PRESIDENT'S LETTER

Teaching Tools in Plant Biology—They’re Not Just for Educators!

The broad mission of ASPB is to encourage and publish research in plant biology and to promote the interests and growth of plant scientists in general. With respect to publishing research, the Society is best known for its two major journals: Plant Physiology® and The Plant Cell. Both are internationally recognized as top-tier plant journals. However, ASPB also publishes and copublishes a number of other products that are attuned to our overall mission.

The most recent addition to the publications portfolio is Teaching Tools in Plant Biology (TTPB), an innovation of The Plant Cell. TTPB was developed by Cathie Martin, editor-in-chief of The Plant Cell, with Mary Williams, features editor for The Plant Cell(and recipient of last year’s ASPB Excellence in Education Award), and is supported by ASPB staff members (especially Patti Lockhart and Susan Entwistle). Launched in 2009 (1), TTPB is a collection of university-level teaching materials on specific topics; Tools can be easily accessed through the ASPB website or either of the journal home pages. Each of the TTPB topics is peer reviewed, many Tools are written in conjunction with experts in the area, and all are updated regularly. As the name implies, one intended use of the Tools is to help busy educators as they develop course objectives and prepare lecture and discussion content. “My original objective in initiating TTPB was to provide scientists who occasionally taught (like myself) with reliable, up-to-date information on a range of topics in plant biology,” says Cathie Martin. “I wanted to remove that feeling of despair I felt every year in coming to review my lectures, always belatedly, about where to find concise summaries of the most recent advances in the field.”

However, Tools can also be used as a starting point for tutorials and self-paced inquiry-based learning; by graduate students preparing for preliminary examinations; and by researchers at all levels who are moving into new areas and want a broad and up-to-date introduction to unfamiliar topics. “We include a broad overview of the topic alongside more challenging materials so that each individual or instructor can find the level that best suits his or her needs,” says Mary Williams.

Although the Tools are gaining in popularity and visibility, there are still many ASPB members who are not familiar with this valuable resource, and I hope that at least a portion of that target audience might be reading this article. Accessing TTPB is easy: institutions that subscribe to Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell have access to the Tools, and individual ASPB members do as well.

Teaching Tools are a professionally created and readily accessible teaching and informational resource for educators, students, and researchers. Beginning with broad topical coverage, each Tool contains a comprehensive PowerPoint slide deck along with accompanying pedagogical enhancements, including a set of lecture notes and recommended readings. Reflecting ASPB’s strong interest in promoting effective pedagogical approaches, many Tools also provide a teaching guide with a topic overview, discrete learning objectives, and study/exam questions; these guides can be readily adapted for team-based learning strategies. The first Tool produced was “Why Study Plants?”, and it is an engaging introductory lesson for general audiences. Subsequent topics include studies on leaf development, small RNAs, epigenetics, each of the major hormones, and plants’ interactions with other organisms. “TTPB has become much more than I originally envisaged,” says Cathie Martin. “The Tools bring research much closer to the classroom, and I believe that some of the excitement associated with research breakthroughs is conveyed through the descriptions and interpretations of groundbreaking experiments. TTPB will contribute to inspiring more students to adopt plant biology as their major and also recruit more students to take up research in plant biology, especially as they realize the significance of research on plants to the major challenges to society in the 21st century.”

The most recent addition to the collection is “Intimate Alliances: Plants and Their Microsymbionts”, which was prepared with Ulrike Mathesius. This comprehensive topic considers symbiotic relationships with bacteria involved in nitrogen fixation and mycorrhizal fungi that facilitate nutrient uptake. Like the other Tools, this topic includes many interesting observations that nonspecialists (like me) probably do not recognize or appreciate. For example, many are familiar with the Rhizobium symbiosis, but did you know that Sesbania rostrate makes stem nodules as well as root nodules? Thus, the same bacterium uses two modes of infection on the same plant—fascinating! Likewise, many are generally aware that nodulation is autoregulated by the balance between supply and demand for reduced nitrogen, but do you recall that this regulation involves a CLAVATA1-like receptor kinase that acts in the shoot? This information is presented in the context of shoot–root signaling controlling this important process. Finally, although we tend to hear about several model legumes, did you know that there are more than 20,000 legume species? As asked in the concluding “ongoing studies” section of this Tool, what insights might we learn as we begin to explore this diversity? As described by Mary Williams, “Our students are tomorrow’s scientists, who need to move from knowledge assimilators to knowledge creators. As teachers, our task is to show them not only what we know, but also what we don’t know—the world of discoveries that is waiting for them. We touch on this briefly through the ‘ongoing studies’ section and also structurally. Because Teaching Tools are electronic resources, they work well as portals through which students and instructors can pursue material more deeply, for example, through links to research or review articles. Furthermore, in the Teaching Guides we include open-ended discussion topics to prompt further inquiry and analysis.”

Although Teaching Tools were originally targeted toward Research 1 university–level educators, students, and scientists, the Society is beginning to explore whether they may be of use at community colleges, four- and six-year institutions, and even high schools. As the target audience expands, it will be critical to receive comprehensive input in terms of scientific topics while also considering the operational aspects of product development and marketing for and to a global audience. To this end, the Society is establishing an international Scientific Advisory Board to guide development of new topics, and a subgroup of the newly formed Business Development Committee will explore the business-related aspects. We are also establishing a “Power User Group” comprising educators who are actively using the Tools in their teaching and who will share their experiences and feedback with us so that we may further improve TTPB. If you are interested in the possibility of becoming a Power User, please contact Mary Williams. If you’d prefer to simply stay in touch and receive notification of the publication of new Tools, consider joining the more than 140 people who are already part of ASPB’s online community group, which is open to anyone with interest in the Tools. Finally, there is a Facebook site for users to interact easily and that also provides links to many useful resources for teaching. Teaching Tools will become an increasingly important resource in the future, and we welcome your feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Teaching Tools are not just for instructors, and I encourage everyone to see what they can offer you. The Tools are a good example of how the Society, since it was established in 1924, continues to evolve and expand to provide products that serve its members and the broader interests of plant science. This is the sort of Society of which I am proud to be a member!

Steve Huber
ASPB President

Reference

Martin, C. (2009). Introducing a new feature in the The Plant Cell: Teaching Tools in Plant Biology. Plant Cell 21 (9):2541.