What the Newbies Thought About the 2003 ABLE Meeting

Compiled by Mariëlle Hoefnagels
University of Oklahoma
hoefnagels@ou.edu

• Why did you decide to come to the ABLE meeting?
• What surprised you most about the ABLE meeting?
• What did you like best about the ABLE meeting?
• Was there anything you disliked about the meeting?
• Would you like to share something specific that you learned at the meeting?

Nine first-timers responded, along with two people who had been to previous ABLE meetings (“old-timers”) but mistakenly received my email. I have compiled their answers below. I have corrected misspellings and grammatical errors and omitted identifying information (for the most part). Otherwise, the answers are unchanged.

Enjoy reading the perspectives of our newest meeting attendees!

Why did you decide to come to the ABLE meeting?

First-timer 1: I write educational software for biologists, and probably 10 different professors independently told me that this is the best meeting they go to for teaching ideas, so I was curious to come and experience it.
First-timer 2: I am in a new position that focuses on undergraduate education instead of lab research. I have a good deal of teaching experience but am formally trained as a bench scientist. ABLE seemed like a good meeting to attend to learn about how I can improve my classes.
First-timer 3: I had seen ABLE publications over the years and had liked them. My colleague suggested that we present a lab that had been very successful. I thought it would be fun to present, and learn about some new laboratory exercises, first hand.
First-timer 4: I came to ABLE meeting because I was looking for fresh, innovative, and exciting ideas to add to my introductory biology laboratory sessions.
First-timer 5: I knew of ABLE from a colleague to whom I went for advice when I first started my lab coordinator position. However, it wasn't until the administration decided our lab course was getting too many bad evaluations that I finally joined and came to a meeting.
First-timer 6: Because professional colleagues had told me that this was a good meeting to attend and it would have a lot of useful techniques.
First-timer 7: I am a lab coordinator for a large nonmajors course as well as for two advanced investigative labs for biology majors. I had not been to a meeting like this for quite some time and went to get some fresh insights and ideas to bring back to my own classes. I was also encouraged to attend the ABLE meeting by a friend of mine who is a member.
First-timer 8: A colleague of mine encouraged me to go, explaining that it was very informative relative to lab instruction. He said that the sessions were very helpful and the best part was that the author was there to assist with the lab and that the labs are printed and available for use within my own laboratory classroom
First-timer 9: I'd heard many good things about the ABLE meetings and the ABLE community. I also wanted to help Carol Budd talk about the Biosci Education Network
Old-timer 1: I always intend to come to ABLE and some years I do make it. I have also contributed by giving a major and mini workshop in the past.
Old-timer 2: I go to ABLE meetings to exchange and share new ideas for hands-on biology. I do spend a lot of time, on my own, developing new ideas and novel lab approaches that I very much enjoy sharing with teachers and students at all educational levels, including college-level. But I do not normally teach any general biology at my institution.

What surprised you most about the ABLE meeting?

First-timer 2: I learned even more than I expected.
First-timer 3: It seemed to me that there were an unusually high percentage of women at the meeting. This suits me fine, if it is true.
First-timer 4: Two things surprised me the most. 1) How friendly the people were. I was made to free at home the first day I meet Donna at the rest of the group at breakfast. 2) How willing people were to share their ideas. I am not used to this type of environment, but "I can get used to it."
First-timer 5: The wide range of places and programs that people came from.
First-timer 6: It was not as good as I had expected. It was too dependent on microbiology/biochemistry techniques.
First-timer 7: This wasn’t really a surprise (I sort of expected it), but I really liked the enthusiasm and commitment to high-quality undergraduate education that all the attendees expressed.
First-timer 8: I think what surprised me most was the collegiality of all the people that attended, regardless of background. It seemed to me from my conversations with several attendees that everyone was there to learn how to better teach a particular lab or how to better teach a topic of interest to them. Most professional meetings I have attended I have not experienced the level of cooperation among the attendees for a goal bigger then themselves. It was quite refreshing, and I must say, makes the next ABLE meeting that much more attractive.
First-timer 9: I was surprised by the diversity of presentations/labs that were offered.

What did you like best about the ABLE meeting?

