Fostering Equity in STEM Education: Strategies for Inclusive Pedagogy

This presentation panel will explore effective strategies for fostering equity in STEM education through inclusive pedagogy, ensuring all learners have equal access and opportunities to excel. Participants will gain insights into practical approaches and innovative methods aimed at creating a more inclusive and equitable learning environment within the STEM disciplines.

Lisa Burgess (Moderator), Assistant Director, Center for Teaching & Learning

As Assistant Director for the Center for Teaching & Learning, Lisa Burgess supports faculty in the use and application of educational technology tools. She provides one-on-one assistance to faculty using educational technology, develops workshops for faculty groups, and collaborates with Digital Learning and Innovation and Shipley Center projects with a focus on the use of technology to promote student learning and engagement. Lisa has 23 years of higher education experience, 17 of those as a professor of biological sciences. She holds an Advanced Teaching in Higher Education certificate from ACUE, and is well versed in multiple education technology platforms. She specializes in active learning and project-based learning using technology and evidence-based practices.

Data-driven Approaches to Pedagogical Choices and Innovations: Using Quantitative Critical Theory to Investigate Educational Debts

Binyomin Abrams, Associate Research Professor and Director of General Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Binyomin Abrams is a Research Associate Professor in the Chemistry department at Boston University. His scholarship in the area of teaching and learning involves research on pedagogy, investigating new educational approaches, developing tools and techniques to improve student learning, and advancing equity-focused approaches to STEM instruction. Dr. Abrams also holds a secondary appointment in the BU Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, serves as the Director of General Chemistry, and is the Director of the College of Arts and Sciences Program in Science Education.

STaRS: Sumer Training as Research Scholars

Maria Isabel Dominguez, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Isabel Dominguez, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Medicine at Boston University. Her research aims to understand how embryonic development occurs and how it is disrupted in developmental diseases. She has recently started studying a rare neurodevelopmental disease, Okur-Chung Neurodevelopmental Syndrome (OCNDS). She has served as a research mentor and advisor for over 50 undergraduate students and other trainees. Dr. Dominguez has a long-standing commitment to developing talent in the biomedical professions, and to promoting a diverse biomedical workforce. She holds/held leadership roles in career development for trainees and faculty at BU. She is an expert in designing and implementing effective strategies to facilitate and foster career development of biomedical trainees, including underrepresented groups in biomedicine. She is a former co-chair and member of the Faculty Development and Diversity Committee in the Department of Medicine, former Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at GMS, and former leader of career development at ECUSA. She worked with academia and industry to develop the internship and site visit programs at BU's BEST which helped biomedical graduate trainees gain tangible skills for their future career. Regarding her commitment to promoting a diverse research community, Dr. Dominguez directs the STaRS program, a program for students of traditionally underrepresented groups in science and medicine, which helps them acquire confidence, knowledge, and skills for their future scientific career. She is the faculty advisor of the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) and former advisor of the Minority and International Scientists Organization (MISO).

Equity in Anatomy Education: Overcoming Barriers through Digital Cadaver Preservation and Inclusive Pedagogy

Jon Wisco, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Director of the Laboratory for Translational Anatomy of Degenerative Diseases and Developmental Disorders, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Dr. Jonathan J. Wisco is Associate Professor at Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. He is co-Director for the preclinical curriculum, Principles Integrating Science, Clinical Medicine and Equity (PISCEs); and Director of the Laboratory for Translational Anatomy of Degenerative Diseases and Developmental Disorders (TAD4). Dr. Wisco is interested in the histological validation of innovative imaging of anatomic pathologies, functional activation of the brain during active learning, and the educational scholarship of teaching and learning, notably on the topics of curriculum design, faculty development, learning tools innovation, service-learning, and inclusive learning environments. He directs the non-profit organizations Better Learning Experiences, which provides underserved faculty development for K-12, community college, and undergraduate university instructors; and Anatomy Academy, which teaches anatomy, physiology and nutrition concepts to underserved elementary school children as an effort to promote healthy lifestyles through educational intervention, and to inspire kids to pursue science as a career.