2026 ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators

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

If you are interested in incorporating bioinformatics or data science concepts into a course, or working with students on data that are immediately publishable, then this workshop is for you! This workshop focuses on collecting and analyzing environmental microbial data and metadata in the free, open source KBase platform, following a workflow that results in a publishable (meta)genomic dataset for an ASM Microbiology Resource Announcement.  This workshop will provide examples of how educators use National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC) and KBase resources with their students, in a variety of courses ranging from CUREs to independent research. Together, we will go through steps to analyze a genomic dataset and identify the importance of collecting and processing good sample metadata along the way. Participants will be introduced to resources for collecting environmental sample metadata through MICROnet (NSF #2418285) and KBase Educators Program, which provide teaching materials and template workflows to analyze raw sequence data and prepare students for their first data publication. Everyone will have access to these tools and resources after the workshop to use with their students and adapt for future use!

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are pivotal to undergraduate biology education, yet they often receive limited, if any, pedagogical professional development during their tenure in the classroom (Schussler et al., 2015). Emergent technologies, such as generative AI (GenAI), compound this constraint and present unique opportunities and challenges for the graduate student educator. Research suggests, for instance, that while GenAI can enhance the learning process and facilitate course management, GTAs frequently lack formal training on how to make effective use of these tools and how to best support students’ ethical uses of GenAI (Amin et al., 2026). In this interactive roundtable session, we seek to bridge this gap by collaboratively examining possible affordances and areas of concern that might arise as a result of GTAs’ uses of GenAI in biology learning environments as well as identifying actionable steps that can be taken to advance GTAs’ AI fluency and AI pedagogical content knowledge.

Team projects can deepen learning by promoting engagement and collaboration, but effective teams do not simply emerge on their own. Successful teams make use of shared goals, clear communication, trust, and shared leadership; skills that employers seek in new graduates. This workshop will explore practical ways instructors can help students build stronger, more collaborative teams through the use of team charters. These charters can be applied to a broad range of courses, using team activities alongside a variety of pedagogical approaches, including Team-Based Projects (TBP), Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Courses for Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), and Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL).

Curious about integrating quantitative image analysis in your undergraduate courses? In this interactive session, we will explore the mindset of an image analyst, learn about user-friendly, free image analysis software that require little to no coding experience, and discuss resources appropriate for classroom use. Panelists will present case studies and share tips for incorporating open-source plug-and-play resources for teaching quantitative image analysis in undergraduate courses. Participants will work in teams to begin designing activities that introduce the principles of image analysis to undergraduates using the introduced resources, gaining insights into the theory and practice of teaching quantitative image analysis.

This hands-on workshop will introduce educators to teaching genome assembly and annotation using the free, web-based platform Galaxy. Participants will assemble a bacterial genome using SPAdes, evaluate assembly quality with QUAST, annotate genomes with Prokka, and explore how these tools can be integrated into short modules or course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). The session emphasizes accessibility, requiring no command-line experience or specialized computing resources beyond a standard laptop. Participants are welcome to bring their own sequenced genomes if desired. Attendees will leave with strategies and techniques for implementing genome analysis in their own courses.

Attendees will learn principles of designing inquiry-based teaching activities with large authentic datasets, especially open datasets. Working with open resources helps students understand and participate in the full process of discovery, including experimental design, data analysis, data visualization, and reporting. This facilitates experiences on a massive scale that are not otherwise possible in undergraduate classes or even most research labs, especially for students who lack access to research experiences. Participants will experience a field-tested, inquiry-based activity using Allen Institute open science, learn best practices of teaching with open science, and then brainstorm other authentic data sources, activities, and classroom applications.

There have been disruptors to traditional educational practices with Wikipedia being a long-avoided source of information due to the lack of evidence-based information. Now, generative AI brings another wave of uncertainty in the authenticity of information. Students continue to need tools to navigate web-based platforms. A course project was created with the guidance of Wiki Education and use of a generative AI platforms to provide a training framework for students in how to interface with resources to identify and verify information that could be scientifically supported, and in turn communicate accurate information on a Wikipedia page.

Education research studies and the translation of their results into evidence-based teaching have resulted in increased learning outcomes for learners in diverse contexts. However, the dissemination of education research through publication in peer-reviewed journals can be daunting to newcomers to the field. This workshop is for practitioners and trainees interested in learning how to write up and publish their education studies in a peer-reviewed journal. Using structured materials and practical guidance, this interactive workshop will walk participants through the phases of planning and writing a manuscript in science education research and will explore different venues for publishing education research manuscripts.

The Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education (JMBE) welcomes scholarship across science education, yet many educators are uncertain about which article types fit their work, what peer review involves, and publication best-practices. This interactive 90-minute workshop, led by JMBE editors, demystifies the entire publishing journey and provides insights for newcomers and frequent JMBE authors alike. Participants will learn JMBE's scope and article sections, publishing ethics (including AI use and text recycling), how peer review works from both sides of the process, and strategies that distinguish successful submissions. Structured activities at each transition ensure attendees leave with practical skills and confidence.

BlackInMicro (BiM) Week is a free conference open to everyone. Occurring every 2 years, it attracts online attendees from 76+ countries to celebrate personal journeys in STEMM. BiM emphasizes career development and connecting everyday scientists to the public. Recordings and published articles are available year-round, with potential to use for undergraduate learning. Session participants will meet #BlackInMicro scientists and brainstorm ways to connect their classrooms to STEMM community members. The roundtable discussion will accomplish two goals. Facilitators will solicit ideas to increase ease of transforming BiM’s open-access materials into classroom tools. Small groups will also work together drafting a classroom activity that encourages students to: 1) view themselves as scientists (increase science identity), 2) explore impacts of science on the wider community, or 3) consider the value of microbiology in their lives. Approaches learned can also be applied to other groups (i.e. 500 women scientists, LatinxInSTEM) for future course design.