2026 ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators

Pre-registration required through ASMCUE registration process. There are still openings for this workshop.

Conventional PCR, real-time or quantitative PCR (qPCR) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) are essential nucleic acid amplification techniques distinguished by their quantitative precision and sensitivity. Conventional PCR enables endpoint detection, qPCR provides real-time quantitative analysis and ddPCR allows absolute quantification. Together, they support accurate and reproducible analysis in applications such as gene expression, pathogen detection and molecular diagnostics. This workshop is designed for educators seeking to enhance their understanding and teaching of PCR technologies. Participants will gain practical experience, explore their applications in undergraduate research and teaching and learn strategies for integrating these methods into their curricula. The session is designed to support participants of all experience levels, from those beginning their PCR journey to those exploring advanced applications. Participants will leave with increased confidence in teaching and applying PCR technologies, practical skills for laboratory instruction. This workshop is sponsored by Bio-Rad.

This session is a semi-structured networking opportunity for community college educators. Let's talk about issues, concerns, and timely topics that are on the minds of most faculty at 2-year schools, including: how do we find the time to balance all the things we want to do, strategies for professional development, and finding your community.

Keeping undergraduate biology curricula current with rapidly evolving bioinformatics tools, datasets, and computational methods can be challenging. This interactive mini-workshop introduces EduHack, an educator-focused framework that adapts hackathon principles for collaborative curriculum development and will be implemented by the NIH Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) Training Center to develop project-based learning materials. Participants will explore the EduHack model, work in small groups to design their own educator hackathon challenge, and discuss strategies for creating and openly sharing project-based learning materials. Attendees will also provide feedback that will help shape the inaugural CFDE EduHack and future community-driven educational resources.

As biology instructors, one of our goals is to help students learn to explain and predict how and why phenomena occur i.e. use mechanistic reasoning. The goal of this workshop is for participants to (1) develop a robust understanding of mechanistic reasoning as a tool for making sense of novel biological phenomena, (2) learn guiding principles for developing effective in-class activities that support students' mechanistic reasoning, and (3) apply these principles to create a scaffolded in-class activity they can use in their classroom and (4) gain confidence in developing additional activities that support student use of mechanistic reasoning in their courses.

Since 1954, Bloom’s Taxonomy has become a popular framework to structure learning, but the focus has been on the cognitive domain (remember, understand, etc.). In this roundtable, we will consider the affective domain, one of the other domains in Bloom’s Taxonomy. The affective domain focuses on emotional components of learning, such as willingness to receive and respond to information, assign value and organize viewpoints, and ultimately incorporate values into personal decisions, and is integral in supporting cognitive learning. Affective learning supports reasoning skills for ethical use of AI and decision-making in our science-skeptical society, but affective learning outcomes are underrepresented in science course or program learning outcomes. As a group, we will uncover challenges that have prevented the articulation and systematic teaching of affective learning in science. We also will explore strategies the community has or could use to support affective learning in students and how to research their effectiveness.

A correct answer does not necessarily demonstrate strong biological reasoning. Students may identify the right organism, pathway, or outcome yet struggle to explain the mechanism or justify why one interpretation fits the evidence better than another. In this interactive mini-workshop, participants will explore a transferable framework that pairs low-cost manipulatives with structured argumentation. Examples involving multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and whether viruses belong on the tree of life show how students construct and revise models, apply them to competing claims, and defend evidence-based explanations. Participants will complete a brief activity and leave with a practical sequence adaptable to their own courses.

The Educator Exchange is a new ASM program that brings colleagues together in small, facilitated groups to develop or adapt ideas, resources, or implementation strategies to improve student learning. During each semester-long session, small groups meet biweekly and workshop ideas that add to a teaching toolbox. All participants in an Educator Exchange session address one broad educational topic, with the facilitator guiding the group to collaboratively identify specific sub-topics to explore and workshop. This round-table session will begin with a description of the Educator Exchange program (EExP) and what has been learned from the Fall 2026 pilot implementation on the topic of classroom assessment. Session leaders will then prompt attendees to participate in roundtable discussions intended to strengthen further implementations of the Educator Exchange by providing broader community feedback.

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is developing a process to recognize exemplary general microbiology courses in various institutions. This initiative highlights courses that align with the 2024 ASM Curriculum Guidelines and demonstrate student centered active learning, varied engagement strategies, and multiple forms of assessment. We have draft rubrics and an initial review workflow and seeks input from microbiology educators to refine and strengthen the endorsement process. Beginning in the spring, course applications will be evaluated across four categories: • Course Architecture — alignment with ASM curriculum guidelines and backwards design principles • Instructional Practices —student-centered, active learning, accessibility, and inclusive teaching strategies • Course Infrastructure — institutional support, resources, and sustainability • Reflective Essay — documentation of intentional course design and plans for continuous improvement We invite participants to review the proposed criteria, share perspectives on feasibility and impact, and help shape a process that elevates exemplary courses.

The 2024 release of the updated ASM Recommended Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology Education provides a timely opportunity to re-examine and update the 2018 Microbiology in Nursing and Allied Health (MINAH) Undergraduate Curriculum Guidelines. Historically mapped to the 2012 ASM framework and cross referenced with the 2016 National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX) framework, the MINAH guidelines focus on clinical relevance, infection control, and frontline patient care. Considering there are now updated ASM general undergraduate microbiology curriculum guidelines as well as a 2023 update to the NCLEX framework, it is important to review the MINAH guidelines to ensure alignment of core concepts, and scientific skills. This session will build momentum for the ongoing collaboration of the update effort. We are interested in identifying co-facilitators and volunteers to help advance this work for 2027.