The primary goal of the Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) group is to study college-level STEM education through learning sciences and education research that is grounded within the cognate expertise of STEM disciplines. DBER research and change efforts work to inform college-level STEM education, drawing on multi-faceted inputs and support. Thus, the DBER Group is composed of faculty, staff and students from STEM, education and other fields who share a common interest in studying and transforming STEM education (formal and informal, PK-16+) through both basic and applied research. The group meets on a weekly basis via an informal STEM Education Seminar and Journal Club where we learn more about current STEM education research and activities in formal (grades PK-16+) and informal (outreach activities and museums) educational settings. Together we explore questions and ideas of mutual interest that deal with STEM education and STEM education research. All are welcome to attend. In addition to our seminar, we also host other types of activities such as workshops and socials.
Join the Conversation
The UNL DBER Group is intended to promote discussion about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education research applicable to primarily the undergraduate level; however, we do also actively discuss STEM education research and activities in pK-12 levels and informal learning environments.
Deepika Menon
Menon wins research grant to support STEM efficacy project
Congratulations to Deepika Menon, assistant professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education and the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education at UNL, for winning an NSF Track 4 research grant to support her project, "Integrated STEM Efficacy (RISE): A Study of Elementary Preservice Teachers and Noyce Scholars."
Son's health issues fuel UNL researcher's interest in building virtual immune system
For decades, engineers have used computer models to simulate the workings of engines and rockets before launch, and today's passenger jet engines have computer replicas that alert airlines when repairs are necessary. A University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher is working to develop a similar tool for one of the human body's most complex machines — the immune system. Tomáš Helikar, an associate professor of biochemistry at UNL, said having a computer replica of the immune system could help researchers better understand and even personalize treatment for immune-related diseases and increase the speed and efficiency of drug development. Helikar and his team already have developed a model based on one type of immune cell — the CD4+ T cell, the so-called helpers that stimulate other cells to fight pathogens. Read more
The effort Tomáš Helikar is putting toward developing a virtual human immune system is driven by his son, Liam, who had a lung transplant at nine weeks old. Helikar's wife, Resa, is at left.
Learn more about Griep's REU: Chemical Assembly
Professor Mark Griep and his colleagues in the Nebraska Department of Chemistry @unlchemistry received additional funding from the National Science Foundation for their Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. This 10-week summer REU in Chemistry cultivates a learning environment that provokes undergraduate students to ask, "What are the most important issues that face our society?" and then provides them with enough training that they can contribute to addressing those issues and to communicate what they’ve learned. Participants progress from undergraduate textbook learning to discovering and solving challenging research problems. Read more
Mark Griep