RESEARCH
Everybody can learn—and love—biology

In the Cotner lab, we’re all about promoting opportunities for everybody to learn biology. To that end, we focus on bioliteracy from a range of perspectives, including STEM equity, active learning, teaching assistant (TA) training, and course-based research experiences (CREs).

Key collaborators include (but are not restricted to) the Center of Excellence in Biology Education (bioCEED) in Norway, the Equity and Diversity in Undergraduate STEM (EDU-STEM) Network, and the Sloan Equity and Inclusion in STEM Introductory Courses (SEISMIC) Network.

Some of our current burning questions are:

  • What factors are barriers to achieving equity in STEM education and practice?
  • How can we help our students realize the benefits of research in a course-based research setting?
  • What active-learning techniques can we employ to meet our goal of bioliteracy for all students?
  • What training methods will help our teaching assistants facilitate inquiry in their lab sections?