

A prospective investigation of students’ academic achievement and dropout in higher education: a Self-Determination Theory approach

Posted onOctober 1, 2018February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Lucas Jeno and colleagues from bioCEED have recently published the article “A prospective investigation of students’ academic achievement and dropout in higher education: a Self-Determination Theory approach”.

Abstract

We investigate a model based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to predict academic achievement and dropout intentions among biology students in higher education in Norway. Students (n = 754) from a representative national sample participated in this cross-sectional study. The results align with our hypotheses and SDT assumptions. The model explains a substantial amount of the variance in academic achievement and dropout intentions. Specifically, autonomous motivation and perceived competence positively predict academic achievement and negatively predict dropout intentions. Controlled motivation is unrelated to academic achievement and is a positive predictor of dropout intentions. Furthermore, significant indirect effects show that need-supportive teachers and students’ intrinsic aspirations positively predict academic achievement and negatively predict dropout intentions, via autonomous motivation and perceived competence. We recommend teachers to support students’ need for autonomy, competence and relatedness, by providing choice and volition to facilitate autonomous motivation, and give students effectance-relevant feedback and optimal challenges to increase perceived competence.

Reference and link to the article

Lucas M. Jeno, Anne G. Danielsen & Arild Raaheim (2018) A prospective investigation of students’ academic achievement and dropout in higher education: a Self-Determination Theory approach, Educational Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/01443410.2018.1502412

About the author

`[simple-staff-list group="LJ"]`

Merittering kritikken liknar klimafornekting

Posted onSeptember 28, 2018September 28, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Torstein N. Hole, PhD-student at bioCEED, has recently published the following article in På Høyden:

Det er liten tvil om at merittering fører til betre undervisning, meiner stipendiat ved bioCEED, Torstein Hole.

– Om vi meiner alvor med å fokusere på undervisning, må pengar og prestisje koplast til undervisning, seier Hole.

Han arbeider ved bioCEED, eit senter for framifrå undervising, lokalisert ved Universitetet i Bergen (UiB). Det var bioCEED som først tok initiativ til å etablere merittering for undervisarar på universitetet.

bioSEMINAR – 5, september kl. 11:00

Posted onSeptember 3, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The effects of m‐learning on motivation, achievement and well‐being: A Self‐Determination Theory approach

Posted onAugust 9, 2018October 2, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Lucas Jeno and colleagues from bioCEED have recently published the article “The effects of m‐learning on motivation, achievement and well‐being: A Self‐Determination Theory approach”.

Abstract

From the lens of Self‐Determination Theory, this study investigated the effects of a mobile application tool for identifying species on biology students’ achievement and well‐being. It was hypothesized that the mobile application, compared to a textbook, would enhance feelings of competence and autonomy and, in turn, intrinsic motivation, positive affect and achievement, because the mobile application’s built‐in functions provide students with choice and volition, informational feedback, and optimal challenges. Fifty‐eight second‐year students were randomly assigned to use either the mobile application or a textbook for a learning task. Well‐being was assessed before and after the learning task, and intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, perceived autonomy and achievement were assessed after the task. Results indicated that the mobile application, relative to the textbook, produced higher levels of students’ perceived competence, perceived autonomy and intrinsic motivation. Further, the mobile application had indirect effects on positive affect through autonomy, competence and intrinsic motivation, and on achievement through competence.

Reference and link to the article

Jeno, L. M., Adachi, P. J. C., Grytnes, J.-A., Vandvik, V., Deci, E. L. The effects of m‐learning on motivation, achievement and well‐being: A Self‐Determination Theory approach (2018). British journal of educational technology , 2018.

About the author

`[simple-staff-list group="LJ"]`

Working and Learning in a Field Excursion

Posted onMay 31, 2018Authorjonathans1 Comment

Torstein N. Hole, Ph.D student at bioCEED and PRIME, has recently published the article “Working and Learning in a Field Excursion” in CBE – Life Sciences Educational.

Abstract

This study aimed to discern sociocultural processes through which students learn in field excursions. To achieve this aim, short-term ethnographic techniques were employed to examine how undergraduate students work and enact knowledge (or knowing) during a specific field excursion in biology. The students participated in a working practice that employed research methods and came to engage with various biological phenomena over the course of their work. A three-level analysis of the students` experiences focused on three processes that emerged: participatory appropriation, guided participation, and apprenticeship. These processes derive from advances in practice-oriented theories of knowing. Through their work in the field, the students were able to enact science autonomously; they engaged with peers and teachers in specific ways and developed new understandings about research and epistemology founded on their experiences in the field. Further discussion about the use of “practice” and “work” as analytical concepts in science education is also included.

Reference and link to the article

Hole (2018). Working and Learning in a Field Excursion. CBE – Life Sciences Educational Vol 17, No 2 (2018), pp 1-11

About the author

`[simple-staff-list group="TH"]`

Excellent Teaching Practitioner – 2018

Posted onMay 14, 2018May 30, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MatNat) at UiB and the University Centre in Svalbard are inviting teachers to apply for the title of Excellent Teaching Practitioner (ETP).

Applications may be submitted at any time throughout the year, with the deadline for application submission on October 1^st, 2018. Evaluation of applications will take place in October – December 2018.

The ETP status is granted based upon proven merit and commitment to teaching and educational excellence. Successful applicants will be awarded with a membership in the Faculty’s Pedagogical Academy and a permanent salary rise for the individual teacher. It is emphasized that the ETP is independent of other academic promotion schemes and that the title ETP can only be awarded to people who develop their teaching competences systematically and over time to a level that is significantly higher than the required basic competence at Universities.

The status as Excellent Teacher Practitioner is awarded on the basis of an application/ teaching portfolio and a subsequent assessment and interview by an evaluation committee. The committee includes both pedagogical and disciplinary expertise. The evaluation process includes the assessment of a teaching portfolio with documentation and an interview. In the application and attached documentation the applicant must describe, analyze, discuss and document systematic and targeted work to enhance educational quality focusing on four main criteria based on the principles behind the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Here are the calls for applications:

Call for applications – Excellent Teaching Practitioner (ETP) – UNIS

Call for applications – Excellent Teaching Practitioner (ETP) – MatNat

Both MatNat and UNIS will organize portfolio workshops in May / August 2018. More info here:

Portfolio Workshop – MatNat

Portfolio Workshop – UNIS – description of workshop in August will be announced soon.

Vil du jobbe hos bioCEED? To ledige stipendiatstillingar

Posted onMay 9, 2018May 9, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

bioCEED lyser ut to stipendiatstillingar knytt til Institutt for biovitskap ved Universitetet i Bergen. Stillingane har søknadsfrist 20. mai og er for ein periode på 4 år.

