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1.
A Year of Firsts     
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This completely computer-based module''s purpose is to introduce students to bioinformatics resources. We present an easy-to-adopt module that weaves together several important bioinformatic tools so students can grasp how these tools are used in answering research questions. Students integrate information gathered from websites dealing with anatomy (Mouse Brain Library), quantitative trait locus analysis (WebQTL from GeneNetwork), bioinformatics and gene expression analyses (University of California, Santa Cruz Genome Browser, National Center for Biotechnology Information''s Entrez Gene, and the Allen Brain Atlas), and information resources (PubMed). Instructors can use these various websites in concert to teach genetics from the phenotypic level to the molecular level, aspects of neuroanatomy and histology, statistics, quantitative trait locus analysis, and molecular biology (including in situ hybridization and microarray analysis), and to introduce bioinformatic resources. Students use these resources to discover 1) the region(s) of chromosome(s) influencing the phenotypic trait, 2) a list of candidate genes—narrowed by expression data, 3) the in situ pattern of a given gene in the region of interest, 4) the nucleotide sequence of the candidate gene, and 5) articles describing the gene. Teaching materials such as a detailed student/instructor''s manual, PowerPoints, sample exams, and links to free Web resources can be found at http://mdcune.psych.ucla.edu/modules/bioinformatics.  相似文献   

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Mathematical manipulative models have had a long history of influence in biological research and in secondary school education, but they are frequently neglected in undergraduate biology education. By linking mathematical manipulative models in a four-step process—1) use of physical manipulatives, 2) interactive exploration of computer simulations, 3) derivation of mathematical relationships from core principles, and 4) analysis of real data sets—we demonstrate a process that we have shared in biological faculty development workshops led by staff from the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium over the past 24 yr. We built this approach based upon a broad survey of literature in mathematical educational research that has convincingly demonstrated the utility of multiple models that involve physical, kinesthetic learning to actual data and interactive simulations. Two projects that use this approach are introduced: The Biological Excel Simulations and Tools in Exploratory, Experiential Mathematics (ESTEEM) Project (http://bioquest.org/esteem) and Numerical Undergraduate Mathematical Biology Education (NUMB3R5 COUNT; http://bioquest.org/numberscount). Examples here emphasize genetics, ecology, population biology, photosynthesis, cancer, and epidemiology. Mathematical manipulative models help learners break through prior fears to develop an appreciation for how mathematical reasoning informs problem solving, inference, and precise communication in biology and enhance the diversity of quantitative biology education.  相似文献   

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5.
Plant Behavior     
Plants are a huge and diverse group of organisms ranging from microscopic marine phytoplankton to enormous terrestrial trees. Stunning, and yet some of us take plants for granted. In this plant issue of LSE, WWW.Life Sciences Education focuses on a botanical topic that most people, even biologists, do not think about—plant behavior.Plants are a huge and diverse group of organisms (Figure 1), ranging from microscopic marine phytoplankton (see http://oceandatacenter.ucsc.edu/PhytoGallery/phytolist.html for beautiful images of many species) to enormous terrestrial trees epitomized by the giant sequoia: 300 feet tall, living 3000 years, and weighing as much as 3000 tons (visit the Arkive website, www.arkive.org/giant-sequoia/sequoiadendron-giganteum, for photos and basic information). Stunning, and yet some of us take plants for granted, like a side salad. We may see plants as a focal point during the blooming season or as a nice backdrop for all the interesting things animals do. For this plant issue of CBE—Life Sciences Education, I am going to focus on a botanical topic that most people, even biologists, do not think about—plant behavior.Open in a separate windowFigure 1.Plants are very diverse, ranging in size from microscopic plankton (left, courtesy of University of California–Santa Cruz Ocean Data Center) to the biggest organisms on our planet (right, courtesy Arkive.org).Before digging into plant behavior, let us define what a plant is. All plants evolved from the eukaryotic cell that acquired a photosynthetic cyanobacterium as an endosymbiont ∼1.6 billion years ago. This event gave the lineage its defining trait of being a eukaryote that can directly harvest sunlight for energy. The cyanobacteria had been photosynthesizing on their own for a long time already, but this new “plant cell” gave rise to a huge and diverse