Improving Access to Biology Education Research by Decreasing Barriers to Participation in the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research’s 2021 National Conference

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This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing access to the 2021 Society for Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) national conference. Each year, SABER hosts a national conference for biology education researchers and practitioners. On average, about 400 participants have attended these in-person conferences. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 SABER national conference was held virtually, with no registration fees. These changes led to a tremendous increase in participation, with over 1400 registrations for the meeting and over 500 active participants at conference sessions. To sustain broad attendance at the 2021 conference and to increase the diversity of attendees, this proposal intends to expand conference activities through a regular series of special lectures, to design the 2021 annual meeting to include the option for virtual attendance, and to provide registration and travel fellowships to broaden participation in biology education research. Special interest groups within the SABER community will select 12 speakers for a series of live webinars that will be offered throughout the year. The webinars will be freely available to any interested participant. In addition, they will be recorded and archived on the SABER website. In addition, the project will build virtual attendance options into all sessions of the 2021 SABER conference, which is expected to be an in-person conference scheduled for July 22-25, 2021. Virtual participants will pay registration fees that are half as much as those required for in-person participation. The virtual participation option is expected to enable participation by biology education researchers and practitioners who would be otherwise unable to attend the conference due to financial or logistical challenges. Finally, the project will support travel fellowships to support in-person participation by individuals from diverse backgrounds. The availability of travel fellowships will be advertised to minority-serving institutions including Hispanic-serving institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as through partner organizations such as the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. Recipients of travel fellowships will be selected by SABER’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. These efforts are intended to broaden participation in and access to SABER activities. The NSF IUSE: EHR program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.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.