Biology beyond the classroom: Experiential learning through authentic research, design, and community engagement

Biology beyond the classroom: Experiential learning through authentic research, design, and community engagement

This paper introduces the collection of manuscripts from the symposium, “Biology Beyond the Classroom: Experiential Learning through Authentic Research, Design, and Community Engagement,” presented at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. The following papers showcase innovative approaches for engaging undergraduate students in experiential science learning experiences. Specifically, we focus on three high-impact practices that allow students to take their learning outside of the classroom for increased relevance and authenticity: (1) Course-Based Undergraduate Research, (2) Digital Fabrication in Makerspaces, and (3) Service or Community-based Learning Opportunities. Although each topic is unique, all provide an alternative approach to the traditional lecture and have proven effective at appealing to diverse groups of students who are traditionally underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics workforce.

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Hansen, A. K., Connors, P., Donnelly-Hermosillo, D., Full, R., Hove, A., Lanier, H., Lent, D., Nation, J., Tucker, K. P., Ward, J., Whitenack, L., & Zavaleta, E. (2021). Biology beyond the classroom: Experiential learning through authentic research, design, and community engagement. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 61(3), 926–933. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab155