Faculty

Professors | Lecturers | Postdoctoral Fellows | Emeritus | Affiliate

ISU Panorama. Photo by Chuck Peterson.

Professors

Anna S. Grinath, Ph.D.

Associate Professor & Associate Chair
Biology Education Research

Office: Life Sciences 232
(208) 282-3481
Lab: Life Sciences 411
(208) 282-4082

(208) 282-3481

annagrinath@isu.edu

Associate Chair Office:

LS 232

(208) 282-3481

Curriculum Vitae

Research Gate

Google Scholar

Research

Lab: Life Sciences 410

At its heart, science moves forward through the construction and critique of knowledge claims — two central and interrelated practices that scientists use to do their work. Student participation in science practices through construction and critique is an essential, but largely absent, part of learning in university science classrooms. My Biology Learning and Teaching lab addresses this challenge by (1) studying how undergraduate students take up agency to shape their ways of participating in construction and critique and (2) examining how such participation in science practices supports students’ science learning. Our research has described how undergraduates construct and critique science claims in a variety of biology courses, during summer research experiences, and as part of novel course-based research experiences (e.g., Vertically Integrated Projects courses). Our research results in instructional tools and design recommendations for effective biology teaching and learning.

Teaching

BIOL 1101 Biology I
BIOL 1102 Biology II
BIOL 1112 Bacteriophage Virus Bioinformatics & Genome Analysis lab
BIOL 1191 Wonder About Biology
BIOL 4413/5513 Biology Teaching Methods
BIOL 5514 Teaching Assistant Seminar
BIOL 6693 Seminar in College Teaching
BIOL 6694 Advanced Studies in College Teaching
BIOL 7700 Supervised Teaching Internship

Education

2017, Ph.D. Science Education, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2012, M.S. Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2007, B.A. Biological Science, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT

Biographical Sketch

I joined the Department of Biological Sciences at ISU in 2019. I am a biology education researcher, investigating the learning and teaching of biology in postsecondary contexts. Before joining ISU, I was an Assistant Professor at Middle Tennessee State University. I hold a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction in Science Education from FSU's College of Education. Throughout my doctorate, I worked for FSU's Biology Department, developing a general biology laboratory curriculum and teaching assistant professional development. My biological research background is in marine biology, focusing on the filter-feeding ecology of coral reef sponges. This research involved studies in Panama, Belize, Curacao, the Florida Keys, and Australia. Before my graduate work at FSU, I grew up in Massachusetts and went to college in Vermont. I enjoy hiking, fishing, kayaking, scuba diving, pottery, and traveling.

Select Publications

Rasmussen, A. M., & Grinath, A. S. (2025). The Sketchy Side of Science: Designing and Implementing Drawing Activities for Science Learning. The American Biology Teacher, 87(7), 372-378.

Wozniak, K. L., Grinath, A. S., Ray, H. J., & Pradhan, D. S. (2025). Cultivating Student Project Ownership: Recommendations for VIP Instructors. Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research, 8(3), 38-48.

Freeman, A. S., Carter, T. B., Google, A. N., Jia, Z., & Grinath, A. S. (2025). Learning to Support Students to Reason Through Talk: How Pedagogically (Dis) Content Teaching Assistants Use a Curriculum Guide Integrated With Professional Development. Science Education, 109(2), 537-560.

Brooks, J. M., Grinath, J. B., Rasmussen, A. M., & Grinath, A. S. (2023). I Know That’s a Grasshopper, but I Don’t Know Why: An Argument-Driven Inquiry Activity for Teaching Taxonomy. The American Biology Teacher, 85(3), 159-163.

Google, A. N., Gardner, G., & Grinath, A. S. (2023). Undergraduate students’ approaches to learning biology: a systematic review of the literature. Studies in Science Education, 59(1), 25-66.

Jablonski, G. B., & Grinath, A. S. (2023). Postsecondary biology students’ ways of participating in the critique and discussion of primary scientific literature. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 22(4), ar47.

Barnes, E. R., Gray, R., & Grinath, A. S. (2023). Talk moves as pedagogical tools for eliciting and working with student ideas in an undergraduate general biology laboratory. Science Education, 107(1), 89-123.

Reid, J. W., Quinn, C. M., Jia, Z., Jones, R. S., & Grinath, A. S. (2021). Small instructional changes to emphasize data modeling practices. Journal of College Science Teaching, 50(4), 5-10.

Grinath, A.S., and Southerland, S.A. (2019). Applying the Ambitious Science Teaching Framework in undergraduate biology: Responsive talk moves that support explanatory rigor. Science Education, 103(1): 92-122.

Strimaitis, A.M., Southerland, S.A., Sampson, V.D., Enderle, P.J., Grooms, J., (2017). Promoting equitable biology lab instruction by engaging all students in a broad range of science practices: An exploratory study. School Science and Mathematics, 117: 92–103. doi:10.1111/ssm.12212.

Strimaitis, A.M., Schellinger, J., Jones, A., Grooms, J. and Sampson, V. (2014). Development of an instrument to assess student knowledge necessary to critically evaluate scientific claims in the popular media. Journal of College Science Teaching, 43 (5), 55-68.