Christian Wright
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1365 North Scottsdale Road SkySong 3 Scottsdale, AZ 85257
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Mail code: 9508Campus: Scottsdale
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Christian started his career in biology education working as a high school science teacher and corps member for Teach For America, earning his M.A. Ed. in Secondary Education during that time. He then obtained his Ph.D. in Biology working in Dr. Dale DeNardo's lab in the School of Life Sciences (SOLS) at Arizona State University (ASU). His dissertation explored the foraging behavior of Gila monsters (Heloderma suspectum).
Upon graduating, he joined Dr. Sara Brownell's lab in SOLS where he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in biology education. As a postdoc, his projects included (1) aiding in the development of a nationally recognized, validated assessment aligned with Vision and Change called the GenBio-MAPS assessment and (2) a study exploring how the characteristics of exams impact the scores earned by students of different social identities.
Christian continued his work in biology education when he joined SOLS as a Instructional Professional, where he taught introductory biology and graduate teaching courses, conducted biology education research, and assisted in various curricular reform projects. He was recently promoted to Assistant Director of Assessment and Program development in the Office of Learning Innovation in SOLS. His current projects include researching and developing new models for teaching and assessing biology as well as various other department- and university-level initiatives.
Ph.D. in Biology - Arizona State University - 2014
M.A.Ed. in Secondary Education - University of Phoenix - 2008
B.S. in Biological Sciences - Denison University - 2006
Undergraduate biology education
Assessment design
Impact of assessments on students
Wright C.D., S.L. Eddy, M.P. Wenderoth, E. Abshire, M. Blankenbiller, and S.E. Brownell. 2016. Cognitive difficulty and format of exams predicts gender and socio-economic gaps in exam performance of students in introductory biology courses. CBE – Life Sciences Education 15: 1 – 16.
Dupoué A., F. Brischoux, F. Angelier, D.F. DeNardo, C.D. Wright, and O. Lourdais. 2015. Intergenerational trade-off for water may induce a mother–offspring conflict in favour of embryos in a viviparous snake. Functional Ecology 29: 414 – 422.
Wright C.D., M.L. Jackson, and D.F. DeNardo. 2013. Meal consumption is ineffective at maintaining or correcting water balance in a desert lizard, Heloderma suspectum. Journal of Experimental Biology 216: 1439 – 1447.
Oral presentations
Wright C.D., A.L. Huang, and S.E. Brownell. 2017. Is this going to be on the test? Exploring how the decisions instructors make when crafting exams impact students. Evidence-Based Teaching in STEM Seminar Series, Arizona State University – School of Life Sciences, Tempe, AZ.
Wright C.D., S.L. Eddy, M.P. Wenderoth, and S.E. Brownell. 2015. Exam characteristics exacerbate performance gaps between male and female students. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN.
Vanmali, B., C.D. Wright, V. Stout, and M. Orchinik. 2014. The effects of introducing active learning strategies on academic achievement in diverse, large-enrollment introductory biology. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN.
Wright C.D., K.T. Moeller, C. Holden, G. Demare, and D.F. DeNardo. 2014. Exploring the energetics of foraging behavior in Gila monsters, Heloderma suspectum. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, Austin, TX.
Wright C.D. 2012. Examining the broad applicability of state-dependent foraging using a low energy system, the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum). Tucson Herpetological Society Monthly Meeting, Tucson, AZ.
Wright C.D., K.T. Moeller, and D.F. DeNardo. 2012. Do low energy systems practice state-dependent foraging strategies? Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, Charleston, SC.
Wright C.D., M.L. Jackson, and D.F. DeNardo. 2011. Examining the chronic and acute impacts of food intake on hydration state in the Gila monster, Heloderma suspectum. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
Poster Presentations
Couch B., C.D. Wright, S. Freeman, J. Knight, K. Semsar, M. Smith, M. Summers, Y. Zheng, A. Crowe, and S.E. Brownell. 2016. GenBio-MAPS: A programmatic assessment to measure student understanding of core biology concepts across a general biology curriculum. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN.
Wright C.D., A.L. Huang, and S.E. Brownell. 2016. Exploring instructor rationale for designing classroom assessments. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN.
Wright C.D., S.L. Eddy, M.P. Wenderoth, and S.E. Brownell. 2016. Cognitive difficulty and format of exams predicts gender and socioeconomic gaps in exam performance of students in introductory biology courses. Learning Innovation Showcase, Institute for the Science of Teaching and Learning, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
Wright C.D., B. Couch, A. Crowe, S. Freeman, M. Smith, J. Knight, M. Summers, K. Semsar, and S.E. Brownell. 2016. GenBio-MAPS: A programmatic assessment to measure student understanding of core biology concepts across a general biology curriculum. Biology Leadership Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Wright C.D., B. Couch, A. Crowe, S. Freeman, M. Smith, J. Knight, M. Summers, K. Semsar, and S.E. Brownell. 2015. GenBio-MAPS: A programmatic assessment to measure student understanding of core biology concepts across a general biology curriculum. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN.
Semsar K., M. Smith, S.E. Brownell, B. Couch, A. Crowe, S. Freeman, M. Summers, C.D. Wright, and J. Knight. 2015. Phys-MAPS: an assessment tool to measure student learning across an undergraduate physiology program. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN.
Wright C.D., S. Freeman, A. Crowe, B. Couch, M. Smith, J. Knight, and S.E. Brownell. 2014. Examining introductory and advanced undergraduates’ understanding of systems biology concepts using the BioCore Guide. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN.
Wright C.D., B. Vamali, K. Remington, V. Stout, M. Angilletta, C. Bang, and M. Orchinik. 2013. An innovative, conceptually themed introductory majors biology course at a large, diverse university. Biology Leadership Conference, Tucson, AZ.
Vanmali B., C.D. Wright, K. Remington, K. Hill, and M. Orchinik. 2013. Putting it all together: Using active learning and graduate TA training to enhance undergraduate biology education. Biology Leadership Conference, Tucson, AZ.
Courses
2020 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 494 | Special Topics |
| BIO 282 | ConceptualApproachBioMajors II |
| BIO 282 | ConceptualApproachBioMajors II |
2019 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 494 | Special Topics |
| BIO 494 | Special Topics |
| BIO 281 | ConceptualApproachBioMajors I |
| BIO 281 | ConceptualApproachBioMajors I |