Den eine stillinga skal studere effektar av ulike endringar og kvalitetsfremjande tiltak i høgare utdanning, og er ein del av bioCEED si satsing på å utvikle og studere ein god kollegial lærarkultur med felles ansvar og stimulering av godt arbeid for studieprogram og undervisningskvalitet.

Stipendiaten skal studere effektar av ulike lokale og nasjonale tiltak for pedagogisk utvikling og studiekvalitet, samle ulike typar data om undervisarar og studentar og teste effektar av tiltak og politikk. Den som vert tilsett vil få høve til å utvikle og teste eigne problemstillingar og hypotesar knytt til desse tema.

Sjå meir om stillinga og naudsynte kvalifikasjonar i utlysingsteksten.

Den andre stillinga skal studere matematikk i biologiutdanningane, og er knytt til bioCEEDs arbeid med å utvikle gode modellar for integrering av generelle ferdigheiter og kunnskapar, og å bygge ein god progresjon i desse ferdigheitene og kunnskapane gjennom biologistudiet.

Stipendiaten skal utvikle og teste nye metodar og læringsverktøy for integrering av matematikk, statistikk, og modellering i biologiutdanningane. Den som vert tilsett vil få høve til å utvikle og teste eigne problemstillingar og hypotesar knytt til desse tema.

Sjå meir om stillinga og naudsynte kvalifikasjonar i utlysingsteksten.

SFU magazine #8

Posted onMay 3, 2018May 9, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

NOKUT has released the eighth edition of SFU-magazine. Click on the cover to read it in Norwegian. The English version will soon be available here too.

bioCEED seminar by Prof. Chantal Levesque-Bristol

Posted onMay 3, 2018May 3, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Excellence in teaching and learning from the self-determination theory perspective

by Prof. Chantal Levesque-Bristol

February 15^th, 13:15-14:00
Seminar room K1/K2, Biologen (A-building), Thormøhlensgate 53A, Bergen

The presentation was streamed. The video recording is available HERE.

bioCEED seminar 15th Feb by Professor Chantal Levesque-Bristol: Excellence in teaching and learning from the self-determination theory perspective

Posted onFebruary 9, 2018February 13, 2018AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

Thursday 15th February Professor Chantal Levesque-Bristol from Purdue University will give a seminar at bioCEED with the title:

Excellence in teaching and learning from the self-determination theory perspective

Time: 15th Feb, Kl. 13:15-14:00
Place: Seminar room K1/2 Biologen (A), Thormøhlensgt 53A

PhD Defense Lucas Jeno – Motivation as a prerequisite for learning

Posted onFebruary 9, 2018February 9, 2018AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

Friday, February 16, 2018 is a big day for bioCEED, and especially for Lucas Jeno who will defend his PhD degree at the University of Bergen with the dissertation: “The antecedents and consequences of students’ autonomous motivation. The relation between need-support, motivation, and academic achievement». We congratulate Lucas with an excellent thesis, and wish him good luck with the defense.

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has appointed the following Evaluation Committee to evaluate the thesis:

Director, Chantal Levesque-Bristol, Purdue University
Professor, Anders Malthe-Sørensen, University of Oslo
Associate professor, Anne Bjune, Department of Biological Sciences, UiB (chair of the committee).

This is how Lucas has summarized his work for the press release:
Teachers and learning activities that provide students with choices and opportunities, optimal challenges, and an experience of being taken care of, increase the students’ motivation, learning, and desire to continue their studies. In three studies of students in higher education, Jeno found that students who experience learning activities and teachers who support, rather than hinder, their intrinsic motivation, learnt more and had a stronger sense of well-being.

The first study was a national survey of biology students that mapping their experience of motivational support, motivation, life goals, and dropout early in the semester. These data were connected with students’ grades at the end of the semester. The results showed that students who experienced support from teachers and fellow students had intrinsic goals, experienced more mastery and self-determined motivation, which in turn led to better grades and the desire to continue the studies. Students who were more driven by extrinsic goals and extrinsic motivation thought more about dropping out and had lower grades.

The second study was an experiment that compared motivation and learning among students who used a mobile application, with students who used a traditional textbook (a reference book) as a means of identifying plants and animals. The students using the mobile application had higher motivation, felt more mastery, and learned more, compared to students using the textbook.

The third study compared traditional lectures with more student-active group-based teaching where students collaborate and discuss the material in class, rather than listen to a teacher. The results showed that student-active teaching led to higher motivation, mastery, engagement, and learning for the students.

Traditionally, higher education has used teaching methods that passivize students, rather than activating them. This despite the fact that research shows that active learning leads to more motivation, well-being and learning. This thesis contribute new knowledge on how teaching methods and technological tools should be designed to create optimal motivation and learning for students. Higher education institutions are recommended to develop and use methods that support students’ intrinsic motivation in work against dropout, assessment, and learning.

Lucas’ main supervisor is Professor Arild Raaheim, and the co-supervisors are Professor Vigdis Vandvik and Professor Anne Grete Danielsen.

On 16th Feb, Lucas will first hold his lecture on a given topic and then there will a public defense fo the PhD dissertation:

09:15: “Challenges and barriers for the implementation of active learning: What can instructors do to create environments that are more focused on autonomy-supportive and learning”

11:15: PhD defense starts

Venue: Large Auditorium, HIB (Thormøhlensgate 55)

SFU magazine #7

Posted onNovember 24, 2017January 2, 2018AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

NOKUT has released the seventh edition of SFU-magazine. Click on the left cover to read it in Norwegian, or on the right cover to read it in English.

Developing work placements in a discipline-oriented education

Posted onNovember 20, 2017November 20, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Gaute Velle and colleagues from bioCEED and PRIME have recently published the article “Developing work placements in a discipline-oriented education” in the Nordic Journal of STEM Education.

Abstract

Higher education is often divided into discipline-oriented and professional programs. Professional programs prepare students for a specific profession and include relevant theoretical and practical knowledge. Discipline-oriented programs emphasize theoretical knowledge and research within a specific discipline or field. Except for a career within research and higher education, discipline-oriented programs provide less obvious links to future careers. The transition from student life to working life may therefore be challenging.

In this paper, we present and discuss the development and implementation of a work placement course as part of the disciplinary programs in biology at the University of Bergen. The course was developed to provide students with practical- and work- related competences, to inform
about opportunities for future career and to foster motivation and learning. We have revised the course according to feedback from students, workplace hosts and our experience as course teachers during the six semesters the course has been running.

The work placement course is at the bachelor (BSc) level and consists of two main components; a work placement and the student’s own reporting of placement outcomes. For the placement, the students work 140 hours at a workplace as a biologist. The reporting consists of four open blog-posts, one written reflective essay and a final oral presentation. The course teachers also meet with the students and convey information on the roles of biology and biologists in today’s society through a Facebook group. Feedback from the students, hosts and course teachers point to a range of benefits from work practice in discipline-oriented study programs. Based on our experience, we provide guidance for implementing such courses.