line of unicellular and multicellular species. Genome sequences have shed light on the birth and evolution of plants, and John Bowman and colleagues published an excellent review titled “Green Genes” several years ago in Cell (www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867407004618#; Bowman et al., 2007 ). The article has concise information on the origin and evolution of plant groups, including helpful graphics (Figure 2). Of course, plants were classified and subdivided long before DNA analysis was possible. The Encyclopedia of Earth (EOE) is a good website for exploring biological diversity and has an article on plants (www.eoearth.org/view/article/155261) that lays out the major plant groups and their characteristics. It states that there are more than 400,000 described species, a fraction of the estimated total number.Open in a separate windowFigure 2.Genomic analysis has illuminated the relationship among the many species of plants, as illustrated in this phylogeny of three major plant groups from Bowman et al. (2007 , p. 129).The venerable Kew Gardens has an excellent website (Figure 3) that includes extensive pages under the tab Science and Conservation (www.kew.org/science-conservation). It is a beautifully organized website for exploring plant diversity and burrowing into the science of plants, and includes an excellent blog. Ever wonder how many different kinds of flowers there are? You can find out by visiting their feature titled, “How Many Flowering Plants Are There in the World?” There is an interesting video feature on coffee, which describes how only two species out of more than a hundred have come to dominate coffee production for drinking. As the monoculture in Ireland led to the potato blight, a lack of genetic diversity in today''s coffee plants is threatening the world''s coffee supply with the onset of climate change. The possibility of life without coffee is a call to action if ever I have heard one.Open in a separate windowFigure 3.Kew Gardens has a large and informative website that should appeal to gardeners and flower lovers, as well as more serious botanists and ecologists.Classification of plants is challenging for students and teachers alike. Perhaps understandable, given that plants constitute an entire kingdom of life. For an overview, have students read the EOE article as well as the Bowman Cell article to appreciate the enormity and diversity of the organisms we call plants. The EOE article is reproduced on the Encyclopedia of Life website (http://eol.org/info/449), an excellent context for further exploration of diverse plant species. As we probe the topic of plant behavior, the examples will be drawn from the vascular plants that include the many familiar plants commonly called trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables, and weeds.Plants do respond to changes in their environment, but is it fruitful or scientifically valid to say that they have behavior? They lack muscles and nerves, do not have mouths or digestive systems, and are often literally rooted in place. A growing number of plant biologists have embraced the term behavior, as demonstrated by the journal devoted to the subject, Plant Behavior. Their resources page (www.plantbehavior.org/resources.html) is a good place to get oriented to the field.As in so many things, Darwin anticipated important questions concerning the movement of plants, despite the difficulties in observing plant behavior, and in 1880 he published The Power of Movement in Plants. The Darwin Correspondence Project website has a good treatment of Darwin''s work on plants, with interesting anecdotes relating to how he collaborated with his son Francis on this work late in his career (www.darwinproject.ac.uk/power-of-movement-in-plants). You can download Chapter 9 of the book and some of the correspondence between Darwin and his son. The entire book is available at http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F1325&viewtype=text&pageseq=1, or in various e-reader formats at the Project Gutenberg website (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5605). The PBS NOVA website, has a feature covering several of Darwin''s “predictions,” including one in which he noted the importance of plant and animal interactions. He famously predicted that a Madagascar orchid (Angraecum sesquipedale), which has a long narrow passage to its nectar stash, must have a long-tongued pollinator. In 1903, biologists identified the giant hawkmoth, with a 12-inch-long proboscis, as the pollinator predicted by Darwin (www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/pred-nf.html).Darwin recognized that plants mostly do things on a timescale that is hard for us to observe, so he devised clever ways to record their movements. Placing a plant behind a pane of glass, he marked the plant''s position on the glass over time using a stationary reference grid placed behind the plant. Darwin transferred the drawing to a sheet of paper before cleaning the glass for the next experiment (Figure 4). By varying the distance between the plant, the reference points, and the glass, he magnified apparent distances to detect even