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Research in the Classroom: Sheritta Fagbodun's Mission
Effective teaching isn’t always easy to define, and the invisible factors that affect the success of a curriculum can be even harder to recognize. Luckily, the EDU-STEM network has researchers like Sheritta Fagbodun, who are used to searching beyond what the human eye can see.
Sheritta is employed at Tuskegee University, where she carries out research on nematodes in her newly opened C. elegans research lab. The current goal she is working towards involves the use of inhibitors to identify genes that could have potential uses in antihelminthic drug development. Her work also involves students in the investigative process, allowing them to learn through hands-on experiences with maintaining organisms, culturing bacteria, and more. Her goal is to eventually integrate her research into course based educational research experiences (CUREs), so that more undergraduate students will have the opportunity to participate in research.
Sheritta’s developed an early interest in teaching and learning. After finishing her master’s degree, she taught high school chemistry and physical science for a short time. Though she loved the position, it made her realize that she could have more of an impact on the world if she pursued a higher degree. Her interest piqued when she received the opportunity to start her Ph.D. in the Integrative Biosciences program at Tuskegee University. She completed her PHD in 2015 and went on to join the ranks of faculty at Tuskegee University, teaching cellular and genetic biology. In 2017, Sheritta joined a group of researchers, with whom she would eventually found the EDU-STEM network. Meeting working professionals who shared her passion for improving education made her realize that she could use her research background to have an impact on STEM education.
Sheritta strongly believes in the value of conducting authentic research in the classroom—not only as an engaging teaching tool but also as preparation for future careers. This dual utility ties into Sheritta’s larger mission to recruit and retain underrepresented and underprepared students in STEM. While underrepresented minority students aspire to STEM majors in college at roughly the same rate as their non-minority peers, historically they have lower completion rates. Reassessing how we understand teaching could be a major asset in combatting the inequity still present in colleges and education as a whole.
Students seeking higher education today face challenges that are unique to their generation and it’s the job of educators to pursue an understanding of these differences and find the best way to teach despite challenges and differences. One solution to this issue is to provide teaching and learning training for higher education professionals who haven’t had the opportunity to train in teaching and learning pedagogy. This is one reason why Sheritta considers EDU-STEM and her own work to be so important.
There are still many factors impacting learning that have yet to be explored. Luckily, Sheritta has no intention of slowing down. Between the work in her lab and with EDU-STEM, she plans to continue providing students with authentic research opportunities and studying how these and other techniques impact learning. “It’s given me a chance to really explore and learn more about discipline-based education and research and hopefully become a leader in discipline-based education research someday.”