Reference and link to the article

Velle, G., Hole, T. N., Førland, O., Simonelli, A.-L., and Vandvik, V. (2017). Developing work placements in a discipline-oriented education Nordic Journal of STEM Education, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017), pp 287-306.

About the author

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The Relative Effect of Team-Based Learning on Motivation and Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Posted onNovember 20, 2017November 20, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Lucas Jeno and colleagues from bioCEED, PRIME and Høgskulen på Vestlandet have recently published the article “The Relative Effect of Team-Based Learning on Motivation and Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective”.

Abstract

We investigate the effects of team-based learning (TBL) on motivation and learning in a quasi-experimental study. The study employs a self-determination theory perspective to investigate the motivational effects of implementing TBL in a physiotherapy course in higher education. We adopted a one-group pretest–posttest design. The results show that the students’ intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, perceived competence, and perceived autonomy support significantly increased going from lectures to TBL. The results further show that students’ engagement and perceived learning significantly increased. Finally, students’ amotivation decreased from pretest to posttest; however, students reported higher external regulation as a function of TBL. Path analysis shows that increases in intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, and external regulation positively predict increases in engagement, which in turn predict increases in perceived learning. We argue that the characteristics of TBL, as opposed to lectures, are likely to engage students and facilitate feelings of competence. TBL is an active-learning approach, as opposed to more passive learning in lectures, which might explain the increase in students’ perception of teachers as autonomy supportive. In contrast, the greater demands TBL puts on students might account for the increase in external regulation. Limitations and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Reference and link to the article

Jeno, L. M., Raaheim, A., Kristensen, S. M., Kristensen, K. D., Hole, T. N., Haugland, M. J., and Mæland, S. (2017). The Relative Effect of Team-Based Learning on Motivation and Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective. CBE—Life Sciences Education • 16:ar59, Winter 2017.

About the author

`[simple-staff-list group="LJ"]`

Announcement of office as student representative on bioCEED – Centre for Excellence in Biology Education

Posted onNovember 9, 2017AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

bioCEED is seeking a new student representative from UiB.

bioCEED is a Centre of Excellence in Education (SFU) in the field of biology and is a collaboration between Department of Biology at University of Bergen, Arctic Biology at the University Centre at Svalbard (UNIS), the Higher Education Research Unit at University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research. bioCEED is funded by NOKUT and the partner institutions. The overarching aim of the SFU arrangement is to contribute to the development of excellent quality in higher education.

bioCEED will work to develop innovative and excellent teaching in biology. Key points in the bioCEED plans are:

Give students knowledge and experience through linking theoretical knowledge to practical skills and tasks with societal relevance. E.g. by offering internship in research, management and industry.
Activate and engage students and teachers in the learning process, and develop new learning and assessment methods
Document, do research on, and spread knowledge of biology teaching and learning

UiB has two student representatives that cooperate with two student representatives at UNIS. The student representatives represent the students in bioCEEDs Steering Group and Board. Representatives are appointed for one year (with option for longer appointment).

Who is eligible to apply?
– You are a student at BIO or MBI
– You are engaged in education and the development of teaching and learning
– You are active in the student community and have a good network of contacts among students
– Experience in student organizations, boards, councils or working groups is an advantage
– Experience as a teaching assistant or similar is an advantage

Responsibilities:
– Represent the students bioCEEDs Steering group (and Board if applicable), and bioCEED activities
– Be a contact point between bioCEED and students
– Contribute to bioCEED activities and outreach
– Lead the student driven project biORAKEL, and contribute to other bioCEED projects

Application: Write a short text about yourself and your education and experience. Why do you want to be a student representative in bioCEED, and what will be your contribution? Deadline : 1^st December 2017. Send application by e-mail to: oddfrid.forland@uib.no marked Application student representative bioCEED.

More information: Centre leader Vigdis Vandvik, current BIO student representatives Ragnhild Gya and Mari Vold Bjordal or coordinator Oddfrid Førland.

Utlysing av verv som studentrepresentant i bioCEED – senter for fremragende utdanning i biologi

Posted onNovember 9, 2017November 9, 2017AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

bioCEED søker en ny studentrepresentant fra UiB.

bioCEED er et Senter for fremragende utdanning (SFU) i fagområdet biologi og er et samarbeid mellom Institutt for biologi (BIO) ved UIB, Avdeling for arktisk biologi ved UNIS, Seksjon for Universitetspedagogikk ved UIB og Havforskningsinstituttet. bioCEED er finansiert av Kunnskaps-departementet og partnerne. SFU-ordningens fremste formål er å fremme kvalitet i høyere utdanning.

bioCEED skal arbeide for å utvikle innovativ og fremragende undervisning i biologi. Sentrale punkt i planene er:

Gi studenter brei kunnskap og erfaring gjennom å knytte den teoretiske kunnskapen til de praktiske ferdighetene og samfunnsrelevante oppgaver. Blant annet ved å tilby utplassering i forskning, forvaltning og næringsliv.
Aktivisere og engasjere studenter og undervisere i læringsprosessen, og utvikle nye læringsmetoder
Dokumentere, forske på og spre kunnskap om biologiundervisning

UiB har to studentrepresentanter som samarbeider med to studentrepresentanter ved UNIS. Studentrepresentantene representerer også studentene i bioCEEDs styringsgruppe og Styre.
Vervet er i utgangspunktet med et års varighet fra oppnevning.

Hvem er kvalifisert for å søke?
– Du er student ved BIO eller MBI
– Du er engasjert i utdanningskvalitet og utvikling av undervisning
– Du er aktiv i studentmiljøet og har et godt kontaktnett blant studentene
– Erfaring fra studentorganisasjoner, styrer, råd eller arbeidsgrupper er en fordel
– Erfaring som undervisningsassistent o.l. er en fordel

Arbeidsoppgaver:
– Representere studentene i bioCEEDs styringsgruppe og i bioCEED sine aktiviteter
– Være kontaktledd mellom bioCEED og studentene
– Bidra i bioCEED-aktiviteter og formidling av bioCEEDs arbeid
– Lede det studentdrevne prosjektet biORAKEL, og bidra inn i andre bioCEED-prosjekter

Søknad:
Skriv litt om deg selv og din utdanning og erfaring. Hvorfor ønsker du å være studentrepresentant og hva kan du bidra med? Frist: 1. desember 2017. Søknad sendes på e-post til: oddfrid.forland@uib.no og merkes Søknad studentverv bioCEED.

Mer informasjon:
Kontakt senterleder Vigdis Vandvik (vigdis.vandvik@uib.no), koordinator Oddfrid Førland (oddfrid.forland@uib.no, 55 58 22 24) eller sittende studentrepresentanter fra BIO Ragnhild Gya (ragnhild.gya@student.uib.no) og Mari Vold Bjordal (mbj019@student.uib.no).

bioCEED’s mid-term evaluation goes Open Science!

