Research

The BLE (Bioeducation and Lichen Ecology) lab conducts two strands of research. First, we study what university students know about biology and how they learn in biology courses. The overarching themes in this research strand are climate change education in post-secondary contexts and measuring learner-centeredness or equity-mindedness in college settings. Second, we study how microlichen communities are impacted by disturbance. Specifically, we work in areas impacted by fires, bark beetle epidemics, or land use change to investigate how these disturbances impact lichen communities.

A few current projects in the BLE lab:

Developing the Inventory of Biotic Climate Literacy (IBCL). The Inventory of Biotic Climate Literacy (IBCL) measures biology undergraduate student conceptions of the biotic impacts of climate change. The IBCL was developed and validated by our team through an iterative process. We first conducted novice and expert conception interviews to identify key alternative conceptions to explore in the instrument. Through three rounds of interviews, literature searches, and consultation with the Biotic Impacts of Climate Change Core Concepts framework (BIC4, Dunk et al. 2022), we developed preliminary items that were reviewed by external experts. Student think-aloud interviews with these items and a field test of over 800 biology undergraduates yielded information to inform item revision, adaptation, construction, and removal. The revised IBCL was administered in a second field test to over 1500 biology undergraduate participants. Following another round of psychometric analyses, we revised the IBCL into a final instrument. This final concept inventory consists of 30 multiple choice questions, covering 16 constructs or item sets. We are working with collaborators at the University of Maryland to conduct test-retest reliability and investigate longitudinal responses on the IBCL over time.

Collaborators: Krystal Hinerman, Ryan Dunk, Julie Sexton, Jessica Duke, Kaela Clabaugh-Howell, Ashley Heim
Publications from this work:
Holt et al. 2021
Dunk et al. 2022
Clabaugh Howell and Holt 2023

Connection to Nature and Psychological Distance to Climate Change. Using undergraduate biology students across the US, we explored how students conceptualize someone who is highly or not at all connected to nature. We hypothesized that students who are more connected to nature may be better able to see the effects of climate change in their local environments. By extension, we expected that those highly connected to nature may have lower psychological distance to climate change (i.e. feel removed from the impacts of climate change). Our lab developed a classroom intervention, using elements of place-based instruction and transformative experience, aimed at increasing students’ capacity to “see” local climate change effects and reducing their psychological distance of it.

Collaborators: Jessica Duke
Publications from this work:
Duke and Holt 2022
Duke and Holt 2023

Metrics of Learner-centeredness and Equity-mindedness. Past work in the lab investigated several existing metrics for learner-centeredness in university classrooms. While we noted some overlaps, we also identified several disparities in these instruments’ capacities in measuring this same set of practices. We also evaluated introductory biology college course syllabi and have assessed their learner-centeredness or equity-mindedness using established or novel instruments. We are currently developing a new rubric to examine the learner-centeredness and equity-mindedness of instructor teaching philosophies (or teaching statements).

Collaborators: Ashley Heim, Laura Meadows, Max Bernard, Kaela Clabaugh-Howell, Jessica Duke, Lani Irvin, Lydia Mayo
Publications from this work:
Heim and Holt 2018
Heim et al. 2019
Heim and Holt 2020
Meadows et al. 2023

Decolonizing Biology Curricula. Our lab is approaching this topic from several angles. First, we are observing and documenting the reform process undertaken by a biology instructor to decolonize their college biology curriculum. We are using a case study approach and are adapting existing “Innovation-Decision models” that describe the steps by which an instructor changes their curriculum (through new knowledge, persuasion of its efficacy in their classrooms, decisions to use, and its implementation) with the goal of decolonization. Second, we have built curricular materials for a college ecology course aimed at (a) explaining social justice issues in the field of ecology, and (b) identifying social representation of ecologists in the field. Our data shows that following this intervention, students are more aware of racism, sexism, and colonialisms impact on the field of ecology.

Collaborators: Victoria Duncan, Susan Keenan, Karina Sanchez, Amanda Bevan
Duncan et al. 2023

Bark Beetle Epidemic Impacts on Lichen Communities. Our lab studies the impact of bark beetle epidemics on lichen communities. These beetle outbreaks can defoliate conifer trees causing canopy gaps. These gaps may lead to shifts in the epiphytic or forest floor community, depending on climate and whether the overstory is a mixed or homogeneous forest type. We compared microlichen communities in spruce-fir plots of varying beetle impacts in the Roosevelt-Routt National forests (northern Colorado) and found little impact on the lichen community. Our lab is currently beginning a project to investigate spruce beetle impact on lichen communities in Denali National Park, Alaska.

Collaborators: Anna Freundlich, Sara Stehn, Steph Smith
Publications from this work:
Freundlich and Holt 2020

See Google Scholar for full list of publications from all research associated with BLE lab.