small plant movements over periods as short as minutes. High-definition time-lapse photography and other modern techniques have extended Darwin''s observations in some compelling directions.Open in a separate windowFigure 4.One of Darwin''s drawings that can be found on the Darwin Correspondence Project Web pages devoted to his book The Power of Movement in Plants. For this figure, the position of the cotyledons of a Brassica was marked on a glass plate about every 30 min over a period of more than 10 h.A recent episode of the PBS Nature series, “What Plants Talk About,” epitomizes the increased interest in plant behavior and, unfortunately, some of the hyperbole associated with the field. The time-lapse video sequences and associated science are fascinating, and the entire program can be viewed on the PBS website at http://video.pbs.org/video/2338524490. The home page for the program (Figure 5; www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/what-plants-talk-about/introduction/8228) has two short video clips that are interesting. The video titled “Dodder Vine Sniffs Out Its Prey” is nicely filmed and features some interesting experiments involving plant signaling. It might be instructive to ask students to respond to the vocabulary used in the narration, which unfortunately tries to impart intent and mindfulness to the plant''s activities, and to make sensible experimental results somehow seem shocking. The “Plant Self-Defense” video is a compelling “poison pill” story that needs no narrative embellishment. A plant responds to caterpillars feeding on it by producing a substance that tags them for increased attention from predators. Increased predation reduces the number of caterpillars feeding on the plants. The story offers a remarkable series of complex interactions and evolutionary adaptations. Another documentary, In the Mind of Plants (www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU859ziUoPc), was originally produced in French. Perhaps some experimental interpretations were mangled in translation, but the camera work is consistently excellent.Open in a separate windowFigure 5.The Nature pages of the PBS website have video clips and a short article, as well as the entire hour-long program “What Plants Talk About.” The program features fantastic camera work and solid science, but some questionable narration.Skepticism is part and parcel of scientific thinking, but particular caution may be warranted in the field of plant behavior because of the 1970s book and documentary called The Secret Life of Plants (www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGl4btrsiHk). The Secret Life of Plants was a sensation at the time and was largely responsible for the persistent myths that talking to your plants makes them healthier, that plants have auras, and that plants grow better when played classical music rather than rock. While the program woke people up to the notion that plants indeed do fascinating things, the conclusions based on bad science or no science at all were in the end more destructive than helpful to this aspect of plant science. Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire and other excellent plant books, addresses some of the controversy that dogs the field of plant behavior in an interview on the public radio program Science Friday (http://sciencefriday.com/segment/01/03/2014/can-plants-think.html). His article “The Intelligent Plant” in the New Yorker (www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/12/23/131223fa_fact_pollan?currentPage=all), covers similar ground.The excellently understated Plants in Motion website (http://plantsinmotion.bio.indiana.edu/plantmotion) is a welcome antidote to some of the filmic excesses. The site features dozens of low-definition, time-lapse videos of plants moving, accompanied by straightforward explanations of the experimental conditions and some background on the plants. The lack of narration conveys a refreshing cinema verité quality, and you can choose your own music to play while you watch. Highlights include corn shoots growing toward a light bulb, the rapid response of a mimosa plant to a flame, vines twining, and pumpkins plumping at night. You may have driven past a field of sunflowers and heard the remark that the heads follow the sun, but that is a partial truth. The young buds of the early plants do track the sun, but once they bloom, the tall plants stiffen and every head in the field permanently faces … east! The creators of Plants in Motion curated an exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Gardens called sLowlife (Figure 6). The accompanying video and “essay” (http://plantsinmotion.bio.indiana.edu/usbg/toc.htm) are excellent, featuring many interesting aspects of plant biology.Open in a separate windowFigure 6.sLowlife is an evocative multimedia essay designed to accompany an exhibit installed at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It features text and video that reveal interesting aspects of plant biology.High-definition time-lapse photography is far from the only tool available to reveal hard-to-observe activities of plants. Greg Asner and colleagues at the