Posted onOctober 6, 2017January 3, 2018AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

Inspired by MatRiC, bioCEED has collected the midterm evaluation documents in a short annotated overview here, as seen through the lens of various documents produced by NOKUT, the evaluation committee, and bioCEED:

The template for the self-evaluation, by NOKUT Jan 20^th
bioCEED’s self-evaluation, delivered on April 3^rd
Feedback to bioCEED from the evaluation panel, received on 30^th May 2017.
bioCEED’s replies to the panel’s requests for additional information, 10^th May 2017.
The programme for the site visit 16^th May 2017, by NOKUT 07^th April 2017.
Data from Studiebarometeret and DBH provided by NOKUT to the Evaluation Panel in connection with Site Visit 16^th May 2017.
Panels with informants to be interviewed by Evaluation Panel at site visit 16^th May 2017.
Panel briefing document from bioCEED, 11^th May 2017.
bioCEED short presentation at site visit 16^th May 2017.
Evaluation Panel report following site visit, received on 29^th June 2017.
Final Action Plan Structure, by NOKUT 4^th July 2017.
bioCEED Action Plan Draft, 1^st September 2017.
Evaluation Panel feedback on action plan draft, received on 11^th September 2017.
bioCEED reply to Evaluation panel on the feedback on action plan draft, 28^th September 2017.
bioCEED Action Plan Phase 2, 28^th September 2017.
Final report from expert panel, 21^st December 2017.

You can also read more about our way forward in the Newsletter.

The bioCEED team is very grateful to everyone who has contributed to the mid-term evaluation process, especially the bioCEED Board and Advisory Board and our host institutions and departments.

En kvalitativ undersøkelse om trivsel og motivasjon i høyere utdanning: Et selvbestemmelsesteoretisk perspektiv

Posted onAugust 3, 2017August 3, 2017AuthorTinaLeave a comment

Daniel Kristensen has conducted a qualitative study and interviewed Biology students about their experiences in everyday life at the University, and how their experiences affect their psychological well-being and motivation. He presented his thesis entitled “En kvalitativ undersøkelse om trivsel og motivasjon i høyere utdanning: Et selvbestemmelsesteoretisk perspektiv” on June 27th, 2017 and thus obtained his Master’s degree.

ABSTRACT

In a self-determination theory perspective (Deci & Ryan, 1985), the quality of the interaction between students and the context can be a crucial factor for the student’s well-being and motivation. Central to the theory are the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Self-determination theory argues that the satisfaction or thwarting of these needs may have a significant impact on well-being and autonomous motivation. To investigate factors in the learning environment that may interact with the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs in students may therefore be important. In this study, I aim to examine how students perceive their everyday life at the university, by shedding light on the students own account of their well-being and motivation.

To solve the research question, I conducted a series of qualitative semi-structured interviews. This interview method is often used in qualitative research because it provides the participants and researcher the opportunity to have a relatively open discussion, with an already established theme. The interview participants were all students who (1) were freshmen at the university, and (2) were participating in a bachelor program in biology. The interviews were recorded on an audio device, and later transcribed. The transcribed data was deductively analysed, and later broken down to smaller segments and put into categories. The categories were subsequently linked to central assumptions in the theoretical framework. The categorization of the comments provided a base for further discussion and reflection. In the discussion, basic psychological needs theory was used in interpreting the participants comments according to the degree they felt their need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness was being satisfied or thwarted. In many ways, the discussion reflects my own interpretation and understanding of the link between the theory and the data material. By interpreting the data material in light of self-determination theory, it was possible to observe different processes and factors that may be paramount in student well-being and motivation. According to my own interpretation, all the participants in the study expressed that they enjoyed, and felt connected, to their academic environment. Some of the participants also conveyed that they felt competent and felt a steady progress in their studies. Furthermore, the participants indicated that the learning context felt autonomy-supportive. Satisfaction of the need for autonomy is, according to self-determination theory, crucial for intrinsic motivation.

Link to the thesis

About the author

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“Veier til frafall”. En kvantitativ studie av psykisk helse og frafallsintensjoner i høyere utdanning: Et selvbestemmelsesteoretisk perspektiv

Posted onAugust 3, 2017August 3, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Sara Madeleine Kristensen has conducted a cross-sectional study of first year Bachelor students in Biology and assessed their motivation, psychological health, and intentions of dropout. She presented her thesis entitled “Veier til frafall. En kvantitativ studie av psykisk helse og frafallsintensjoner i høyere utdanning: Et selvbestemmelsesteoretisk perspektiv” on June 22nd, 2017 and thus obtained her Master’s degree.

Abstract

The lack of, or low, motivation and perceived competence have previously been shown to be paramount in students’ decision to drop out of their education. However, recent studies have shown that psychological issues, such as anxiety and depression, is the leading cause of dropout amongst high school students. This study aims to shed light on ill-being and the dropout phenomenon in higher education. 174 biology students from a university in Norway participated in this quantitative survey. A theorized model in accordance to Self-determination Theory, based on previous research and motivational models, was proposed. First, it was assumed that a controlling teaching style would predict a lack of motivation in the students and frustration of their basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Second, it was expected that need frustration would positively predict amotivation and ill-being, and negatively predict perceived competence. Finally, it was assumed that amotivation and psychological ill-being would have a positive prediction on dropout intentions, and that perceived competence would negatively predict the students’ intentions to drop out. Two path analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized model and an alternative model. It was further assumed that there was a significant correlation between the variables in the study. A bivariate correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between the variables. Lastly, it was presumed that teacher control and need frustration had significant, indirect effects on dropout intentions. The results show that the hypotheses in the study are supported. The assumptions in the theorized model are supported by the results; teacher control, need frustration, amotivation, and perceived competence had a significant prediction on students’ ill-being and their dropout intentions. Further, there were significant correlations between the studies variables. Lastly, teacher control and need frustration had significant, indirect effects on dropout intentions through the full mediation of amotivation and perceived competence.

Link to BORA and to the thesis

About the author

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UNIS teachers given The Joanna Renc-Roe Award – for pushing the boundaries of SoTL

Posted onJune 9, 2017June 23, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Chris Borstad, Mads Forchhammer and Tove M. Gabrielsen from UNIS were awarded The Joanna Renc-Roe Award – for pushing the boundaries of SoTL at the 2nd EuroSoTL conference, June 8-9 2017, Lund, Sweden. The award was given for the collegial project done by this group at the bioCEED teacher course Collegial Teaching and Learning – in STEM Education: Active learning and course alignment in thematically complex courses. You can read the paper in the conference proceedings here.

The Joanna Renc-Roe Award is presented during each EuroSoTL conference to the contribution that distinguishes itself for pushing the boundaries of SoTL.

