Deborah Donovan

Professor

Recent Publications

Donovan, D.A. and Connell, G.L. (in press) Evolution of a student-centered biology class: How systematically testing aspects of class structure has informed our teaching. Invited book chapter in “Active Learning in College Science: The Case for Evidence-Based Practice” J.J. Mintzes and E.M. Walter, eds.

D.A. Donovan, Connell, G.L., and D.Z. Grunspan. (2018) Student learning outcomes and attitudes using three methods of group formation in a non-majors biology class. CBE – Life Sci. Ed. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-12-0283.

Connell, G.L., D.A. Donovan, and T.G. Chambers. (2016) Increasing the use of student-centered pedagogies from moderate to high improves student learning and attitudes about biology. CBE – Life Sci. Ed., 15: 1-15

Donovan, D.A., E.J. Borda, D.M. Hanley, and C.J. Landel. (2015) Participation in a multi-institutional curriculum development project changed science faculty knowledge and beliefs about teaching science. J. Sci. Teach. Educ. 26: 193-216.

Donovan, D.A., J.V. Rousseau, I.Y. Salter, L.J. Atkins, A. Acevedo-Gutierrez, R.F. Kratz, C.J. Landel, V. Mullen, P. Pape-Lindstrom. (2014) Life Science and Everyday Thinking. It’s About Time: New York.

Miner, B.G., D.A. Donovan, L.M. Portis*, and T.A. Goulding*. (2013) Whelks induce an effective defense against sea stars. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 493: 195-206.

Donovan, D.A., L.J. Atkins, I.Y. Salter, D.J. Gallagher, R.F. Kratz, J.V. Rousseau, and G.D. Nelson. (2013) Advantages and challenges of using physics curricula as a model for reforming an undergraduate biology course. CBE – Life Sci. Ed., 12: 215-229.

Miner, B.G., D.A. Donovan, and K.E. Andrews*. (2010) Should I stay or should I go: predator and conspecific induced hatching in a marine snail. Oecologia. 163: 69-78.

Research Interests

My research interests are in both Biology and Biology Education.

In Biology, members of my lab focus on the physiological ecology of marine invertebrates. Currently, our work is focused on restoration aquaculture of our native pinto abalone, Haliotis kamtschatkana. Pinto abalone populations have declined precipitously in the last few decades and we collaborate with the Puget Sound Restoration Fund and with government agencies to restore populations in the Salish Sea.

In Biology Education, I am investigating different aspects of active learning in a large-enrollment, non-majors Biology class. My current research project is to determine how placing students in different types of working groups affects their content gains and attitudes about working in groups.