Puttick et al 2015 Study of lit on lab-based instruction in biology.pdf (original) (raw)
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A Study of the Literature on Lab-Based Instruction in Biology
The American Biology Teacher, 2015
The American Biology Teacher between 2007 and 2012. We investigated what laboratory learning looks like in biology classrooms, what topics are addressed, what instructional methods and activities are described, and what is being learned about student outcomes. The practitioner literature reveals a focus on novel and innovative labs, and gaps in some biology topics. There is little description of student learning, but motivation and engagement are a primary concern of authors. There is little evidence of students addressing the nature of science in laboratories, and too few opportunities for authentic exploration of phenomena. We suggest that biology instruction can be strengthened by more rigorous practitioner research through increased professional collaboration between teachers and education researchers, increased focus on the synergy between content and teaching practice, and more rigor in reporting student outcomes. -rater reliability was 87%. Where disagreements occurred, coders discussed the differences and established an agreed coding.
Transforming Laboratory Education in the Life Sciences
Microbe Magazine, 2016
Throughout college, students encounter experiences that influence their decisions to continue or leave their intended science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors. All STEM faculty share in a responsibility to encourage undergraduates to persist in these studies. Evidence continues to support active learning as an equitable teaching practice that benefıts diverse student populations, including women and underrepresented minority students most at risk for leaving STEM. The hope is that more STEM instructors will move away from the traditional lecture format as the primary mode of teaching undergraduates and that institutional leaders will reward those faculty who use inclusive, student-centered teaching practices effectively.
The American Biology Teacher, 2005
n 1993 two of us published a survey of introductory biology laboratory instruction in colleges and universities of the U.S. in order to document the status of laboratory instruction, and in particular, the use of inquiry based instruction (Sundberg & Armstrong, 1993). Now, following a decade of biological education reform including such pedagogic techniques as case studies (Herreid, C.F.), cooperative learning (Lord, T., 1998), learning cycle (Lawson, A.E., 2000), and a variety of other student-active approaches (McNeal & D'Avanze, 1997), we felt it was timely to reassess that status of laboratory instruction to document changes that may have occurred and current trends. Our questionnaire was modified slightly from the original to include several questions on the use of computers, the Internet, and multimedia materials in the laboratory. It was sent to 58 research universities, 50 comprehensive state universities, and 50 liberal arts colleges to provide broad national coverage. This sample included each of the 70 schools (predominantly research universities
School Science and Mathematics, 2017
This study examines what students enrolled in the honors and general sections of a high school biology course offered at the same school learn when they have an opportunity to participate in a broad or narrow range of science practices during their laboratory experiences. The results of our analysis suggest that the students enrolled in the general sections of the course made similar or larger gains than the students enrolled in the honors section of the course in their abilities to plan and carry out an investigation, argue from evidence, and write a science-specific persuasive essay when these students had an opportunity to participate in a broad range of science practices. These findings suggest that laboratory experiences that give students an opportunity to participate in a broad range of science practices, although considered challenging by many teachers, have the potential to help all students become more proficient in science. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this study for classroom instruction and educational policy.
Xavier University. NSF Award #9950373, 2001
This document is the final report of the external evaluation of the project entitled: Implementing Inquiry and Technology in a Biology Lab for Pre–service Teachers and Non-majors embodied in Xavier University’s laboratory course Biol-125: Discovering Life Science and funded under the National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (HER.) award no. DUE#99-50373. The period of NSF funding for this two-year project of the NSF/HER/DUE Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program was June 1, 1999 through May 31, 2001.
Instruction Matters for Nature of Science Understanding in College Biology Laboratories
Student understanding of the nature of science (NOS) improves in response to focused reflection about its aspects—an explicit, reflective (ER) pedagogy. However, whether this approach is effective within the two most common instructional models of undergraduate science laboratories— expository, which confirms predetermined outcomes, and inquiry, which is student driven and involves undetermined outcomes—is unknown. We manipulated underlying pedagogy (expository or inquiry based) and NOS treatment (ER or no ER) randomly across 31 sections of an intro- ductory biology laboratory (n = 602 students). The students’ understanding of several NOS aspects, assessed by their responses on two validated surveys, was significantly affected by the treatment. However, different NOS aspects were promoted by different treatments, which suggests that no single model or pedagogy can increase all aspects of NOS understanding. Instead, the instructional approach should be selected on the basis of the desired NOS learning outcomes.
Elementary education majors experience hands-on learning in introductory biology
Advances in Physiology Education, 2006
Faculty members from the University of South Dakota attended the Curriculum Reform Institute offered by the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, WI, during the summer of 2002 to design a course sequence for elementary education majors that better meets their needs for both content and pedagogy based on the science education standards. The special section of introductory biology that resulted from this workshop is designed to use laboratories and activities that either help students learn major concepts in the life sciences or model how to teach these concepts to their future K–8 students. This study describes how the active, hands-on learning opportunity for preservice teachers with its emphasis on both content and performance-based assessment was implemented in an introductory biology course for elementary education majors during the spring of 2004. During the initial offering of this course, student perceptions about what helped them to learn in the special section was compared wit...
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1969
The new science programs for the secondary school assume the importance of the laboratory as a means for students to gain greater understanding of and experience with ~cience.l-~ The relative effectiveness of laboratory and demonstration approaches was a popular research area during the 1 9 3 0 '~.~-~ Most of these studies failed to establish that the laboratory approach was superior to the teacher demonstration procedure. As a result the laboratory was deemphasized, especially in general education science courses during the 1940's. However, achievement tests were the only measures used to determine the outcomes of instruction. These tests were largely contentcentered where there was a premium placed upon mastery of information.