Photo: Børge Damsgård

SFU magazine #6

Posted onMay 8, 2017June 12, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

NOKUT has released the sixth edition of SFU-magazine. Click on the left cover to read it in Norwegian and on the right cover to read it in English.

bioCEED articles presented at MNT-konferansen 2017

Posted onApril 20, 2017February 15, 2021AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

This year’s MNT-konferansen “Transformative education” took place in Oslo, Hotel Soria Moria on March 30^th-31^st. bioCEED contributed with 10 articles and corresponding presentations as well as an overview of the goals and activities of the Centre of Excellence. The full list of contributions and authors is found below with links to the articles published in the special edition of the Nordic Journal of STEM Education.

Korleis få professorar med på ein kollegial SoTL-kultur? – R. Andersson, P. B. Eidesen, Ø. Fiksen, O. Førland, S. Stefansson og V. Vandvik.
Collegial evaluation of writing as a learning activity in a bachelor programme – Heidi Lie Andersen, Øyvind Fiksen, Lawrence Kirkendall, Sigurd Stefansson.
Strategies to document active learning practices in biology – Sehoya Cotner, Lucas M Jeno, Cissy Ballen.
Utnytter vi potensialet for læring og personlig utvikling i feltundervisning? – P. B. Eidesen, A. Vader og J. E. Søreide.
Hvordan teknologi bidrar til biologi-studenters motivasjon og læring – L. M. Jeno, J.A. Grytnes og Vigdis Vandvik.
Developing work placements in a discipline education – G. Velle and T. Nielsen Hole.
Numerical competence and quantitative skills in biology education – S. Eliassen, J. Kolding, J. Smedmark, and V. Vandvik.
Sense and sensibility in workload calculation – Jonathan Soulé, Oddfrid Førland, and Tina Dahl.
Norway’s gender gap: classroom participation in undergraduate introductory science – Cissy Ballen, Marie Danielsen, Christian Jørgensen, John-Arvid Grytnes, and Sehoya Cotner.
Kan integrering i fagmiljøet øke motivasjon hos studenter? R. Gya og M. V. Bjordal.
bioCEED – Senter for fremragende utdanning i biologi

All articles submitted to the conference are available HERE.

Gender matters!

Posted onMarch 29, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

On March 27th, bioCEED’s student representatives at UiB Ragnhild Gya and Mari Vold Bjordal hosted together with Studentersamfunnet a meeting about unequal participation between genders in the lecture halls and in meetings. For this occasion, they had invited Sehoya Cotner and Cissy Ballen from the University of Minnesota, and Ole-Petter Moe Hansen from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen to present the interesting results from their gender studies related to higher education.

The meeting was video-recorded and is now available here:

bioCEED lunch seminar UNIS- Sehoya Cotner talks about how Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) Turn ALL Students Into Scientists

Posted onMarch 17, 2017July 14, 2017AuthorTinaLeave a comment

Date: 20 March 2017

Time and place: 12.15-13.00 Kapp Lee, UNIS

The presentation will be streamed. To watch it click here.

Sehoya Cotner is Associate professor in Biology teaching and learning at the University of Minnesota and a Professor II in bioCEED. Currently she is mapping the teaching landscape at UIB and UNIS by using the method Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) applyed to video captured lectures to score behaviors consistently and objectively.

In this presentation, Sehoya will give an overview of the benefits of scientific research experiences during a student’s academic career, discuss CUREs as an efficient and effective mechanism for incorporating meaningful research into the curriculum, give examples, and end with suggestions. She suspects that UNIS is a model system for studying CUREs, and hopes to discuss what aspects of course-based research are associated with positive impacts overall.

NOKUT-frokost hos Universitetet i Bergen: Meritteringsordninger i utdanning

Posted onMarch 15, 2017March 15, 2017AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

Tid: 8.00-9.30 (frokost serveres fra klokken 7.30)
Sted: Universitetets aula, Museplassen 3, Bergen

Et av de viktigste budskapene i Kvalitetsmeldingen er at utdanning og undervisning skal få høyere status ved universitetene og høyskolene. Merittering er et av forslagene som skal bidra til dette. Dette innebærer å belønne og la utdanningsoppgaver telle mer ved ansettelser og opprykk.

NOKUT har lenge vært positive til merittering, og flere institusjoner har allerede sett på systemer for å merittere og belønne de gode underviserne.

Vi ser nærmere på forslagene og spør:

Hvilke virkemidler tas i bruk i de ulike forslagene? Hva skal til for at dette skal fungere?
Hvilke styrker og svakheter har ordningene, og hva skal til for å få til en nasjonal ordning?

Til frokost kommer blant andre:

Ole-Jacob Skodvin, analysedirektør i NOKUT
Oddrun Samdal, viserektor for utdanning, Universitetet i Bergen (UiB)
Reidar Lyng, førsteamanuensis Universitetspedagogikk Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU). Medlem i arbeidsgruppen som har lagt frem forslag til meritteringssystem ved NTNU og UiT.
Mathias Fischer, kommentator i Bergens Tidene og student ved UiB
Iver Bragelien, førsteamanuensis, Institutt for foretaksøkonomi, Norges Handelshøyskole. Ekspert på økonomisk styring, motivasjon og økonomiske insentiver.
Silje Mæland, førsteamanuensis, Institutt for ergo/fysio/radio, Høgskulen på Vestlandet

Frokosten blir strømmet på nettsidene til NOKUT.

Jeg vil melde meg på

Påmeldingsfrist: 24. mars

Student meeting – Gender matters!

Posted onMarch 15, 2017AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

bioCEED’s student representatives at UiB are hosting together with Studentersamfunnet a meeting about unequal participation between genders in the lecture halls and in meetings. For this occasion, we have invited Sehoya Cotner and Cissy Ballen from the University of Minnesota, and Ole-Petter Moe Hansen from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen to present the interesting results from their gender studies related to higher education.

Where: Auditorium “Egget”, the Student Centre – UiB, Bergen

When: March 27th, 16:15-18:00

bioCEED teaching seminars at UNIS

Posted onFebruary 28, 2017March 14, 2017AuthorTinaLeave a comment

Roy Andersson and Anders Ahlberg from the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University in Sweden and in collaboration with bioCEED, are visiting UNIS in week 10. During their stay they will give 3 seminars on educational matters. Roy and Anders have worked with educational development and teaching for several years and are well known in their field. Don’t miss the chance to join in!

Monday, March 6^th, 13:15–16:00 in Kapp Mitra: Teaching portfolio workshop For teaching staff (including post docs and PhD students). For more information click here.

Tuesday, March 7^th, 12:15–13:00 in Lassegrotta: Brown bag lunch seminar, “PhD learning hurdles in STEM disciplines-mirrored by student talks and manuscripts”

In this lunch seminar for supervisors and doctoral students we´ll unpack and discuss what doctoral students’ early scientific talks and draft manuscripts may tell us about scientific thinking and science communication, and how generic skill development may be promoted. The seminar draws on observations during 15 years of extensive communication training at the Faculty of Engineering (LTH), Lund University (ca 120 PhD students in training per year).

