John O. Drummond: Candidate for Member-at-Large

Lafayette College
Easton, PA

drummonj@lafayette.edu

Biography:

• B.S. Environmental Resource Management, 1991, Penn State

Present Academic Position:  General Biology Laboratory Coordinator

Profession/Research Interests: My professional and research interests include developing extended four 3-week, themed, inquiry based labs, with an emphasis on technology, for the general biology laboratory.  I am also interested in developing alternative means of assessing students and then determining if the assessment is appropriate by assessing the student assessment.  My interests also include training and mentoring undergraduate teaching assistants for the general biology laboratory.  I recently started developing protocols for maintaining live animals, mostly invertebrates, in the laboratory. Outside of the general biology laboratory, my research interests include comparative morphology of captive and wild raised monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus, along with monarch migration.  I also have a strong interest in raptor ecology, especially migration. 

Statement: My first exposure to ABLE came at the June 2006 conference at Purdue.  I was very pleased to find a group of individuals so committed to excellence and willing to share ideas.  I knew then that I wanted to extend my involvement beyond attending an annual meeting.  I really got the sense at Purdue that members were not only looking for innovative lab ideas, but were also interested in general biology laboratory pedagogy – what is inquiry learning, how do we structure our content, how do we train our TA’s, and I’m guessing… how do we assess our students?  I’m looking at the opportunity to become member-at-large as my chance to influence workshop ideas for the future.  I would also like to explore other ways to increase awareness and membership in ABLE.   I am so excited about this opportunity to work with such a committed group of educators.