First-timer 1: It was nice that it was so hands-on; it was fun to try the different experiments.
First-timer 2: The practical demonstrations and well developed guides for how to try out some of the things I liked back at my own school. It's much more effective than just reading about or listening to a "lecture" description of an approach.
First-timer 3: I found the presentations very helpful and interesting. I especially enjoyed the chance to chat with peers across the continent. It was interesting that we all share common problems and interests.
First-timer 4: 1) The hands on lab experience, 2) Meeting so many wonderful people with great ideas, willing to share what they have worked on for so many years. Outside the meetings, several people promised to send me their lab manuals and specific labs they had developed, and they kept their word. 3) The presentations during lunch break. I thought they were wonderful.
First-timer 5: There were lots of choices and lots of topics from doing specific labs (tried-and-true to brand-new), to running labs, to grading. Every one I went to had value to me. The only trouble was I would hear people talk of other sessions and I was disappointed I missed those. Maybe it was because I was new and everything was new to me.
First-timer 6: Small groups - good interactions. Friendly people.
First-timer 7: I really liked the hands-on approach to the major workshops and the openness of presenters to sharing their ideas.
First-timer 8: Again I would say the collegiality of all the people there. Everyone was quite approachable and everyone seemed to be driven by the same goal of taking a scientific concept and making it as teachable as possible.
First-timer 9: Meeting new people and seeing how others teach labs and experiments. I also liked that some of the major workshops and minis were focused on theory as well as the "How to."
Old-timer 1: ABLE continues to be really special because of the actual lab/field experiences and the available materials for incorporating or modifying and incorporating into the curriculum at one's own college program. The level of sharing is really uplifting at the time of year we can all benefit best from this type of collegiality.
Old-timer 2: I especially like that ABLE participants regularly come from a very wide geographic range and teach at all sizes and types of institutions.

Was there anything you disliked about the meeting?

First-timer 1: I would have liked a few more opportunities to meet other people at the meeting -- perhaps if we had all been eating together in a dining hall or something like that.
First-timer 2: Occasionally there were two or more sessions scheduled simultaneously that I would have liked to have attended but I don't see how that is avoidable without the meeting getting too long.
First-timer 3: I had a little trouble finding when things occurred. I came to the meeting late, and I think that was part of the problem. I had trouble finding a schedule of activities, times, and places. Again, this was available, but I didn't quite know how to find it at the time.
First-timer 4: I disliked the mini-workshops. Too much is crammed in a very short period of time. I would have liked to have attended at least five minis, but I was only able to attend three. Even for the three I attended, I felt the time allocated was still not enough.
First-timer 5: How about things that I would like to see improved? Everyone was very nice and I met lots of people, but I also felt like there were a lot of people I didn't get to meet. It might be nice to have a long-timer help to introduce a newby to some of the experienced ABLE members. On the first day or so, an established ABLE member could meet up with a new person and ask what that person was interested in and then steer them to other members who have talked on those issues. Maybe this could be done on a sort of volunteer basis.
First-timer 6: Not enough anatomy or physiology labs.
First-timer 7: Not really, although I thought the business meeting could have left more time for new business by simply asking people to read the committee reports on their own (for ones with no changes).
First-timer 8: The slot machines at the MGM Grand Hotel.
First-timer 9: Time of the business meeting
Old-timer 2: I dislike the fact that the organization's membership is dwindling overall and that its meetings are not known to, or patronized by, more tenure-track faculty who teach general biology.

Would you like to share something specific that you learned at the meeting?

First-timer 2: A new twist on the "what's in the box" introduction lab. I did this when I was in college and thought it was rather lame. Having the students check each other’s "experiments" and results and then discuss their differences in opinions among themselves made it much, much more effective and enjoyable. It was also a good object lesson on how collaborative learning can be very useful.
First-timer 3: The most important thing was the opportunity to meet professors who have interests very similar to mine. I am sure we will continue to communicate as individuals and through the organization. They gave me some very important information that I would not have been able to find elsewhere. For instance, I was given the name of a book that was out of print. I can now request this from a library. I had tried to find this publication on my own, but my citation was too meager to help. Meeting with individuals with common interests and expertise was very useful.
First-timer 4: One of the best lessons I learned from the meeting was that it is OK to share what I know with others.
First-timer 5: I am not alone. It was reassuring to know that others were also dealing with the same problems I was and that everyone was willing to share their successes and failures.
First-timer 8: I learned of several packages of software that will facilitate a lab that I do on the use of the Scientific Method. I also paged through last year’s proceedings and found several helpful write ups on laboratory procedures.
First-timer 9: That I want to go again!
Old-timer 1: I especially benefited from sessions given by Charlie Drewes this year.