Rensselaer Professors Michael Hanna and George Plopper Named Education Fellows by the National Academies
Michael Hanna, associate professor of biology, and George Plopper, assistant professor of biology, were recently named "Education Fellows in the Life Sciences" by the National Academies. The designation was given to 39 educators around the country who successfully completed a summer institute aimed at fostering innovative approaches to teaching undergraduate biology.
"These fellows are at the forefront of cutting-edge changes in the ways that we should be teaching undergraduate biology. They will play a vital role in better preparing all students for life in a world that will be increasingly dominated by science and technology, as well as attracting some of them to a career in biomedical research."
—Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences—
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Hanna and Plopper were selected to attend the summer institute based on their research team's ideas for enhancing undergraduate biology education and a commitment by Rensselaer to support teaching innovations. Admission to the summer institute was highly competitive and only 20 research universities nationwide were chosen to participate.
The institute grew out of a recommendation in a report issued last year by the National Academies' National Research Council, Bio2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists, which called for changes in the way college students are taught biology. The report noted that undergraduate biology education was failing to keep pace with revolutionary advances in biomedical research that require those working in the field to have a good understanding of other scientific disciplines, such as math and computer science, and urged instructors to integrate other subjects into their biology classes.
"These fellows are at the forefront of cutting-edge changes in the ways that we should be teaching undergraduate biology," said Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences. "They will play a vital role in better preparing all students for life in a world that will be increasingly dominated by science and technology, as well as attracting some of them to a career in biomedical research."
The National Academies Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education in Biology was held in August at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Major funding for the institute was provided by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, along with support from the host university and the National Academies.
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