RCN-UBE Incubator: Incorporating Immunology into the Curriculum to Promote Interdisciplinary Science Education

免疫学是一个内容丰富，发展迅速的领域，这使得教师很难“跟上”。由于缺乏教师的专业知识和/或免疫学实验室所需的昂贵资源，在本科生物学课程中纳入免疫学相关的主题是有限的。然而，免疫学对于培养下一代科学家和医学专业人员非常重要。揭示免疫学的学科知识以鼓励公众对话有可能对许多社会问题产生积极影响，例如促进疫苗的接受，从而提高免疫接种率。免疫学培养的跨学科思维对于应对当前的社会挑战也至关重要，例如全球气候变化对新发传染病的影响。免疫学网络将连接致力于跨学科本科免疫学教育和主动学习的教育工作者。该网络将开发整合免疫学相关跨学科学习成果的教学资源，例如与生态学和化学交叉的教学资源。这些跨学科的学习成果与本科生物学教育的愿景和变化中指出的关键概念和能力保持一致：行动呼吁报告，将通过教育界的反馈来确定。非免疫学教育工作者，代表不同的机构和学科的专业知识，将与免疫学教育工作者配对开发这些跨学科的教学资源，基于落后的设计方法和积极的学习策略。在RCN-UBE孵化器结束时产生的产品将在虚拟研讨会上与网络参与者共享，并通过QUBES中心网站传播供美国微生物学学会本科教育工作者会议的教育工作者使用。该网络将为教师带来重要的专业发展机会，并使他们能够积极影响不同的学生群体，包括代表性不足的第一代学生和退伍军人。该项目由生物基础设施部生物科学理事会资助，作为他们努力应对本科生物学教育中的愿景和变革所带来的挑战的一部分：行动呼吁（http：//visionandchange/finalreport/）。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Immunology is a content-heavy, rapidly-evolving field, which makes “keeping up” difficult for instructors. The inclusion of immunology-related topics in undergraduate biology curricula at an introductory level is limited due to lack of faculty expertise and/or costly resources required for immunology labs. Yet, immunology is important for training the next generation of scientists and medical professionals. Demystifying immunology’s discipline-specific knowledge to encourage public dialogue has the potential to positively impact numerous societal issues, such as promoting acceptance of vaccines leading to an increase in the rate of immunization. Interdisciplinary thinking fostered by immunology is also critical to tackle current societal challenges, such as the effect of global climate change on emerging infectious diseases. The Immunology network will connect educators who are committed to interdisciplinary undergraduate immunology education and active learning. The network will develop teaching resources that integrate immunology related interdisciplinary learning outcomes, for example those intersecting with ecology and chemistry. These interdisciplinary learning outcomes aligned with the key concepts and competencies noted in The Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action report, will be identified with feedback from the educator community. Non-immunology educators, representing diverse institutional and disciplinary expertise, will be paired with an immunology educator for developing these interdisciplinary teaching resources, based on backward design approach and active learning strategies. The products generated at the end of this RCN-UBE incubator, will be shared with the network participants at a virtual symposium, disseminated for use by educators at the American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators and as an Open Educational Resource via the QUBES hub site. The network will result in significant professional development opportunities for faculty and empower them to positively impact diverse student populations including underrepresented and first-generation students and veterans.This project is being funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.