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BioArt course opens access to science

from NatureVolve issue 12: Earth's Natural History

from NatureVolve issue 12: Earth's Natural History, page 37

Paleoartist finds magic in the...

Written by Ivy Beaver

As a way of bridging the gap between science and art, the BioArt study abroad course at Arizona State University (ASU) was established by Dr. Becky Ball and Prof. Richard Lerman, to expose students to projects they might not have taken up on their own. Throughout the course, art and science students collaborated on research and science-inspired art in their own Sonoran Desert at ASU before traveling to the Arctic. The experience of working alongside those with a very different educational background allowed students to break down previously held stereotypes about other, different fields of study.

As assessed by Clinical Professor Dr. Susannah Sandrin, students not only gained a host of practical skills and knowledge by the end of the course, they also gained an appreciation and deeper understanding of a field other than their own. Coming out of the BioArt course, students envisioned a wider scope of opportunities for themselves in their careers, often leading them to pursue internships around the world.

Q & A: Becky Ball

and Susannah Sandrin

Becky Ball Please tell us briefly about yourself and how you came to teach your BioArt course.

Our BioArt program began through a collaboration between an art professor (Richard Lerman) and a science professor (me). Richard is a soundscape artist who had just returned from Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in northern Finland, where they actively include bioartists in their research community. Richard was inspired to start a BioArt study abroad course for ASU students at Kilpisjärvi, and sought a scientist collaborator within ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences. My research focuses on polar and hot desert ecosystems, and together we designed a BioArt course working in both the Arctic and Sonoran Desert (our home ecosystem at ASU).

The artificial divide between science and art has not always existed, and in fact the two fields rely on a similar set of skills. The goal of our BioArt course is to engage both science and art students in scientific research and its communication, honing their skills in the context of both science and art. With funding support from the National Science Foundation, we engage a diverse cohort of students in BioArt in the Arctic and Sonoran Desert, which (like science and art) seem like “polar opposites,” but in actuality share many common ecological properties.

Above: Soil arthropods drawn onto ceramic tiles (pre-firing) made from clay extracted from the students’ soil samples for their research. Below: ASU BioArt students hiking Saana, a mountain fell. Both: All rights reserved.

“Many of the BioArt students were born in the southwestern US and not used to snow. They were happy to take the opportunity to throw snow balls at their professor!”

In the program, how do you pair science and art major students to collaborate, and what reactions have they had to one another?

The program starts with a few weeks of coursework at ASU, before we travel to the Arctic field station. During this time, the science and art students interact in a variety of ways- everything from light-hearted classroom activities to small-scale BioArt projects to fieldwork safety training. They switch partners for this series of class assignments until they’ve worked with each possible partner and gotten to know each other. They also have opportunities to share their science and art interests with the group and ultimately sort themselves into scientist+artist pairs based on common interests and working styles.

Reactions to each other have been fun to watch. For most of them, it’s probably their first opportunity to work in depth with someone outside their own major, so it’s fun to see what stereotypes about “scientists” and “artists” get broken down and which ones become running gags throughout the course. It’s great to see art students “nerding out” over counting plankton through a microscope and learning how we use infrared light to measure CO2 concentrations in air, and to see the science students delve into writing poetry about their research, or creating ceramic mosaics out of clay they extracted from their soil samples.

Susannah (Susie) Sandrin How are you measuring the effectiveness of this program, and what has been observed so far?

We employed two instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of the program: surveys and interviews. We surveyed and interviewed the students before the course, immediately after the course, and about nine months after the course.

Students experienced gains in science selfefficacy, communication skills, knowledge about ecological systems, environmental advocacy, and interest in art (for the science students) and in science (for the art students). It’s encouraging to know that students can develop these skills through an integrated science-art curriculum.

The students who completed the program in the Arctic reported a desire to pursue other field research experiences, often in faraway locations.

Though they had been nervous about traveling away from home before taking the class, after the class they were emboldened and applied for research internships all over the world, including Iceland, northern Europe, and the East Coast of the U.S.

These students also indicated that by traveling far away (and in a different time zone), they were removed from everyday distractions. This focus allowed them to more fully embrace the research experience and their ideas about their future careers.

Lastly, discussions between art and science students helped them to delve into the process of science and how they understood it. Both art and science students had more sophisticated views and in-depth understanding of the scientific method after taking the course.

From exploring your interests in science education, how do you think we can make science more engaging to diverse demographics?

First and foremost, I feel that students need to be encouraged to ask questions and to investigate them. This enables students to explore questions that are important to them and their community. Also, they need access to hands-on experiences.

When we emphasize process over content, we focus more on the student experience. They can see themselves as an active participant in science and not a passive learner of facts.

Finally, if at all possible, I think it’s helpful to get students out of the classroom and into nature. This not only helps them to be more active learners, it also provides them with a cognitive reset of sorts, so that they can focus on what they are learning and be less distracted by everything else that is competing for attention in their brains.

“Both art and science students had more sophisticated views and in-depth understanding of the scientific method after taking the course.”

Final thoughts

In an effort to get students to feel represented in the process of scientific research, two professors came together to form a unique opportunity for art and science students to broaden their horizons, both spatially and intellectually.

As a study abroad program, the BioArt course at ASU not only exposes students to a new field, they are exposed to an entirely new environment as well. As intimidating as such a venture might sound, the results are highly rewarding.

With a new set of skills, interests and ambitions, students leave the program realizing they can be an important asset to ongoing scientific investigation rather than simply students continually absorbing established knowledge.

Becky interestingly points out how art and science share similar skill sets, as demonstrated in the BioArt program at ASU. By motivating future researchers and artists to develop new insights, the program offers a valuable contribution to the scientific community.

Bio

Dr. Becky Ball is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University, and a soil ecologist whose research explores the impacts of human activity on soil biodiversity and biogeochemistry (nutrient cycling), focusing mostly in “extreme” ecosystems of the Sonoran Desert and Antarctica.

Dr. Susannah Sandrin is a Clinical Professor at Arizona State University, with an emphasis on teaching entry-level environmental science courses for majors and non-majors alike.

Her research focuses on strategies for encouraging students, particularly from underrepresented groups, to pursue and thrive in STEM majors and careers.