by Brooke Hall
It’s hard to image someone better suited than Derek Chastain to help bridge learning gaps between high school and college science curriculum. Chastain is both an adjunct biology professor at Indiana University Columbus and a biology teacher at Columbus East High School, where he teaches high school level and dual-credit courses.
In the spring of 2022, Chastain was invited to apply for an IU fellowship to identify curriculum bottlenecks that, if resolved, could help college students be more successful. As someone who’s taught at BCSC for 22 years and IU Columbus for 8 years, it was a perfect fit. He took on the fellowship in the summer of 2022, but he had no idea this work would lead to him getting his first passport and presenting his findings on an international scale.
Chastain and his IU colleagues worked to identify bottlenecks and bridge learning gaps through the Indiana University Decoding Transitions to College Project. In 2022, they recruited biology and Spanish teachers, half at the college level and half at the high school level, and led them through a summer program that introduced them to the Decoding the Disciplines process. Decoding was originally initiated by IU’s Joan Middendorf and David Pace 20 years ago to address discrepancies between the content taught and the actual prerequisites for success in many courses.
In biology, small things matter—such as the hydrogen bond—because they lead to the structure and function of much larger things.In biology, small things matter—such as the hydrogen bond—because they lead to the structure and function of much larger things.
Derek Chastain, IU Columbus biology instructor
The team presenting “Decoding the Transition to College: Opening the Paradigm to a K-16 Context” included:
- Mike Beam, Indiana University Bloomington
- Derek Chastain, Indiana University Columbus
- Tara Darcy, Indiana University Bloomington
- Rebecca Itow, Indiana University High School
- David Pace, Indiana University Bloomington
Chastain noted that two of his IU colleagues also found a lack of understanding about the hydrogen bond caused knowledge gaps later on. He added that the learning loss from the pandemic has created even more gaps, making now a crucial time to identify and address them.
Through the project, researchers not only looked at various ways to help students overcome specific bottlenecks that impede the transition to college, but also helped create communities of teachers who could develop shared strategies that transcend from high school to college.
About a year ago, the research team applied to present its research and findings at the Decoding Conference in Aachen, Germany, followed by the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) annual conference in Utrecht, Netherlands. They were accepted and presented at both events in November 2023.
“Our presentations were very well received, and it was wonderful to meet so many people from around the world who really valued our perspectives. Plus, we learned that many educators worldwide are experiencing the same things we are,” Chastain said. “Making those connections and having the opportunity to visit that part of the world was just phenomenal, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”