The seminar will be streamed. Click here to watch the seminar.

Tuesday, March 7^th, 13:15–16:00 in Kapp Schoultz: “How to become a better teacher”

For PhD students and post doc. For more information click here.

Til forsvar for dagens studenter!

Posted onFebruary 13, 2017February 13, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Arild Raaheim has recently published the following article in På Høyden:

Du kan ikke si at dagens studenter ikke kan like mye som gårsdagens studenter, fordi de ikke kan de samme tingene som vi kunne, skriver professor Arild Raaheim.

Nokut har nylig lagt frem resultatene fra en spørreundersøkelse til vitenskapelige ansatte om utdanningskvalitet (Undervisersundersøkelsen 2016). Denne ble omtalt i februarnummeret av Forskerforum. Her ble det spesielt kommentert at «noe av det underviserne var mest misfornøyd med, var studentenes faglige forutsetninger» (s. 7)

Han er ein av 20 som kan bli «framifrå undervisar»

Posted onFebruary 3, 2017February 13, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The following article has been published by På Høyden:

20 personar ønsker å bli vurdert for den nye premieringsordninga for god undervisning ved UiB. – Undervisning er eit handtverk som ein kan læra seg, seier ein av søkarane, professor Øyvind Fiksen.

I juni lyste UiB som første utdanningsinstitusjon i Noreg ut moglegheita for å søka på status som framifrå undervisar.

Merriteringsordninga er ei prøveordning for tilsette på Mat.Nat.-fakultetet. Tysdag gjekk fristen ut, og 20 UiB-tilsette ønsker å få undervisningskompetansen sin vurdert for den nye graden.

Det vi studenter trenger fra dere undervisere

Posted onJanuary 31, 2017February 3, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

bioCEED’s student representative Ragnhild Gya has just published the following article both in Khrono and on På Høyden:

I den siste tiden har undervisningskvaliteten på universiteter og høyskoler, og særlig meritteringsordninger for fremragende undervisere, blitt mye diskutert i media. Det har stort sett vært professorer, politikere og de som står bak disse ordningene som har uttalt seg om saken. Jeg tenkte det var på tide at vi studentene fikk en stemme i debatten.

Belønning og økt status kan gi bedre forelesere

Posted onJanuary 30, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Lucas Jeno, Arild Raaheim, Vigdis Vandvik and Oddfrid Førland have recently published this article in forskning.no:

På fredag la kunnskapsminister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen fram sin Kvalitetsmelding for høyere utdanning. Han forventer en betydelig innsats for å heve utdanningskvaliteten på landets universiteter og høyskoler. Blant mange varslede grep er innføringen av en meritteringsordning der de universitetsansatte kan søke om å få tildelt status som fremragende underviser.

Hvilke kriterier departementet ser for seg er ennå ikke kjent, men på Universitetet i Bergen er de i gang med en prøveordning der søkerne må dokumentere sin kompetanse og erfaring i henhold til fire hovedkriterier:
(i) fokus på studentenes læring
(ii) en klar utvikling over tid
(iii) en forskende holdning til egen undervisningspraksis
(iv) en kollegial holdning der undervisningsansvar, -erfaringer og -metoder skal deles med andre.

Gode og dårlige undervisere

Posted onJanuary 30, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Arild Raaheim has recently published the following article in Dagbladet:

Hobbelstad synes også å glemme det faktum at studentenes læringsutbytte i all hovedsak skyldes (mangel på) egen arbeidsinnsats.

Lund har gode erfaringer med å belønne de beste

Posted onJanuary 29, 2017January 31, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Roy Andersson, Thomas Olsson and Torgny Roxå have recently published the following article in Khrono:

Helt naturligt är det just nu mycket fokus på stortingsmeldingen kring kvalitet i norsk högre utbildning. En av sakerna som diskuteras mycket är direktivet kring att höja undervisningens status genom att införa belöningssystem för god undervisning.

I artiklar både här i Khrono och andra medier diskuteras frågor och farhågor som Kan man belöna goda universitetslärare? Kan man göra det med högre lön? Bör man göra det? Vilka effekter kan det föra med sig? Hur ska man utvärdera ett sådant system? Dessutom finns det individuella röster som tycker man gör det på fel sätt på de ställen som redan kommit igång.

Vid Lunds universitets tekniska fakultet (LTH) har vi sedan 15 år erfarenhet av att belöna excellenta lärare. Nedan delar vi med oss lite av de erfarenheter vi gjort och visar fram evidens för att det faktiskt fungerar. Man kan belöna skickliga lärare och man kan göra det med högre lön!

New project: Numerical Competence and Student-Active Research

Posted onJanuary 25, 2017January 25, 2017AuthorTinaLeave a comment

Olav Thon Foundation has granted NOK 1.4 million to bioCEED’s project “Numerical competence and student-active research”. The project will develop and extend the learning platform bioST@TS with quantitative methods and tools, and support student participation in research programs that train these numerical skills.

Biological research requires extensive use of statistical and quantitative methods, with which students traditionally have little experience. The project aims at developing learning methods and tools that train students in designing biological experiments, collecting data, and performing statistical analysis. Students will use these numerical methods, for instance to study bird migration and breeding ecology in Svalbard.

The Olav Thon Foundation published the following statement in its recent press release (in Norwegian):

«Dette er et svært spennende og innovativt utviklingsprosjekt innen biologiutdanningen, hvor man tar sikte på å utvikle og ta i bruk nye digitale hjelpemidler».

Translation: “This is a highly exciting and innovative project in the field of biology education where the aim is at developing and making use of new digital resources”.

This project is a bioCEED collaboration led by Sigrunn Eliassen (UiB), Jonathan Soulé (UiB) and Øystein Varpe (UNIS).

God undervisning kommer ikke fra hjertet

Posted onJanuary 24, 2017January 27, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Arild Raaheim, Vigdis Vandvik, Oddfrid Førland and Lucas Jeno have recently published the following article in Studvest:

God undervisning kan ikke kjøpes», hevder professor Jan Petter Hansen i et intervju i Studvest. Dette er hans reaksjon på at Mat-Nat-fakultetet ved Universitetet i Bergen innfører en meritteringsordning for undervisning, der ansatte kan få lønnsøkning ved å søke om tittelen «fremragende underviser». Vårt motspørsmål blir da dette: Men det kan forskning? Vi har lang tradisjon innenfor universitetssystemet for å belønne den enkelte forsker for hans/hennes forskning. I forbindelse med professoropprykk, lønnsforhandlinger og når det kommer til forskningspriser. Hvorfor skulle det forholde seg annerledes når det gjelder undervisning? På samme måte som dyktige forskere springer frem fra og beriker forskningsmiljøet, vil gode undervisere springe ut av og berike læringsmiljøet.

