A Faculty Team Works to Create Content Linkages among Various Courses to Increase Meaningful Learning of Targeted Concepts of Microbiology (original) (raw)
Related papers
Microbiology Education, 2006
The Delta Cooperative Model (DCM) is a dynamic and innovative teamwork design created to develop fundamentals in research skills. High school students in the DCM belong to the Upward Bound Science and Math (UBSM) program at the Inter American University, Ponce Campus. After workshops on using the scientific method, students were organized into groups of three students with similar research interests. Each student had to take on a role within the group as either a researcher, data analyst, or research editor. Initially, each research team developed hypothesis-driven ideas on their proposed project. In intrateam research meetings, they emphasized team-specific tasks. Next, interteam meetings were held to present ideas and receive critical input. Finally, oral and poster research presentations were conducted at the UBSM science fair. Several team research projects covered topics in medical, environmental, and general microbiology. The three major assessment areas for the workshop and DCM included: (i) student's perception of the workshops' effectiveness in developing skills, content, and values; (ii) research team self-and group participation evaluation, and (iii) oral and poster presentation during the science fair. More than 91% of the students considered the workshops effective in the presentation of scientific method fundamentals. The combination of the workshop and the DCM increased student's knowledge by 55% from pre-to posttests. Two rubrics were designed to assess the oral presentation and poster setup. The poster and oral presentation scores averaged 83%and 75%respectively. Finally, we present a team assessment instrument that allows the self-and group evaluation of each research team. While the DCM has educational plasticity and versatility, here we document how the this model has been successfully incorporated in training and engaging students in scientific research in microbiology.
An Investigative, Cooperative Learning Approach to the General Microbiology Laboratory
Cell Biology Education, 2009
Investigative-and cooperative-based learning strategies have been used effectively in a variety of classrooms to enhance student learning and engagement. In the General Microbiology laboratory for juniors and seniors at James Madison University, these strategies were combined to make a semester-long, investigative, cooperative learning experience involving culture and identification of microbial isolates that the students obtained from various environments. To assess whether this strategy was successful, students were asked to complete a survey at the beginning and at the end of the semester regarding their comfort level with a variety of topics. For most of the topics queried, the students reported that their comfort had increased significantly during the semester. Furthermore, this group of students thought that the quality of this investigative lab experience was much better than that of any of their previous lab experiences.
Assessing Student Understanding of Host Pathogen Interactions Using a Concept Inventory
Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 2009
As a group of faculty with expertise and research programs in the area of host-pathogen interactions (HPI), we are concentrating on students' learning of HPI concepts. As such we developed a concept inventory to measure level of understanding relative to HPI after the completion of a set of microbiology courses (presently eight courses). Concept inventories have been useful tools for assessing student learning, and our interest was to develop such a tool to measure student learning progression in our microbiology courses. Our teaching goal was to create bridges between our courses which would eliminate excessive overlap in our offerings and support a model where concepts and ideas introduced in one course would become the foundation for concept development in successive courses. We developed our HPI concept inventory in several phases. The final product was an 18-question, multiple-choice concept inventory. In fall 2006 and spring 2007 we administered the 18-question concept inventory in six of our courses. We collected pre-and postcourse surveys from 477 students. We found that students taking pretests in the advanced courses retained the level of understanding gained in the general microbiology prerequisite course. Also, in two of our courses there was significant improvement on the scores from pretest to posttest. As we move forward, we will concentrate on exploring the range of HPI concepts addressed in each course and determine and/or create effective methods for meaningful student learning of HPI aspects of microbiology.
2004
Active learning and research-oriented activities have been increasingly used in smaller, specialized science courses?1. Application of this type of scientific teaching to large enrollment introductory courses has been, however, a major challenge. The general microbiology lecture/ laboratory course described has been designed to incorporate published active learning methods. Three major case studies are used as platforms for active learning?2. Themes from case studies are integrated into lectures and laboratory experiments, and in class and online discussions and assignments. Students are stimulated to apply facts to problem-solving and to learn research skills such as data analysis, writing, and working in teams. This course is feasible only because of its organizational framework that makes use of teaching teams (made up of faculty, graduate assistants, and undergraduate assistants) and Web-based technology. Technology is a mode of communication, but also a system of course managem...
Journal of Microbiology Biology Education Jmbe, 2013
Recent recommendations for biology education highlight the role of authentic research experiences early in undergraduate education as a means of increasing the number and quality of biology majors. These experiences will inform students on the nature of science, increase their confidence in doing science, as well as foster critical thinking skills, an area that has been lacking despite it being one of the desired outcomes at undergraduate institutions and with future employers. With these things in mind, we have developed an introductory biology laboratory course where students design and execute an authentic microbiology research project. Students in this course are assimilated into the community of researchers by engaging in scholarly activities such as participating in inquiry, reading scientific literature, and communicating findings in written and oral formats. After three iterations of a semester-long laboratory course, we found that students who took the course showed a significant increase in their understanding of the nature of authentic research and their level of critical thinking skills.
Expanding your research team: learning gains when a laboratory partners with a classroom
BioScience
Classroom research experiences can provide outstanding learning opportunities for undergraduate students while also benefiting faculty research programs. However, these courses often require more work than traditional lecture-based courses, potentially discouraging faculty from taking on the challenge. Here, we propose one solution. We describe a research-based course designed and implemented by multiple members of a research team. The students in this course measured insects for an evolutionary genetics experiment while participating in classroom-based discussions, readings, and presentations focused on the nature of science. The benefits of the course were three-fold. First, students reported strong positive gains in understanding the nature of science and their attitudes towards science. Second, this course produced publishable data, benefiting faculty research. Third, members of the research team received valuable training in teaching, teamwork, and data management. If incorpora...
2019
Background Bioscience is essential knowledge for nursing practice and is an important component of undergraduate nursing education, however students commonly feel anxious about studying the subject. The purpose of this study was to create student learning resources for undergraduate bioscience that would enhance student engagement and performance and reduce attrition and unit failures over a sustained period. Methods Online surveys and formal institutional data collection metrics were used to assess the impact of the changes to unit learning resources. Results Student attrition rates and failure rates for the unit were reduced over a two-year period across a diverse student cohort. Conclusions Scaffolded and diverse learning materials support the success of undergraduate bioscience students by improving student engagement and reducing cognitive load.
This study aims to determine whether bioscience teachers and researchers in a research-intensive university have consistent views on research-based teaching, and to evaluate whether teachers’ conceptions and views on practical teaching methods are aligned. Fifty-eight teachers completed a questionnaire concerning conceptions and practices of teaching. By using qualitative content analysis, we distinguished three categories of conceptions: teacher-centred, student-centred and a view whereby pedagogical research was valued. Views on teaching practices were divided into five categories, according to how the teachers viewed students’ involvement in research. A highly significant correlation indicated that teachers with more student-centred conceptions were likely to implement practices involving students in research and the academic community. Our study shows a plethora of conceptions of research-based teaching in an academic community and suggests that to enhance teaching quality in higher education, cooperation on the development of common conceptions is necessary; they will not evolve by themselves amongst academics.