Peggy Brickman | The University of Georgia (original) (raw)
Papers by Peggy Brickman
CBE life sciences education, Jun 1, 2024
The Journal of College Science Teaching, Aug 31, 2023
CBE—Life Sciences Education, 2007
This study examined the impact of cooperative learning activities on student achievement and atti... more This study examined the impact of cooperative learning activities on student achievement and attitudes in large-enrollment (>250) introductory biology classes. We found that students taught using a cooperative learning approach showed greater improvement in their knowledge of course material compared with students taught using a traditional lecture format. In addition, students viewed cooperative learning activities highly favorably. These findings suggest that encouraging students to work in small groups and improving feedback between the instructor and the students can help to improve student outcomes even in very large classes. These results should be viewed cautiously, however, until this experiment can be replicated with additional faculty. Strategies for potentially improving the impact of cooperative learning on student achievement in large courses are discussed.
CBE—Life Sciences Education
This article describes the iterative development of the Guides to Advance Teaching Evaluation (GA... more This article describes the iterative development of the Guides to Advance Teaching Evaluation (GATEs) and provides examples of potential uses. This research-based resource is designed to serve as a long-term planning tool for STEM departments to reform teaching evaluation practices.
CBE—Life Sciences Education, 2018
Active-learning strategies can improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) u... more Active-learning strategies can improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates’ abilities to learn fundamental concepts and skills. However, the results instructors achieve vary substantially. One explanation for this is that instructors commonly implement active learning differently than intended. An important factor affecting how instructors implement active learning is knowledge of teaching and learning. We aimed to discover knowledge that is important to effective active learning in large undergraduate courses. We developed a lesson-analysis instrument to elicit teacher knowledge, drawing on the theoretical construct of teacher noticing. We compared the knowledge used by expert (n = 14) and novice (n = 29) active-learning instructors as they analyzed lessons. Experts and novices differed in what they noticed, with experts more commonly considering how instructors hold students accountable, topic-specific student difficulties, whether the instructo...
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty are increasingly incorporating both for... more Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty are increasingly incorporating both formal and informal group work in their courses. Implementing group work can be improved by an understanding of the extensive body of educational research studies on this topic. This essay describes an online, evidence-based teaching guide published by CBE-Life Sciences Education (LSE). The guide provides a tour of research studies and resources related to group work (including many articles from LSE). Instructors who are new to group work, as well as instructors who have experienced difficulties in implementing group work, may value the condensed summaries of key research findings. These summaries are organized by teaching challenges, and actionable advice is provided in a checklist for instructors. Education researchers may value the inclusion of empirical studies, key reviews, and meta-analyses of group-work studies. In addition to describing key features of the guide, this essay also identifies areas in which further empirical studies are warranted.
Choice Reviews Online, 2008
The American Biology Teacher, 2012
Students must learn content knowledge and develop scientific literacy skills to evaluate and use ... more Students must learn content knowledge and develop scientific literacy skills to evaluate and use scientific information in real-world situations. Recognizing the accessibility of scientific information to the average citizen, we developed an instructional approach to help students learn how to judge the quality of claims. We describe a project-based applied learning (PAL) approach that utilizes engaging questions about biological issues relevant to students. Working through these projects, students are challenged to evaluate sources of information and communicate their understanding of scientific claims. We discuss challenges that students encounter and offer suggestions for enacting this approach in a general-education college classroom.
Cell Biology Education, 2012
Life sciences faculty agree that developing scientific literacy is an integral part of undergradu... more Life sciences faculty agree that developing scientific literacy is an integral part of undergraduate education and report that they teach these skills. However, few measures of scientific literacy are available to assess students’ proficiency in using scientific literacy skills to solve scenarios in and beyond the undergraduate biology classroom. In this paper, we describe the development, validation, and testing of the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) in five general education biology classes at three undergraduate institutions. The test measures skills related to major aspects of scientific literacy: recognizing and analyzing the use of methods of inquiry that lead to scientific knowledge and the ability to organize, analyze, and interpret quantitative data and scientific information. Measures of validity included correspondence between items and scientific literacy goals of the National Research Council and Project 2061, findings from a survey of biology faculty, expert...
Cell Biology Education, 2013
Science educators often characterize the degree to which tests measure different facets of colleg... more Science educators often characterize the degree to which tests measure different facets of college students’ learning, such as knowing, applying, and problem solving. A casual survey of scholarship of teaching and learning research studies reveals that many educators also measure how students’ attitudes influence their learning. Students’ science attitudes refer to their positive or negative feelings and predispositions to learn science. Science educators use attitude measures, in conjunction with learning measures, to inform the conclusions they draw about the efficacy of their instructional interventions. The measurement of students’ attitudes poses similar but distinct challenges as compared with measurement of learning, such as determining validity and reliability of instruments and selecting appropriate methods for conducting statistical analyses. In this review, we will describe techniques commonly used to quantify students’ attitudes toward science. We will also discuss best ...
