Is our teaching based on scientific evidence? How can we enhance the students’ learning? What possibilities are there with respect to teaching methods? These should be important questions for everyone interested in teaching.

Robin Wright is Head of the Department of Biology Teaching and Learning, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Initiatives, and professor of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development at the University of Minnesota. She is the founding and current Editor-in-Chief of the CourseSource journal for ”Evidence-based teaching resources for undergraduate biology education”. She has been directing the HHMI/National Academies of Science-sponsored Summer Institute on Biology Education for many years, a course that faculty members from both UiO and NMBU have attended.

Her research interests lie within scientific teaching, and includes exploring the effectiveness of team-based collaborative learning and how active learning classrooms support student learning and development. Robin Wright is also a practitioner herself and has received national awards for excellence in education. She emphasizes a learner-centred model of classroom work that promotes and enhances lifelong skills. She has transformed the biological education at the University of Minnesota, ensuring that biology is taught in a manner that improves student understanding and allows them to become independent thinkers. Robin Wright has a genuine interest in bioscience education, and will share with us her knowledge and experience. We are very much looking forward to an interesting and useful lecture.