Research
Discipline-based education research (DBER) investigates the teaching and learning within the context of the discipline. Overall, the Bergan-Roller Biology Education Research (B-BER) program aims to help students succeed in the context of undergraduate STEM programs. To facilitate this success, we have several branches.
Research Branches
Developing skills in undergraduate biology students
Developing skills in undergraduate biology students
Developing skills in undergraduate biology students
- Science communication
- Modeling
- Class preparation
Broadening participation in STEM
Developing skills in undergraduate biology students
Developing skills in undergraduate biology students
- Building community
- Learning assistant (LAs)
- Inclusive teaching
- First-year seminar
Interdisciplinary DBER
Developing skills in undergraduate biology students
Cultivating students' ideas
- Student motivation
- Chemistry instructors' practices and perceptions of teaching
- Instructors' beliefs about Math and Science
Cultivating students' ideas
Developing skills in undergraduate biology students
Cultivating students' ideas
Students are encouraged to pursue their passions. Check out student projects on the People page
Ongoing Projects
Science Communication Education Research (SCERN)
Objective
Build a community that advances undergraduate science communication education research through remote events, an in-person meeting (July 2025), and ongoing projects.
Team
M. Elizabeth Barnes, PhD, Middle Tennessee State University
Nicole Kelp, PhD, Colorado State University
Sarah Eddy, PhD, University of Minnesota
Heather Bergan-Roller, PhD, Northern Illinois University
+ over 40 network members!
CARE in Research
Objective
Working to share examples and rationale for centering care in undergraduate research--supported by the RIOS Institute.
Team
Rou-Jia Sung, PhD, Carleton College, Discipline-based education research (Biochemistry)
Christin Monroe, PhD, Landmark College, Discipline-based education research (Chemistry)
Brian Shmaefsky, PhD, Lone Star College, Biology
Heather Bergan-Roller, PhD, Northern Illinois University, Discipline-based education research (Biology)
Collection of rainbow-colored fists together.
DAR3E Collaboration
Impetus
2020 brought unexpected systemic disruption with COVID-19 pandemic and social injustices caught on camera and spurring protests. These events exposed many flaws in the education system including the inequities too common in STEM courses. To help address these issues, a collaboration of faculty, across diverse institutions, demographics, and expertise, came together in an effort to make undergraduate STEM education more inclusive at an iEMBER conference. We have continued to work together to investigate instructors' practices and perceptions of incorporating race, racism, and racial equity (DAR3D) in biology courses.
Team
Sayali Kukday, PhD, University of Illinois Chicago, Discipline-based education research
Vance McCracken, PhD, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Biology
Candice Idlebird, PhD, Claflin University, Sociology
Heather Bergan-Roller, PhD, Northern Illinois University, Discipline-based education research
Nicole Scheuermann, MS, Northern Illinois University, Discipline-based education research
Rachel Bradley, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Psychology
Example Work
Scheuermann, N. L., Idlebird, C., Kukday, S., McCracken, V. J., Bradley, R. E., & Bergan-Roller, H. (2024). University Biology Classrooms as Spaces for Anti-racist Work: Instructor Motivations for Incorporating Race, Racism, and Racial Equity Content. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 23(4), ar61. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.24-01-0013