Background/Question/Methods Most university science educators agree that developing the science l... more Background/Question/Methods Most university science educators agree that developing the science literacy skills necessary for students to use science in real-world situations is just as important as imparting factual scientific content. However, research indicates that few instructors actually teach these skills and that there is a lack of effective pedagogical models readily available to adapt and implement in classrooms. In response to this need, we developed and classroom-tested an instructional method, Project-based Applied Learning (PAL), in a large introductory cell and molecular biology course. This pedagogy focuses on increasing science literacy by providing opportunities for students to develop skills and apply them to a series of projects rooted in real-world problems. PAL focuses on four quantitative process skills: distinguishing between science and pseudoscience; interpreting graphs and statistics and employing them to communicate effectively; using data to form appropr...
How do college science in-structors, particularly new ones, learn to cope with the dilemmas that ... more How do college science in-structors, particularly new ones, learn to cope with the dilemmas that routinely arise in their courses? Professional development cases are one way for teachers to prepare themselves for real-world problems that may arise during their teaching careers. Professional development cases usually involve dilemmas designed to stimulate inquiry, reflection, critical thinking, and problem solving. An ex-tensive body of research supports the use of case discussions when learning how to solve complex problems in
Most students have difficulty reasoning about chance events, and misconceptions regarding prob-ab... more Most students have difficulty reasoning about chance events, and misconceptions regarding prob-ability can persist or even strengthen following traditional instruction. Many biostatistics classes sidestep this problem by prioritizing exploratory data analysis over probability. However, prob-ability itself, in addition to statistics, is essential both to the biology curriculum and to informed decision making in daily life. One area in which probability is particularly important is medicine. Given the preponderance of pre health students, in addition to more general interest in medicine, we capitalized on students ’ intrinsic motivation in this area to teach both probability and statistics. We use the randomized controlled trial as the centerpiece of the course, because it exemplifies the most salient features of the scientific method, and the application of critical thinking to medicine. The other two pillars of the course are biomedical applications of Bayes ’ theorem and science an...
Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher-to student-centere... more Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher-to student-centered course design, and included developments such as peer-teaching, problem and inquiry-based learning. In the sciences, inquiry-based learning has been widely promoted to increase literacy and skill development, but there has been little comparison to more traditional curricula. In this study, we demonstrated greater improvements in students' science literacy and research skills using inquiry lab instruction. We also found that inquiry students gained self-confidence in scientific abilities, but traditional students' gain was greater -likely indicating that the traditional curriculum promoted over-confidence. Inquiry lab students valued more authentic science exposure but acknowledged that experiencing the complexity and frustrations faced by practicing scientists was challenging, and may explain the widespread reported student resistance to inquiry curricula.
Journal of College Science Teaching
Interest in Mathematics and Science Learning
CBE life sciences education, Jun 1, 2024
The Journal of College Science Teaching, Aug 31, 2023
CBE—Life Sciences Education, 2007
This study examined the impact of cooperative learning activities on student achievement and atti... more This study examined the impact of cooperative learning activities on student achievement and attitudes in large-enrollment (>250) introductory biology classes. We found that students taught using a cooperative learning approach showed greater improvement in their knowledge of course material compared with students taught using a traditional lecture format. In addition, students viewed cooperative learning activities highly favorably. These findings suggest that encouraging students to work in small groups and improving feedback between the instructor and the students can help to improve student outcomes even in very large classes. These results should be viewed cautiously, however, until this experiment can be replicated with additional faculty. Strategies for potentially improving the impact of cooperative learning on student achievement in large courses are discussed.
CBE—Life Sciences Education
This article describes the iterative development of the Guides to Advance Teaching Evaluation (GA... more This article describes the iterative development of the Guides to Advance Teaching Evaluation (GATEs) and provides examples of potential uses. This research-based resource is designed to serve as a long-term planning tool for STEM departments to reform teaching evaluation practices.
CBE—Life Sciences Education, 2018
Active-learning strategies can improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) u... more Active-learning strategies can improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates’ abilities to learn fundamental concepts and skills. However, the results instructors achieve vary substantially. One explanation for this is that instructors commonly implement active learning differently than intended. An important factor affecting how instructors implement active learning is knowledge of teaching and learning. We aimed to discover knowledge that is important to effective active learning in large undergraduate courses. We developed a lesson-analysis instrument to elicit teacher knowledge, drawing on the theoretical construct of teacher noticing. We compared the knowledge used by expert (n = 14) and novice (n = 29) active-learning instructors as they analyzed lessons. Experts and novices differed in what they noticed, with experts more commonly considering how instructors hold students accountable, topic-specific student difficulties, whether the instructo...
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty are increasingly incorporating both for... more Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty are increasingly incorporating both formal and informal group work in their courses. Implementing group work can be improved by an understanding of the extensive body of educational research studies on this topic. This essay describes an online, evidence-based teaching guide published by CBE-Life Sciences Education (LSE). The guide provides a tour of research studies and resources related to group work (including many articles from LSE). Instructors who are new to group work, as well as instructors who have experienced difficulties in implementing group work, may value the condensed summaries of key research findings. These summaries are organized by teaching challenges, and actionable advice is provided in a checklist for instructors. Education researchers may value the inclusion of empirical studies, key reviews, and meta-analyses of group-work studies. In addition to describing key features of the guide, this essay also identifies areas in which further empirical studies are warranted.
