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Fields of study
Evolutionary ecology and science education
Academic background
I completed my B.S. in Biological Sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, my M.S. in Zoology at the University of South Florida, and my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Prior to joining EEB in 2002, I was an NSF postdoctoral fellow in science education at the University of Arizona.
News
Kurdziel’s bright IDEA
Dr. Jo Kurdziel, EEB lecturer and assistant research scientist, has been awarded a $100,000 grant for three years from U-M’s IDEA Institute for her project “Injecting assessment in the introductory biology curriculum to improve student learning and teaching.” Kurdziel is developing a collaborative team to assess, and ultimately improve, the new introductory biology sequence as part of this collaboration between the natural science departments in U-M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, and the U-M School of Education.
IDEA stands for the Instructional Development and Educational Assessment Institute. Their mandate is to improve and advance, through research and practice, undergraduate science teaching and learning at all levels, including teacher training and collecting data on student learning. The team will have preliminary results by the end of winter term 2011.
U-M biology course wins national honors
Dr. Josephine Kurdziel’s course “Biology for Non-Scientists” was named one of the best practices in a national study of biology courses conducted by the Center for Educational Policy Research (CEPR) on behalf of the College Board of the University of Oregon.
Way to go Jo
Dr. Jo Kurdziel has been named a National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences for her work aimed at fostering innovative approaches to teaching undergraduate biology.
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