Professor of Teaching, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
School of Biological Sciences

Associate Dean, Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation

Discipline-based education research, Biology, STEM

Postsecondary Education Research and Implementation Institute

My research goals, while varied, focus on how we can improve STEM education at the undergraduate level. Currently, my group is focused on two projects:

(1) Examining the impact of teaching faculty across the UC system - While considerable effort has been spent in the recent past to identify means to increase success in the classroom for STEM undergraduates, particularly at-risk students, a major challenge has been how to disseminate these methods on a broader scale. One potential means to accomplish this is through change agents, faculty that are embedded within departments that can act as resources to implement new teaching methods. The University of California has a unique faculty line, the Lecturer with Security of Employment/Teaching Professor, and we are currently exploring whether these faculty are successful change agents.

(2) Exploring the impact of active learning classrooms and faculty professional development - UC Irvine recently opened the Anteater Learning Pavilion, a building which contains only active learning classrooms. In conjunction, the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation creating the Active Learning Institute to prepare faculty to teach in these rooms. We are examining the impact of both the building and professional development on classroom teaching practices, faculty perspectives, student perspectives, and student outcomes to better inform future institutional decisions surrounding teaching.

Wilton M, Maloy J, Beaster-Jones L, Sato BK, Lo SM, Grunspan DZ. “Instructional Influencers: Teaching Professors as Potential Department Change Agents in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” CBE-Life Sciences Education. July 18, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.24-03-0102.

Park ES, Wilton M, Lo SM, Buswell N, Suarez NA, Sato BK. “STEM Faculty Instructional Beliefs Regarding Assessment, Grading, and Diversity are Linked to Racial Equity Grade Gaps.” Research in Higher Education. 2024.

Rozhenkova V, Snow L, Sato BK, Lo SM, Buswell NT. “Limited or complete? Teaching and learning conceptions and instructional environments fostered by STEM teaching versus research faculty." International Journal of STEM Education. 2023. 10(51).

Harlow AN, Buswell NT, Lo SM, Sato BK. “Stakeholder perspectives on hiring teaching-focused faculty at research-intensive universities”. International Journal of STEM Education. 2022. 9 (54) https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00370-y.

Denaro K, Kranzfelder P, Owens MT, Sato BK….Lo SM. “Predicting implementation of active learning by tenure-track teaching faculty using robust cluster analysis.” International Journal of STEM Education. 2022. 9 (49) https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00365-9.

Vemu S, Denaro K, Sato BK, Williams AE. “Moving the Needle: Evidence of an Effective Study Strategy Intervention in a Community College Biology Course.” CBE-Life Sciences Education. May 11, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-08-0216.

Denaro K, Dennin K, Dennin M, Sato BK. “Identifying systemic inequity in higher education and opportunities for improvement.” PLOS ONE. April 2022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264059

Park ES, Harlow A…..Sato BK. “Instructor facilitation mediates students’ negative perceptions of active learning instruction.” PLOS ONE. December 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0261706

Aebersold A, Hooper A, Berg JJ, Denaro K, Mann D, Ortquist-Ahrens L, Sato BK, Verma M. “Investigating the transition to remote teaching during COVID-19: Recommendations for campus leaders and centers for teaching and learning.” Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning. Feb 22, 2021. 12, 4-25.

Williams ML & Sato BK. “Constructive or Disruptive? How Active Learning Environments Shape Instructional Decision-Making.” Journal of Learning Spaces. 2021. 10(2).

Denaro K, Sato BK, Harlow A, Aebersold A, Verma M. “Comparison of Cluster Analysis Methodologies for Characterization of Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) Data.” CBE-Life Sciences Education. Jan 14, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-04-0077.

McPartlan P, Solanki S, Xu D, Sato BK. “Testing Basic Assumptions Reveals When (Not) to Expect Mindset and Belonging Interventions to Succeed. AERA Open. Oct-Dec 2020. 6(4):1-16.

Williams AE, Denaro K, Dennin MB, Sato BK. A survey of study skills of first-year university students: The relationships of strategy to gender, ethnicity and course type. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education. July 2020. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-10-2019-0272

Harlow A, Lo SM, Saichaie K, Sato BK. “Characterizing the University of California’s tenure-track teaching position from the faculty and administrator perspectives.” PLOS ONE. Jan 13, 2020. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227633

Solanki S, McPartlan P, Xu D, Sato BK. “Success with EASE: Who Benefits from a STEM Learning Community?” PLOS ONE. March 22, 2019. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213827

Lo SM, Gardner GE, Reid J, Napolean-Fanis V, Carroll P, Smith E, Sato BK. “Prevailing questions and methodologies in biology education research: A longitudinal analysis of research in CBE-Life Sciences Education and at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research.” CBE-Life Sciences Education. Spring 2019. (18) doi.org/10.1187/cbe.18-08-0164.

NSF IUSE: STEM Teaching Faculty as a Mechanism to Promote Institutional Transformation through the Implementation of Evidence-Based Teaching Practices (2018-2024)

NSF RCN: Creation of the Biology Educator/Researcher Cross-Segment Collective (2019-2024)

NSF IUSE HSI: Promoting Cross-Enrollment to Bridge the 2- to 4-Year Gap for Underrepresented Students (2019-2024)

HHMI Inclusive Excellence IE3 Learning Community: Working Collectively to Understand, Promote & Evaluate Inclusive Teaching (2022-2025)

NSF Conference Proposal: Two-Year/Four-Year Campus Research Communities Examining STEM Transfer Pathways (2022-2024)

NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate: The AGEP University of California Alliance: A Model to Advance Equitable Hiring of Teaching-Focused Faculty in STEM (2021-2026)

Postsecondary Education Research and Implementation (PERI) Institute

Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=5881

Last updated
02/11/2025