Assistant Professor of Biology Wins New Education Research Grant

Tigga Kingston's research studies the factors that affect bats' survival in the rainforests of Malaysia.

Tigga Kingston won $209,000 for her proposal to use research on Malaysian bats to develop an integrated biology curriculum for grades two to eight.

The $209,000 grant was awarded to Tigga Kingston, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, for her proposal, “Live from the Field: A Research-Based Learning Environment for Teaching Biological Concepts.”

The project will use Kingston’s research into Malaysian bats to develop an integrated biology curriculum for grades two to eight with a common focus.

Two groups of Texas Tech students will be involved in developing the curriculum:

• Students majoring in Natural History and Humanities, a major designed to train students to communicate about the environment, and
• Students in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Scholar Program designed to prepare students for careers in science education.

The new curriculum will provide Texas teachers and their students a unique, hands-on way to learn biology; including the ability to track real research through an interactive Web site and communicate with researchers in the field in Malaysia.

“The Education Research Initiative is the latest in a series of internally funded grants to help stimulate research at Texas Tech,” said Karlene A. Hoo, associate vice president for research. “Research into how learning occurs is an important area. We hope, with this grant competition, to stimulate new and innovative programs and generate external funding opportunities.”

Kingston is joined in the project by co-principal investigators Mark McGinley, associate professor, and Kenneth Schmidt, assistant professor, both in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Proposals were received from 33 researchers across the Texas Tech campus totaling almost $3.8 million. Each was judged by external experts based on their academic merit and their likelihood of generating sustainable outside funding. The proposals covered areas including teaching methods, evaluation and assessment of learning, curriculum development and other aspects of education research.