Choice Reviews Online, 2008
The American Biology Teacher, 2012
Students must learn content knowledge and develop scientific literacy skills to evaluate and use ... more Students must learn content knowledge and develop scientific literacy skills to evaluate and use scientific information in real-world situations. Recognizing the accessibility of scientific information to the average citizen, we developed an instructional approach to help students learn how to judge the quality of claims. We describe a project-based applied learning (PAL) approach that utilizes engaging questions about biological issues relevant to students. Working through these projects, students are challenged to evaluate sources of information and communicate their understanding of scientific claims. We discuss challenges that students encounter and offer suggestions for enacting this approach in a general-education college classroom.
Cell Biology Education, 2012
Life sciences faculty agree that developing scientific literacy is an integral part of undergradu... more Life sciences faculty agree that developing scientific literacy is an integral part of undergraduate education and report that they teach these skills. However, few measures of scientific literacy are available to assess students’ proficiency in using scientific literacy skills to solve scenarios in and beyond the undergraduate biology classroom. In this paper, we describe the development, validation, and testing of the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) in five general education biology classes at three undergraduate institutions. The test measures skills related to major aspects of scientific literacy: recognizing and analyzing the use of methods of inquiry that lead to scientific knowledge and the ability to organize, analyze, and interpret quantitative data and scientific information. Measures of validity included correspondence between items and scientific literacy goals of the National Research Council and Project 2061, findings from a survey of biology faculty, expert...
Cell Biology Education, 2013
Science educators often characterize the degree to which tests measure different facets of colleg... more Science educators often characterize the degree to which tests measure different facets of college students’ learning, such as knowing, applying, and problem solving. A casual survey of scholarship of teaching and learning research studies reveals that many educators also measure how students’ attitudes influence their learning. Students’ science attitudes refer to their positive or negative feelings and predispositions to learn science. Science educators use attitude measures, in conjunction with learning measures, to inform the conclusions they draw about the efficacy of their instructional interventions. The measurement of students’ attitudes poses similar but distinct challenges as compared with measurement of learning, such as determining validity and reliability of instruments and selecting appropriate methods for conducting statistical analyses. In this review, we will describe techniques commonly used to quantify students’ attitudes toward science. We will also discuss best ...
Background/Question/Methods Most university science educators agree that developing the science l... more Background/Question/Methods Most university science educators agree that developing the science literacy skills necessary for students to use science in real-world situations is just as important as imparting factual scientific content. However, research indicates that few instructors actually teach these skills and that there is a lack of effective pedagogical models readily available to adapt and implement in classrooms. In response to this need, we developed and classroom-tested an instructional method, Project-based Applied Learning (PAL), in a large introductory cell and molecular biology course. This pedagogy focuses on increasing science literacy by providing opportunities for students to develop skills and apply them to a series of projects rooted in real-world problems. PAL focuses on four quantitative process skills: distinguishing between science and pseudoscience; interpreting graphs and statistics and employing them to communicate effectively; using data to form appropr...
How do college science in-structors, particularly new ones, learn to cope with the dilemmas that ... more How do college science in-structors, particularly new ones, learn to cope with the dilemmas that routinely arise in their courses? Professional development cases are one way for teachers to prepare themselves for real-world problems that may arise during their teaching careers. Professional development cases usually involve dilemmas designed to stimulate inquiry, reflection, critical thinking, and problem solving. An ex-tensive body of research supports the use of case discussions when learning how to solve complex problems in
Most students have difficulty reasoning about chance events, and misconceptions regarding prob-ab... more Most students have difficulty reasoning about chance events, and misconceptions regarding prob-ability can persist or even strengthen following traditional instruction. Many biostatistics classes sidestep this problem by prioritizing exploratory data analysis over probability. However, prob-ability itself, in addition to statistics, is essential both to the biology curriculum and to informed decision making in daily life. One area in which probability is particularly important is medicine. Given the preponderance of pre health students, in addition to more general interest in medicine, we capitalized on students ’ intrinsic motivation in this area to teach both probability and statistics. We use the randomized controlled trial as the centerpiece of the course, because it exemplifies the most salient features of the scientific method, and the application of critical thinking to medicine. The other two pillars of the course are biomedical applications of Bayes ’ theorem and science an...
Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher-to student-centere... more Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher-to student-centered course design, and included developments such as peer-teaching, problem and inquiry-based learning. In the sciences, inquiry-based learning has been widely promoted to increase literacy and skill development, but there has been little comparison to more traditional curricula. In this study, we demonstrated greater improvements in students' science literacy and research skills using inquiry lab instruction. We also found that inquiry students gained self-confidence in scientific abilities, but traditional students' gain was greater -likely indicating that the traditional curriculum promoted over-confidence. Inquiry lab students valued more authentic science exposure but acknowledged that experiencing the complexity and frustrations faced by practicing scientists was challenging, and may explain the widespread reported student resistance to inquiry curricula.
Journal of College Science Teaching
Interest in Mathematics and Science Learning