Bean Beetle Curriculum Development Network

The Bean Beetle Curriculum Development Network is a group of faculty teams that are developing new inquiry-based studies with bean beetles (seed beetles), Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), for undergraduate laboratory courses.

Over the past four years, we have recruited faculty teams, consisting of two individuals, from colleges and universities across the US to participate in a two-day intensive workshop at Emory University, Atlanta. Each workshop will be limited to 18-24 participants. Workshop participants learned about the bean beetle model system, using inquiry-based methods for teaching undergraduate laboratories, and using student assessment instruments. The centerpiece of the workshops were faculty teams developing ideas for new laboratory studies using the bean beetle model system.

After each workshop, participants worked to fully develop and pilot-test a new laboratory study with bean beetles at their home institution.

Faculty from our 2009 and 2010 workshops developed new experiments in animal physiology and neurobiology. Faculty from our 2011 and 2012 workshops are currently developing and implementing their new experiments in genetics, molecular biology, and developmental biology. See new experiments by clicking on the Laboratory Activities tab above.