Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Franklin College Paula Lemons is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Innovation in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia. Paula leads a research group of graduate students and undergraduates who conduct discipline-based education research. The group investigates biochemistry learning and instruction, focusing on ways to maximize student success in science classrooms. Paula teaches Introductory Biochemistry for science and engineering majors. She has served as Principal Investigator for multiple National Science Foundation grants, including grants focused on the cognitive science of biochemistry instruction, the BioTech Scholars program @ San Diego State University, the UGA DeLTA project, and the Georgia Educators in Mathematics and Science (GEMS) Noyce Teacher Scholarship program. She has a career-long track record of research, evaluation, and professional development related to undergraduate and graduate education, assessment, instruction, and professional development. As an administrator, she leads Franklin’s work in graduate and undergraduate education, with a focus on building creative academic programs, helping students develop as career leaders, and developing students, faculty, and staff to lead in Franklin at UGA and beyond. Education Education: Duke University, Postdoc University of Kentucky, Ph.D., Biochemistry, 1999 Southern Wesleyan University, B.S., Biology, 1994 Research Research Areas: Biology Education Research Interests: Paula leads a research group of graduate students and undergraduates who conduct discipline-based education research. The group investigates biochemistry learning and instruction, focusing on ways to maximize student success in science classrooms. They are particularly interested in research questions like these: How is learning impacted by the sequence of instructional activities? Is it better to solve problems first or receive explicit instruction first? What are the intuitive ideas students bring to the classroom and how do students build conceptual understanding and problem-solving skill through instruction? How does prior knowledge shape students' experiences with various instructional approaches? Labs: Lemons Selected Publications Selected Publications: Rosenzweig, E. Q., Song., Y., Chen, X.-Y., Baldwin, A., Barger, M., Cotterrell, M., Dees, J. A., Injaian, A. S., Weliweriya, N., Walker, J. R., Wiegert, C. C., & Lemons, P. P. (in press). Switching within STEM: Examining the motivational concerns that college students report considering when changing career plans within STEM fields. Journal of Educational Psychology. Rosenzweig, E. Chen, X-Y., Song, Y., Baldwin, A., Barger, M., Cotterell, M., Dees, J., Injaian, A., Liyanage, N., Walker, J., Weigert, C. and Lemons, P.P. (in press) Beyond STEM Attrition: Changing Career Plans Within STEM Fields in College Is Associated with Lower Career Motivation, Satisfaction, and Certainty. International Journal of STEM Education. Feola, S. Lemons, P.P., Loertscher, J., Minderhout, V., and Lewis, J.E. (2023) Assessor in Action: Assessment literacy development in a biochemistry context. Chemistry Education Research and Practice. doi.org/10.1039/D2RP00334A. Bhatia, K.S. , Stack, A. , Sensibaugh, C.A. , and Lemons, P.P. (2022) Putting the Pieces Together: Student Thinking about Transformations of Energy and Matter. CBE-Life Sciences Education. doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-11-0264 McDaniel, M., Cahill, M., Frey, R., Limeri, L., and Lemons, P.P. (2022) Learning Introductory Biology: Students' Concept-Building Approaches Predict Transfer on Biology Exams. CBE-Life Sciences Education. doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-12-0335 Krishnan, S., Gehrtz, J., Lemons, P.P., Dolan, E.L, Brickman, P. and Andrews, T.C. (2022) Guides to Advance Teaching Evaluation (GATEs): A Resource for STEM Departments Planning Robust and Equitable Evaluation Practices. CBE-Life Sciences Education.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-08-0198 Frey, R., Brame, C.J., Fink, A., and Lemons, P.P. (2022) Teaching Discipline-Based Problem Solving CBE-Life Sciences Education. June 1, 2022 21:fe1 doi.org/10.1187/cbe.22-02-0030 Jeong, S. , Clyburn, J. , Bhatia, N.S. , McCourt, J. , and Lemons, P.P. (2022) Student thinking in the professional development of college biology instructors: An analysis through the lens of sociocultural theory. CBE-Life Sciences Education. doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-01-0003 M. Segura-Totten, B. Dewsbury, S. M. Lo, E. G. Bailey, L. Beaster-Jones, R. J. Bills, et al. Lemons, P.P. et al. (2021) Chronicling the Journey of the Society for the Advancement in Biology Education Research (SABER) in its Effort to Become Antiracist: From Acknowledgement to Action. Frontiers in Education 6(479) https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feduc.2021.780401 Andrews, T.C., Brickman, P., Dolan, E.L., and Lemons, P.P. (2021) Every Tool in the Toolbox: Pursuing Multilevel Institutional Change in the DeLTA Project. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning Volume 53(2), 2021. doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2021.1883974 Halmo, S., Sensibaugh, C.A., Reinhart, P., Stogniy, O., Fiorella, L., and Lemons, P.P. (2020) Advancing the guidance debate: Lessons from Educational Psychology and Implications for Biochemistry Learning. CBE-Life Sciences Education. Sep;19(3):ar41. doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-11-0260 Stack, A., Bhatia, K., Sensibaugh, C., and Lemons, P.P. (2019) Undergraduate Biology Student Ideas About Biochemical Pathway Dynamics. Proceedings of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2019. Zagallo, P., McCourt, J., Idsardi, R., Haudek, K., Knight, J., Merrill, J., Nehm, R., Prevost, L., Smith, M., Urban-Lurain, M. and Lemons, P.P. *(2019) Through the eyes of faculty: using personas as a tool for user-centered professional development. CBE-Life Sciences Education. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-06-0114 Halmo, S., Sensibaugh, C.A., Bhatia, K.S., Howell, A.H., Ferryanto, E.P., Choe, B, Kehoe, K.P., Watson, M. and Lemons, P.P.* (2018) Student Difficulties During Structure-Function Problem Solving. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. 46(5): 453-463: https://doi-org.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/10.1002/bmb.21166 Pelletreau, K.N., Knight, J.K., Lemons, P.P., McCourt, J., Merrill, J., Nehm, R., Provost, L., Urban-Lurain, M. and Smith, M.K. (2018) “Using a Faculty Instructional Development Network to Design Instructional Materials that Improve Student Learning” CBE-Life Sciences Education. 17(2): https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-12-0260 McCourt, J., Andrews, T. C., Knight, J. K., Merrill, J., Nehm, R., Prevost, L. B., Smith, M. K., Urban-Lurain, M., and Lemons, P.P. (2017) “What Motivates Biology Instructors To Engage and Persist in Faculty Learning Communities?” CBE-Life Sciences Education. Prevost L.B. and Lemons, P.P. (2016) “Step by step: Biology Undergraduate’s Problem-Solving Steps During Multiple-Choice Testing” CBE-Life Sciences Education 15:ar71 doi:10.1187/cbe.15-12-0255. Terry, D. R., Lemons, P. P., Armstrong, N., Brickman, P., Ribbens, E., and Herreid, C.F. (2016) “Eight is Not Enough: Case Study Questions and Student Learning” Journal of College Science Teaching 46(2): 82-92. Urban-Lurain, M., Cooper, M. M., Haudek, K. C., Kaplan, J. J., Knight, J. K., Lemons, P. P., Lira, C.T., Merrill, J.E., Nehm, R., Prevost, L.B., Smith, M.K., and Sydlik, M. (2015) “Expanding a National Network for Automated Analysis of Constructed Response Assessments to Reveal Student Thinking in STEM” Computers in Education 25(2). Andrews, T.M. and Lemons, P.P. (2015) “It’s Personal: Biology Instructors Prioritize Personal Evidence Over Empirical Evidence in Teaching Decisions” CBE-Life Sciences Education 14(1):ar7, doi:10.1187/cbe.14-05-0084. Lemons, P. P. and Lemons, J. D. (2013) “Questions for Assessing Higher-Order Cognitive Skills: It’s Not Just Bloom’s.” CBE-Life Sciences Education 12(1): 47-58, doi: 10.1187/cbe.12-03-0024. Andrews, T.M., Price, R. M., Mead, L. S., McElhinny, T. L, Thanukos, A., Perez, K. E., Herreid, C. F., Terry, D.R. and Lemons, P. P. (2012) “Biology Undergraduates’ Misconceptions about Genetic Drift.” CBE-Life Sciences Education 11(3): 248-259. DOI: 1187/cbe.11-12-0107. Fleet, C., Rosser, M., Zufall, R.A., Pratt, M., Feldman, T. S., and Lemons, P. P. (2006) “Hiring Criteria in Biology Departments of Academic Institutions,” BioScience 56(5), 430-436.Bissell, A. and Lemons, P. P.* (2006) “A New Method for Assessing Critical Thinking in the Classroom,” BioScience 56(1), 66-72. Winter, D, Lemons, P. P., Hoese, W. J., and Bookman, J. (2001) “Novice Instructors and Student-Centered Instruction: Identifying and Addressing Obstacles to Learning in the College Science Laboratory,” The Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(1). Courses Regularly Taught Courses Regularly Taught: BCMB 3100 Other Website Other Website: Lemons Lab Page Seer Center Lemons Franklin College Dean's Office