Individuell belønning gir bedre undervisning

Posted onJanuary 23, 2017January 27, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Eli Neshav Høie and Harald Walderhaug have recently published the following article both in Khrono and På Høyden:

I en artikkel i Khrono 17. januar med overskriften «AFI forsker advarer sterkt mot bruk av lønn som motivator» omtales ordningen for merittering av undervisning, som vi ved Det matematisk -naturvitenskapelige fakultet ved Universitetet i Bergen er først ute nasjonalt med å innføre. Vi ønsker å kommentere noe av det som har kommet frem i debatten, og samtidig rette opp noen misforståelser rundt vår implementering av- og motivasjon for ordningen.

Gir 50.000 mer i lønn til flinke undervisere

Posted onJanuary 13, 2017January 27, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Øyvind Fiksen, Kjell Roymond Olsen and Oddrun Samdal were recently interviewed by NRK. Here is the article.

The effect of a mobile-application tool on biology students’ motivation and achievement in species identification: A Self-Determination Theory perspective

Posted onDecember 30, 2016April 5, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Lucas Jeno, John-Arvid Grytnes and Vigdis Vandvik have recently published the article “The effect of a mobile-application tool on biology students’ motivation and achievement in species identification: A Self-Determination Theory perspective”.

A new research published by researchers at bioCEED has found that using an app (ArtsApp) to identify sedges helps students correctly identify more species, than using the traditional textbook method. Results of the experiment with 70 students from BIO revealed that the students found identifying species more interesting and enjoyable when using a smartphone or tablet. The students felt that they also were more competent after using the app than when using the book. These results are important because when students are undergraduate, identifying species could be difficult and uninteresting. By using modern technology, the teachers could enhance the students´ interest and learning in ways that perhaps is not possible when using a textbook. The study was published online in Computers & Education in December 2016 (see link below).

Abstract

Biology students traditionally use a textbook in the field and on courses to identify species, but now a new mobile-application tool has been developed as an alternative. Guided by Self-Determination Theory (SDT) we conducted an experimental study to test the effect of the mobile-application, relative to the traditional textbook, on students’ intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, and achievement. Seventy-one students were randomly assigned to either an experimental condition (mobile application – ArtsApp) or control condition (textbook – Lids flora). As hypothesised, the students using ArtsApp had higher intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, and achievement, compared to the textbook control group, with medium to large effect sizes. Furthermore, using the mobile application, relative to the textbook, predicted intrinsic motivation, which in turn, predicted higher achievement scores in a path analysis. Lastly in a hierarchical regression analysis, intrinsic motivation and autonomous motivation accounted over and above in students’ interest for species identification, and importance of knowing species. These results are in line with SDT’s theorising: emphasising that when students act out of interest, choice, and have an internal locus of causality, they achieve better outcomes, presumably because these satisfy students’ psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Factors facilitating this are interest, choice, and feedback, which we argue are in-built functions in the mobile application as opposed to the textbook, and which might account for the positive results. Further studies with several student-groups and complex designs are needed before inferring causality across educational levels. Based on the present study, we recommend that biology teachers in higher education employ mobile application tools in species identification due to increases in motivation and a higher degree of accurate identification of sedges.

Reference and link to the article

Jeno, L. M., Grytnes, J.-A. and Vandvik, V. (2015). The effect of a mobile-application tool on biology students’ motivation and achievement in species identification: A Self-Determination Theory perspective. Computers and Education, 107, 1-12

About the author

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Merry christmas!

Posted onDecember 19, 2016December 30, 2016AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

“Ja, kvinner deltar faktisk mindre enn menn”

Posted onNovember 30, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Studvest has recently published the article “Ja, kvinner deltar faktisk mindre enn menn”, including an interview with researcher and bioCEED collaborator Cissy Ballen, from the University of Minnesota.

Etter debatten om kvinnelige studenters muntlige deltakelse i forelesning i vår, bestemte universitetet at temaet skulle forskes på. Resultatet på sammenliknende politikk er slående.

SFU magazine #5

Posted onNovember 27, 2016December 30, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

NOKUT has released the fifth edition of SFU-magazine. Click on the cover to the left to get the Norwegian version or on the cover to the right for the English version.

The future of fisheries education

Posted onNovember 21, 2016November 21, 2016AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

Welcome to FØH (Fisheries Ecology and Aquaculture) Journal Club, which this month will focus on the recent special issue in American Fisheries Society journal Fisheries, where they review where the future of education in this field. The purpose is to reflect on some of the perspectives in this special issue and discuss these points in light of our own teaching.
This jounal club meeting is arranged in collaboration with bioCEED.

Time and place: Friday 25 November at 13:00, in meeting room Store Puddefjorden (B-blokk, 5 et. Biologen)

Meritteringsordning for Fremragende undervisere ved MN-fakultetet, UiB

Posted onNovember 15, 2016AuthorOddfrid ForlandLeave a comment

MatNat-fakultetet innfører en ny meritteringsordning for å gi undervisning høyere status. Les UiBs nyhetssak her.

“Heier på de gode underviserne”

Posted onNovember 3, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Khrono has recently published the article “Heier på de gode undervisene”, including an interview with bioCEED leader Vigdis Vandvik.

Undervisning bør være underlagt de samme kravene til kvalitet som forskning, var gjennomgangstonen på NOKUTs utdanningskonferanse onsdag.

Winners of our #LearningBiology2016 contest – 3

Posted onOctober 28, 2016October 28, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

1st place

Submitted by: romvesen

Submitted on: Instagram

2nd place ex-æquo

Submitted by: romvesen

Submitted on: Instagram

2nd place ex-æquo

Submitted by: kamillalaha

Submitted on: Instagram

The third edition of our #LearningBiology2016 photo contest ended on September 15th. The awarded pictures were all submitted on Instagram. Congratulations to romvesen (1st place and 2nd place ex-æquo) and kamillalaha (2nd place ex-æquo) @Instagram who win a Visa giftcard of a value of 600 and 300NOK, respectively.

We would like to congratulate the winners and we invite everyone to send pictures to #LearningBiology2016 as the contest goes on. The next and last nomination round will occur in December 2016, so… back to your cameras and smartphones!!!

… and remember the theme of the contest: “Learning Biology”.

About the contest:

47 pictures were submitted by a total of 16 participants via Instagram and Twitter. All pictures eventually met the selection criteria published on the page of the contest and were examined by the jury.

Our jury was composed of 3 members:
– Jonathan Soulé, coordinator (University of Bergen)
– Anne-Laure Simonelli, co-coordinator (University of Bergen),
– Janne E. Søreide (University Centre in Svalbard).

The three factors that the jury members considered when reviewing the pictures were:
– relevance to the topic “Learning Biology”,
– esthetics,
– picture quality.

