Science Education Students Place First at National Conference

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Two secondary science education students, Cassandra Dowds and Cara Stephens, won first-place awards at the 2015 National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) Conference in Providence, R.I. 

“Cassandra and Cara did an outstanding job at the NABT conference in presenting sound scientific research, and representing the College of Education, the College of Arts and Science, and Oklahoma State University,” secondary science education faculty Julie Angle said. “These two young professionals will serve as catalysts to strengthen the science teaching profession in the state of Oklahoma.”

Dowds won first place in the Mentored Undergraduate Research competition for her poster, “The Effect of Embryonic Exposure to Predation Risk on the Growth and Antipredator Behavior of Physa acuta.” Dowds has been mentored by doctoral student Lynne Beaty and associate professors Barney Luttbeg (College of Arts and Sciences) and Julie Angle (College of Education).

Stephens won first place in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning competition, for her work “Relationship between Instructional Strategies and Student Focus in a Flipped, Introductory-Biology Classroom”. Stephens has been mentored by doctoral student Michael Moore and professor Donald French from the College of Arts and Science. 

In addition, science education master’s student Chelsea Fortenberry and science education senior Daniel Lyon also represented OSU at the NABT Conference. 

NABT, in its 77th year, is the largest organization devoted solely to the research on and practice of life-science education at all levels. The poster session competition, now in its seventh year, is open to graduate and undergraduate students conducting research in biology education and to undergraduate student conducting research in any area of biology.