The Department of Biology is pleased to announce our very own professors, Dr. Jennifer Neuwald and Dr. Michael Shavlik, as speakers for an upcoming BIO Seminar.
Their talk, “The Making of a Biologist: Facilitating the Transition from Student to Scholar,” explores how students move from learning biology content to thinking and working like biologists. Drawing on an ongoing study of LIFE102 Biology students, the seminar will share emerging findings about how students develop the critical thinking, self-regulation, study strategies, executive functioning, and digital literacy needed for college-level learning.
The presentation will also highlight a classroom intervention designed to support students in this transition and consider what these findings reveal about the broader challenge of helping students become active participants in the scholarly community of biology.
Event Details
Speakers: Dr. Jennifer Neuwald & Dr. Michael Shavlik
Title: The Making of a Biologist: Facilitating the Transition from Student to Scholar
Date: Tuesday, October 20th, 2026
Time: 4:00PM
Location: Biology 136
Hosted by Dr. DeeDee Wright, Assistant Professor of Experiential Education, Biology
We invite students, faculty, and staff to join us for this engaging seminar.
Visit our website for more information on our seminars and follow us on social media for more announcements from Biology.
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Abstract
Success in biology requires more than mastering content. Students must learn to think critically, regulate their own learning, apply knowledge to novel problems, and engage in the practices of a scholarly community. Yet many students arrive at the university still developing the habits and strategies needed for college-level learning. How can we better understand where students begin, support their transition, and evaluate whether our efforts are effective?
This seminar will focus on emerging findings from an ongoing study of LIFE102 Biology students that combines quantitative measures of performance with qualitative analyses of students’ metacognitive development. We will describe a classroom intervention designed to support students’ transition to college-level thinking and explore what we are learning about students’ study strategies, self-regulation, executive functioning, and digital literacy. Beyond evaluating the intervention itself, these findings offer broader insights into the challenges students face as they move from passive recipients of information to active participants in the scholarly pursuit of becoming a biologist.
