Biochemistry Education

Currently, my research is centered on three areas: assessment for understanding, undergraduate student learning in biochemistry, and science faculty and graduate teaching assistants’ pedagogical beliefs.

Assessment for understanding

Historically, classroom assessments have been used to make judgments about the outcomes of teaching, not necessarily to inform instruction or curricular changes.  With recent reform efforts in science education and a shift toward teaching for understanding, this traditional view of assessment is no longer adequate.  Teaching for understanding requires that instructors establish clear learning objectives that stem from key concepts, (actively engage students in applying and synthesizing their understandings, and utilize formative assessment techniques to monitor student learning and performance.  My research explores (1) the nature of assessments that support teaching for understanding in large-lecture biochemistry courses and (2) faculty and TA thinking about and skills in assessing student understanding.

Undergraduate student learning in biochemistry

For many students, biochemistry is the first course requiring them to integrate their knowledge from chemistry, biology, and physics.  My research in the area of student learning focuses on (1) characterizing what prior knowledge students draw on in learning biochemistry, (2) understanding the nature of students’ native approaches to learning in biochemistry, and (3) identifying barriers to knowledge integration in biochemistry. 

Faculty and Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Pedagogical Beliefs

Upon entering academic positions, science faculty are often well prepared for their research roles.  Yet most have received little, if any, formal training on the teaching and learning of science to prepare them for their roles as instructors.  As graduate students in science, future science are more likely to hold research, not teaching, assistantships.  As teaching assistants, they are typically assigned to facilitate labs rather than teaching whole sections by themselves, and are seldom assigned to TA positions with their development as future professors in mind.  This contributes to the lack of preparation for teaching in junior science faculty.  I am interested in (1) investigating how science faculty and future faculty (GTAs) think about issues in teaching and learning and (2) identifying fruitful entry points for developing faculty and graduate student skills in teaching and investigating student learning. 

Selected Publications

Offerdahl, E. & Tomanek, D.  (in review). The development of science instructors’ thinking about formative assessment.

Offerdahl, E. (in review).  The process of science instructors’ reflection:  The role of a knowledgeable other.
Baldwin, T.O., Elfring, L., & Offerdahl, E. (2008).  Ph.D. in biochemistry (education)!, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 38(4), 251-252.

Offerdahl, E.G., Baldwin, T., Elfring, L, Vierling, E., & Ziegler, M. (2008). Reading questions in large-lecture courses:  Limitations and unexpected outcomes, Journal of College Science Teaching, 37(4), 43-47.

Offerdahl, E.G., Morrow, C. A., Prather, E. E., & Slater, T. F. (2005).  Journey Across the Disciplines:  A Foundation for Scientific Communication in Bioastronomy.  Astrobiology, 5(5), 651-657.

Offerdahl, E. G., Prather, E. E, & Slater, T. F. (2004). Emphasizing astrobiology:  Highlighting communication in an elective course for science majors. Journal of College Science Teaching, 34(3), 30-34.

Offerdahl, E. G., Prather, E. E., & Slater, T. F. (2002). Students’ pre-instructional beliefs and reasoning strategies about astrobiology concepts. Astronomy Education Review, 1(2), 5-27.