Scott Freeman

Scott Freeman grew up in Wisconsin and received a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College in 1978. After working in environmental education and international conservation for six years, he did graduate work at the University of Washington on the molecular systematics and morphological evolution of blackbirds and received a Ph.D. in zoology in 1991. He had a Sloan Fellowship to support a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular evolution at Princeton University, then returned to the University of Washington as Director of Public Programs at the Burke Museum. Since the mid-1990s his focus has been on textbook writing, teaching, and discipline-based education research. He co-authored Evolutionary Analysis and was the sole author of Biological Science, each through four editions—the texts are now in their 6th editions—and recently published his first book for a general audience, Saving Tarboo Creek. He is a recipient of a UW Distinguished Teaching Award and is currently Lecturer Emeritus in Biology at the UW, where he conducts research on how active learning techniques impact student performance.

• Theobald et al. (2020). Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1916903117
• Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415.

Keynote SALTISE Conference 2021
The Evidence-Basis for Inclusive Teaching in Undergraduate STEM Majors

Respect for evidence is a foundation of modern democratic societies but is being challenged by global misinformation campaigns. STEM education has its own problems with implementing change in response to evidence: Traditional teaching methods still dominate instruction even though research has shown that more innovative approaches lead to increased student success. Recent research from our group has also shown that across undergraduate courses in STEM, intensive use of active learning reduces the performance differences that exist between racial and income groups under traditional teaching methods. Based on this result, evidence-based teaching is synonymous with inclusive teaching. SALTISE conference participants can become agents of change on their campuses, practicing and advocating for teaching methods that promise equitable outcomes long denied black, brown, and low-income students.

Watch: Encouraging Equity Through Active Learning — UW Biology