All jury members were given the possibility to vote for up to 3 pictures to be ranked from first to third. The pictures that collected at least 1 vote were nominated. 8 out of the 47 submitted pictures were eventually nominated.

The authors of the 3 awarded pictures win a VISA/Mastercard giftcard (300NOK) and will be soon contacted directly.

bioCEED seminar series – Making (use of) videos in Teaching and Learning.

Posted onOctober 19, 2016April 5, 2017Authorjonathans3 Comments

Recent introduction of the concept of flipped classroom and increased use of online teaching platforms push teachers to adjust or deeply revise course material by making use of new technologies. Videos have become central in these new forms of teaching activities. Even though hardware and software for making videos are getting cheap and easily available, not everybody feels ready to become a movie maker or a movie star.

Jonathan Soulé, chief engineer at bioCEED, introduced three simple, technical solutions which are available to YOU, whether you are interested in recording your own lectures at the classroom, making video tutorials in connection to lab activities (PreLab) , making short videos in the context of flipped classroom or need to stream lectures or events.

Powerpoint presentation (PDF) available here.

bioCEED lunch seminar UNIS – Mads Forchhammer talks about how to strengthen the link between the different guest lectures and topics within a course.

Posted onOctober 19, 2016October 20, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Mads Forchhammer is professor in terrestrial zoology at the AB department at UNIS. He is responsible for the bachelor course AB-203 Arctic Environmental Management which is running every spring.

Mads shared his thoughts on how to strengthen the link between the different guest lectures and topics within a course that embraces a wide range of different topics as well as many guest lectures. Through his presentation he gave some good examples on how he has dealt with this.

Click on the screenshot below to watch his presentation:

bioCEED seminar series – Cissy Ballen talks about active learning.

Posted onSeptember 9, 2016September 9, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Cissy Ballen is a postdoc at the University of Minnesota and her research centers on strategies to reduce attrition of historically underrepresented groups in STEM fields.

Cissy gave a seminar on how active learning can improve diversity and affect the learning performance by students, based on the work she has been doing at Cornell University and University of Minnesota. Cissy is now doing research on biology teaching in collaboration with bioCEED.

Click on the screenshot below to watch her presentation:

Winners of our #LearningBiology2016 contest – 2

Posted onAugust 10, 2016August 15, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

1st place

Submitted by: inemox

Submitted on: Instagram

2nd place

Submitted by: grobrot

Submitted on: Instagram

3rd place

Submitted by: sivahau

Submitted on: Instagram

The second edition of our #LearningBiology2016 photo contest ended on June 15th. The awarded pictures were all submitted on Instagram. Congratulations to inemox, grobrot and sivahau @Instagram who win a Visa giftcard of a value of 300NOK.

We would like to congratulate the winners and we invite everyone to send pictures to #LearningBiology2016 as the contest goes on. The next nomination round will occur in September 2016, so… back to your cameras and smartphones!!!

… and remember the theme of the contest: “Learning Biology”.

About the contest:

37 pictures were submitted by a total of 17 participants via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. All pictures eventually met the selection criteria published on the page of the contest and were examined by the jury.

The three factors that the jury members considered when reviewing the pictures were:
– relevance to the topic “Learning Biology”,
– esthetics,
– picture quality.

All jury members were given the possibility to vote for up to 3 pictures to be ranked from first to third. The pictures that collected at least 1 vote were nominated. 4 out of the 22 selected pictures were eventually nominated.

The authors of the 3 awarded picture win a VISA/Mastercard giftcard (300NOK) and will be soon contacted directly via email.

En kultur for utdanningskvalitet

Posted onJune 18, 2016September 26, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Vigdis Vandvik, Øystein Varpe and Oddfrid Førland have recently published the following article in Morgenbladet:

Professorens to personligheter, forskeren og læreren, må finne sammen. Og vi må skape inkluderende felleskap for læring. Slik bygger vi fremragende utdanninger.

Reference:

Vigdis Vandvik, Øystein Varpe and Oddfrid Førland – Morgenbladet. June 17^th, 2016. http://morgenbladet.no/ideer/2016/06/en-kultur-utdanningskvalitet

– Søk hjelp så fort du kan

Posted onMay 24, 2016January 27, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The following article, including aninterview with Lucas Jeno, was published in Sunnmørsposten:

Etter å ha slitt psykisk over lengre tid, droppet Eirik Wiik Lyngved (18) ut av skolen i andre klasse på videregående. Nå angrer han på at han ikke søkte hjelp før.

SFU magazine #4

Posted onMay 13, 2016August 10, 2016AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

NOKUT has released the fourth edition of SFU-magazine. Click on the cover to the left to read the Norwegian version or on the cover to the right for the English version.

Gjer studentane gode med lagarbeid

Posted onApril 16, 2016January 27, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The following article was recently published by the University of Bergen:

Lagspel mellom studentar og undervisarar er alfa og omega på biologi og supersenteret bioCEED. Øyvind Fiksen meiner det er vegen å gå for å skapa studentar som er klare til arbeidslivet.

På nett med studentane

Posted onMarch 4, 2016January 27, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The following article has been published in Forskerforum.

Det studentane vil ha, er ikkje alltid det dei lærer mest av. Nye digitale læringsformer kan blåse liv i passive førelesingar.

Gjør biologistudenter til «yrkeselever»

Posted onFebruary 20, 2016January 27, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The following article has been recently published by Dagens Næringsliv:

Da Universitetet i Bergen fikk ekstra millioner fra staten til å lage en «fremragende utdannelse» ble resultatet en yrkesskole.

Isaksen: Trenger ikke å gjøre slik som i tv-serien Mammon

Posted onJanuary 24, 2016January 26, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

Khrono has recently published the article “Isaksen: Trenger ikke å gjøre slik som i tv-serien Mammon “, with a mention of bioCEED.

Kvalitet. Kunnskapsminister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen synes ikke det er nødvendig å bruke av oljefondet for å få Oxford, MiT og Harvard til å heve kvaliteten i norsk høyere utdanning, slik som i NRKs spenningsserie Mammon.

Kontaktkonferansen 2016: Fra struktur til kvalitet

Posted onJanuary 13, 2016January 26, 2017AuthorjonathansLeave a comment

The following article was published on the website of the Norwegian government.

I fjor stod jeg foran dere og holdt min “I have a dream”-tale for universitets- og høyskolesektoren. Nå kan jeg konstatere at vi har tatt et stort skritt på vei mot å realisere drømmen. Fra 1. januar var strukturreformen en realitet.

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Snevert markedstilpasset kompetanse er neppe det morgendagens arbeidsgivere trenger, skriver de seks innleggsforfatterne fra UiB.

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Excellence in teaching and learning from the self-determination theory perspective

by Prof. Chantal Levesque-Bristol

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About us

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