NCSE's Wendy Johnson leads a session on the scientific literacy tool DataWISE.
At the 2024 National Association of Biology Teachers conference in Anaheim, California, the theme of NCSE’s many sessions was storytelling: How do we help students make sense of the stories being told with data and data visualizations? How can we use storytelling and games to engage students in learning about evolution and ecology? How can teachers use storylines in their classrooms every day to make climate change relevant to students? These were just a few of the questions that we asked and attempted to answer with this year’s conference participants. This annual conference brings together educators, researchers, and practitioners in the life sciences to share lessons, strategies, and innovations in the field of biology education.
NCSE’s first session was a three-hour workshop titled “Scientific Literacy in the Digital Age of Misinformation” in which Science Education Specialist Wendy Johnson and Interim Director of Education Blake Touchet introduced participants to our new scientific media literacy tool DataWISE. This tool, which has generated enthusiastic responses from teachers as we’ve begun to unveil it at professional development opportunities around the country, is grounded in the idea that students need a systematic, scaffolded approach to determine the validity and reliability of data-based claims. In other words, this is a tool to build students’ capacity to determine if the stories they are being told by data and data visualizations are trustworthy. After introducing the components of the tool (Is this Worthy of attention? Inspect the data. Does this make Sense? What Emotion is activated?) participants practiced applying the tool using our newly developed activities. They ended the session by planning out ways to incorporate the tool and activities into their regular classroom practice.
Our next session was the annual Evolution Symposium co-hosted by NCSE and NABT. This year’s event featured Katie Hinde, Associate Professor at Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and founder of March Mammal Madness. Hinde shared research linking human’s evolutionary history of sociality and collective storytelling to the success of the March Mammal Madness tournament which has helped hundreds of thousands of students across the country engage in biology, evolution, and ecology since its inception in 2013. Following Hinde’s presentation, Touchet and Teacher Ambassador Jeff Grant walked participants through NCSE’s lesson It’s Time to Lose the Ladder which guides students through the concept of convergent evolution and the creation of phylogenetic trees.
Katie Hinde leads a session at the Evolution Symposium.
The NCSE team wrapped up with two final sessions focusing on our newly developed Climate Change Story Shorts. One session led by Johnson and Touchet discussed teachers’ experiences with Next Generation Science Standards-aligned storylines. During this session, participants shared their successes and struggles with using storylines and Johnson and Touchet shared how NCSE has used research and teacher feedback to craft short, flexible, easy-to-use Story Shorts that maximize the benefits of this curricular approach while minimizing the barriers that teachers have experienced when implementing them. The last session allowed participants to experience NCSE’s new Story Short Sustainable Climate Solutions from a student’s perspective as they learn about the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, climate solutions, and how we can work to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
NCSE team members also attended the Honors Luncheon where Teacher Ambassadors Jennifer Broo and David Amidon received awards. Broo was named this year’s Outstanding Biology Teacher for the state of Ohio, and Amidon was awarded the Ecology and Environmental Science Teaching Award. The Evolution Education Award, co-sponsored by NCSE and BSCS Science Learning was also presented to Briana Pobiner. A former recipient of NCSE’s Friend of Darwin Award, Pobiner is a paleoanthropologist who leads the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program and has engaged in evolution education research and programming for K-12 classrooms.
As in past years, a follow-up to the Evolution Symposium with Katie Hinde will take place in February during NCSE and NABT’s joint Darwin Day webinar. Be on the lookout for more information soon to celebrate Darwin Day with the kick-off of the 2025 March Mammal Madness tournament!
