Scientific organization names Gyure scholar-in-residence
Western Connecticut State University Communique, February 2007, Vol. 9 No. 5
by Antonia Felicetti-Schachter
Over the years, Assistant Professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences Dr. Ruth Gyure
has tried to improve her class presentation and lab exercises for her students, but she was often
left wondering if it worked the way she intended it to work. So when the opportunity arose to
apply for the Scholar-in-Residence program, where she could begin research on her students’
learning outcomes, she was immediately interested.
“Collecting data about student learning is new for me,
very different from measuring samples in a test tube,”
Gyure said. That interest paid off for Gyure. She has
been reccognized by the American Society for
Microbiology (ASM), and chosen in the national
competition to be named an ASM Scholar-inResidence.
Gyure needed to demonstrate teaching excellence and
national leadership in microbiology education both at WestConn and nationally with ASM in
order to be considered for the residency. As one of 15 microbiology educators from around the
country selected to be ASM Scholars-in-Residence, Gyure participated in a four-day intensive
institute with internationally known science education experts as part of a yearlong residency.
Gyure also will conduct educational research in microbiology at WestConn and work
collaboratively with peers and coaches at the 15-scholar institutions. She will receive scholarly
support and mentorship from the ASM throughout this process.
According to Gyure, teaching methodologies in microbiology education have been changing
based upon findings in educational and cognitive science literature. The research project she
has proposed is designed to allow the educational outcomes in her classroom to be quantified.
ASM recognizes these classroom studies as valid scholarly research for microbiology
educators.
“This type of research enables microbiology educators to measure whether our students are
indeed achieving the learning goals that we set for them,” Gyure said. “It is important to
be able to scientifically determine our success as microbiology educators.”
Gyure, whose main teaching responsibilities include Introductory Microbiology for pre-nursing
and nursing students, General Microbiology, and Environmental Health, will focus her
research project on the use of casebased bioinformatics in the teaching of microbiology. She
will introduce her students to the module that uses information from DNA sequences to
solve problems and answer questions in a case study of disease outbreak. The module will
support collaborative development of “problem spaces,” which are bioinformatics data sets
pertaining to a case or problem, as hosted by the National Science Foundation BEDROCK
Institute (Bioinformatics Education Dissemination Reaching Out, Connecting and Knitting
Together, found at http://bioquest.org/bedrock).
The problem space which she proposes to explore with her students is global in scope: an
outbreak of disease leading to increase in deaths due to opportunistic infection by Clostridium
difficile. Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that can be part of the normal intestinal
flora. Disease occurs when the normal intestinal flora is altered, allowing Clostridium difficile
to flourish in the intestinal tract and produce a toxin that causes illness and death. The overuse
of antibiotics, which can result in resistant strains, often is responsible and is a widespread
problem encountered by healthcare professionals.
Gyure noted that every aspect of microbiology now relates to bioinformatics. As such, she has
set her sights on providing her students with a cutting-edge microbiology education, and on
providing the science community with scientifically validated positive educational outcomes of
learning in microbiology students. The yearlong residency will culminate in the publication of
her research in a peer reviewed science journal.
For more information, call Gyure at (203) 837-8796.
Photo courtesy of Peggy Stewart, WCSU, Danbury CT.