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Professor of Plant Biology Ph.D.(University of Colorado)
Department of Plant Biology
Plant Biology Department Selected Recent Publications; Publication List; Current Funding; Teaching |
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Research
As a plant ecologist, I conduct long-term ecological research (LTER) on alpine tundra plant communities on Niwot Ridge, Colorado. My interest in the complex interactions occurring in alpine plant communities in response to global change combined with my commitment to undergraduate biology education, lead to the expansion of my research program to include questions about the teaching and learning of biology. The research our group pursues requires linking the concepts and processes of biology to theories and processes of cognitive science with emphasis on how students construct understanding of the discipline. We use the methods of discipline-based science research that allow for investigating the complexity of learning. Discipline-based research in teaching and learning biology focuses on course and curriculum development, pedagogy and how graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty become effective teachers.
We are developing and testing a web-based concept-mapping tool, CTOOLS, that enables students to visualize their thinking online as well as to receive immediate feedback (NSF-funded assessessment project). FIRST II (Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching) is an NSF-funded national dissemination network for science faculty professional development in teaching through biological field stations and marine labs. Both projects provide a rich forum for research and scholarship in teaching and learning.
Websites:
Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching II: www.first2.org
CTOOLS: www.ctools.msu.edu
Scoring rubrics: http://www.flaguide.org/cat/rubrics/rubrics1.htm
Ebert-May D, Hodder J, Williams K, Luckie D. 2004. Pathways to scientific teaching. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6(2): 323.
Ebert-May D, Hodder J, Williams K, Luckie D. 2004. Climate change: confronting student ideas. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6(2): 324-325.
Hodder J, Ebert-May D, Williams K, Luckie D. 2004. Marine pathology: revealing the ocean's etiology to earthbound students. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7(2): 383-384.
Handelsman J, Ebert-May D, Beichner R, Bruins P, Chang A, DeHaan R, Gentile J, Lauffer S, Steward J, Tilghman S, Wood W. 2004. Scientific teaching. Science 304:521-522.
Ebert-May D, Batzli J, Lim H. December, 2003. Disciplinary research strategies for assessment of learning. Bioscience, 53(12): 1221-1228.
Ebert-May D, Tweedie CE, Walker MD, Webber, PJ. In prep. Change in alpine tundra plant communities over three decades. Target journal: Science.
Avida-ED: Technology for Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science using Digital Organisms. National Science Foundation DUE, CCLI-Educational Materials Development. An Instructional Research and Development Team will develop a learner-designed technology interface for a revolutionary research tool from R. Lenski's laboratory to enable students to use inquiry and technology to test evolutionary hypotheses, and thereby improve their understanding of evolution. Co-PI with Rob Pennock (PI), Rich Lenski, Charles Ofria, MSU. .
CTOOLS: Concept -Connector Tools for online Learning in Science, National Science Foundation ASA- New Developments (ASA 206924) 200-2005. Several hundred faculty, including those in FIRST, will use the web-based concept mapping tool to enhance students' understands of conceptual relationships in science. www.ctools.msu.edu. Co-PI with Doug Luckie, MSU.
FIRST II: Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching Through Field Stations, National Science Foundation CCLI - National Dissemination Model (DUE 0088847) 2001-2005. Continue building a faculty professional development opportunities the results in teaching for learning by all students through 8 nationally located field stations and approximately 40 collaborating colleges and universities. http://www.first2.org/. Co-PI with Jan Hodder, University of Oregon.
Environmental Science course: http://www.msu.edu/course/isb/202/ebertmay/2004/home.html
ISB 203 Environmental Science and Organismal Biology http://www.msu.edu/course/isb/202/ebertmay/home.html
PLB 802 Scientific Teaching in Plant Biology http://www.msu.edu/course/plb/802/home.html
