Learning the Science of Research, Learning the Art of Teaching: Planning Backwards in a College Genetics Course

This paper examines how to incorporate ‘backward planning’ in a college-level genetics course at a large university in the southwestern part of the United States. The authors discuss how teaching was a limited part of their graduate education, but yet became an important, and very enjoyable part of their experiences as university academics. The authors argue that using backward design as a planning method can alter science education at the college-level, and that scholars in the sciences can use research in education to become better teachers and researchers.