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Redesign of Introductory Biology Courses to Align with Vision and Change Recommendations Improves Student Success
Author(s) -
Wilkinson Katherine A.,
Anand Sulekha,
Lambrecht Susan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.773.21
Subject(s) - clicker , mathematics education , class (philosophy) , reading (process) , scientific literacy , test (biology) , concept inventory , population , psychology , medical education , science education , computer science , biology , medicine , paleontology , environmental health , artificial intelligence , political science , law
The SJSU Biological Sciences Department recently redesigned the core introductory biology sequence to align with the best practices in biology pedagogy as described in the Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education report . We now emphasize depth not breadth of information and focus on understanding how to interpret experimental results. We have incorporated more inquiry‐based labs and active learning strategies, including out of class reading quizzes and in‐class clicker questions. Our goal is to improve student performance in this 2 semester‐long lecture and lab course and improve student preparation for success in the major. To assess the success of our redesign and aid in our understanding of the student population that takes these courses, we administer two validated concept inventories, the Biology Concept Inventory (BCI) and the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) , and a demographic survey at the beginning of the first course and the end of the second course. We have finished the first full year of the redesigned series and have seen modest improvements in failure rates (old version: BIOL 1A: 22%, BIOL 1B: 24% failure rate; new version: BIOL 30: 19%, BIOL 31: 13%). We also saw improvements in the performance of first generation college students and students from underrepresented minority groups in the new courses as well as increased retention into the second semester. Students in both versions of the courses scored significantly higher on the BCI following the second semester, suggesting improved mastery of the course content. Students in the old version of the course scored significantly worse on the TOSLS in the second semester, while students in the new version of the course had post‐test TOSLS scores that were trending higher, suggesting the new version was more effective in improving scientific literacy skills. We are continuing to track student success in future courses and are investigating changes in student attitudes about science with the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). Overall, the redesign has had positive effects on student success. Support or Funding Information We are supported by a California State University Program in Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) Curriculum Grant. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .