Microbelibrary - Focus on Microbiology Education Newsmagazine

Can We Introduce Cultural Diversity into Microbiology Education?
Robert T. Yuan, Spencer A. Benson, Shannon Chilcoate, Vinh Diep, Christina Lagdameo, Ana Maria Sanchez, and Valeria Vehemente, University of Maryland, College Park

Microbiologist/Educator Teams Make Microbial Discoveries
Robin Patterson, Butler County Community College

Sharing Do's and Don'ts in Microbiology Teaching
Ivette Garcia-Castro, University of Puerto Rico

Some Thoughts on Student Centered Learning
Joanna Verran and John Willcox, Manchester Metropolitan University, England

1997 Undergraduate Microbiology Education Conference
Rod Anderson, Ohio Northern University

Cantaloupes, Lettuce, and Pot Pies,—Oh My
Janet Yagoda Shagam, Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute

Technology Corner
Pat Johnson, Palm Beach Community College

Message from the Co-Editors
This newsletter is a joint effort in many ways. First of all, it is sponsored jointly by the ASM Division W and by the Board of Education and Training at ASM. This partnership allows us to offer a quality newsletter to the members of Division W. Secondly, the newsletter has joint leadership. Bob and I have been jointly appointed as editors of the newsletter. Having co-editors will allow a sharing of the workload as well as twice as many ideas.

At the last ASM meeting in Miami, I spoke to many of you about the newsletter. I asked what things you liked about the newsletter and what things you would like to see changed. What I discovered was that the newsletter serves many different purposes. For some of us, the how-to section is the most valuable, while for some it is the feature article. For the newsletter to continue to meet your needs it must continue to grow and develop. You must become involved in the communication process. We are always eager to hear from you about your current concerns in the field of microbiology education. If there is an issue that you would like to see addressed, let us know. We are here to serve the needs of the members of Division W.

Thank you to those of you who had the confidence in me to allow me to serve as a co-editor.

Marianne Crocker
Ozark Technical Community College

With this issue of Focus, a new era begins. Dr. Ed Alcamo has guided the previous issues of this newsletter with imagination, style, and a street-smart understanding of the educational process. The new co-editors will continue to draw on Ed's wisdom, and we thank him for his hard work and leadership. Division W has gained credibility in a remarkably short time, and the baby shows signs of providing international leadership as new educational technology revolutionizes science education. At the same time, we need to share the wisdom of battle-tested teachers who have sailed the seas of ignorance and somehow guided precious cargos of students between knowledge ports of call.

We invite the membership to continue to share their precious nuggets of educational experience. Focus has an important niche in our profession, and we pledge we will maintain the informal, pragmatic style of this teaching vehicle. During the next year, some new features will be tested, such as interviews withoutstanding teachers, expanded versions of outstanding poster presentations at the General Meeting of ASM, and reports from the annual teaching workshop.

During the next year, we want to challenge Division W members to think about the possibility of starting a new educational journal based on the ACS educational model. Given the exciting new advances in teaching theory and practice, there may be advantages to the initiation of a top-quality microbiology educational journal. A peer-reviewed journal may help young teachers pioneering new teaching methods to gain acceptance by less experimentally minded department heads and deans (see Science 277:1031, 1997). Furthermore, a peer-reviewed journal may help faculty gain proper rec-ognition during their annual tenure and promotion reviews. During the next year, we will ask the Division W membership for their ideas on future articles for Focus, and we will solicit your advice about the possibility of new ASM journal.

Robert Benoit
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Newsletter Editorial Committee
Robert Benoit, Co-Editor, State Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Marianne Crocker, Co-Editro, Ozark Technical Community College
Samuel Fan, Bradley University
Pat Johnson, Palm Beach Community College
John Lennox, Penn State Altoona
Joanna Mott, Texas A&M Univ--Corpus Christi
Linda Sherwood, Montana State University