On Thursday, May 4th Early College Experience Biology Instructors visited the Storrs campus for a professional development workshop. Instructors worked with UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator, Dr. Tom Abbot, Dr. Chris Malinoski, and Rebecca Newcomer on a laboratory exercise where Instructors received hands on experience. Instructors performed a colorimetric assay allowing them to observe the activity of the mechanism that yeast use to import maltose.

UConn Biology courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Thursday, April 7^th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Biological Sciences, Dr. Tom Abbott, and Lab Coordinator Dr. Chris Malinoski, met with certified BIOL 1107: Principles of Biology I and BIOL 1108 Principles of Biology II Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

The group shared how they are teaching the courses in their high schools this year and covered general ECE business discussing texts, labs exercises, exams, and grading. Later special guest, Dr. Morty Ortega, from UConn’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment shared his research on “Socioecology and evolution of the South American camelids" in an interactive presentation with teachers.

UConn Biological Sciences courses offered through ECE.

On Tuesday, April 6th, UConn Early College Experience and UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Biology, Dr. Tom Abbott and colleagues Jean Laughman and Dr. Christopher Malinoski met with ECE Biology Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

The group met to discuss future curriculum directions and pedagogy in our classrooms. Later, Dr. Abbott showed Instructors how to use computational techniques in the 3D Modeling of Proteins, and its use in the addressing of complex health problems and its possible implementation in ECE Biology classrooms.

The figure below and its description were taken from a public protein database and can be visualized and analyzed using a computer-modeling program called PyMol.

“Spike glycoprotein, a class I fusion protein harboring the surface of SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2S), plays a seminal role in the viral infection starting from recognition of the host cell surface receptor, attachment to the fusion of the viral envelope with the host cells”

The morning ended with a discussion on the merits of molecular modeling skill development and its implementation in our classrooms. Dr. Abbott and Dr. Malinoski also shared a scientific animation project with the instructors.

UConn Biology courses offered through Early College Experience.

Dr. Thomas Abbott, faculty coordinator for UConn ECE Biology and a group of fifty certified instructors discussed all things insects. Special guest speaker, from UConn’s EEB department, Professor David L. Wagner shared his research on caterpillars with the group in an interactive presentation during the morning. In the afternoon, instructors were able to tour UConn’s Research greenhouses under guidance by Living Plant Collections Manager, Clinton Morse.  Instructors walked through each zone getting to take a close look at the thousands of plants thriving in the greenhouses. Later groups of instructors were able to visit the Biodiversity Research Collections with Dr. Sarah Taylor and Dr. Jane O’Donnell who shared a variety of samples from the Collections with the instructors.

UConn Biology Courses through UConn ECE