Carnegie Airborne Observatory are using informatics to study the dynamic lives of plants at the community ecology level. The Airborne Observatory uses several impressive computer- and laser-enabled techniques (http://cao.stanford.edu/?page=cao_systems) to scan the landscape at the resolution of single leaves on trees and in modalities that can yield information at the molecular level. These techniques can yield insights into how forests respond to heat or water stress or the introduction of a new species. The site has a gallery of projects that are best started at this page: http://cao.stanford.edu/?page=research&pag=5. Here, they are documenting the effect of the Amazon megadrought on the rain forest. The very simple navigation at the top right consists of 15 numbered squares for the different projects. Each project is worth paging through to understand how versatile these aerial-mapping techniques are. They also have six buttons of video pages (http://cao.stanford.edu/?page=videos) that give you a feel for what it might be like to be in the air while collecting the data (Figure 7).Open in a separate windowFigure 7.The Carnegie Airborne Observatory is a flying lab that can collect real-time aerial data on forests at resolutions smaller than a single leaf on a tree.If this Feature seems to have been too conservative about whether plants have behavior, visit the LINV blog (www.linv.org/blog/category/plant-behavior) of the International Laboratory for Plant Neurobiology. The term “plant neurobiology” may be going too far, but the website presents some interesting science. Another fascinating dimension of plant “behavior” is seed dispersal, from seeds that can burrow, to seeds that “fly,” to seeds that are shot like bullets. A couple of websites have some good information and photos of the myriad designs that have evolved to take advantage of air currents for seed dispersal; see http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plfeb99.htm and http://theseedsite.co.uk/sdwind.html. The previously mentioned PBS Nature series also produced a program on seeds, “The Seedy Side of Plants,” which you can view at www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/the-seedy-side-of-plants/introduction/1268. ChloroFilms, a worldwide competition for plant videos, is now in its fourth season, with some really good videos (www.chlorofilms.org). If you love plants, work with plants, or have insights into plant biology, you should consider submitting a video!  相似文献   

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7.
The National Institutes of Health publishes a series of science curriculum supplements for K–12 education that are available from their Web site free of charge (http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements). In this feature, we review two of the high school supplements, Human Genetic Variation and Cell Biology and Cancer. Overall, we find that they are both excellent resources that engage students in learning science content while emphasizing the impact of scientific breakthroughs on personal and public health. In this review, we highlight the many strong features of the curricula and point out instances in which teachers may wish to seek out supplemental, updated information.  相似文献   

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This feature is designed to point CBE---Life Sciences Education readers to current articles of interest in life sciences education as well as more general and noteworthy publications in education research.This feature is designed to point CBE—Life Sciences Education readers to current articles of interest in life sciences education as well as more general and noteworthy publications in education research. URLs are provided for the abstracts or full text of articles. For articles listed as “Abstract available,” full text may be accessible at the indicated URL for readers whose institutions subscribe to the corresponding journal.
  • 1. Freeman S, Eddy SL, McDonough M, Smith MK, Okoroafor N, Jordt H, Wenderoth MP (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111, 8410–8415. [Abstract available at www.pnas.org/content/111/23/8410.abstract]
Online publication of this meta-analysis last spring no doubt launched a legion of local and national conversations about how science is best taught—as the authors state the essential issue, “Should we ask or should we tell?” To assess the relative effectiveness of active-learning (asking) versus lecture-based (telling) methods in college-level science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classes, the authors scoured the published and unpublished literature for studies that performed a side-by-side comparison of the two general types of methods. Using five predetermined criteria for admission to the study (described fully in the materials and methods section), at least two independent coders examined each potentially eligible paper to winnow down the number of eligible studies from 642 to 225. The working definition of what constitutes active learning (used to determine potential eligibility) was obtained from distilling definitions written by 338 seminar attendees; what constitutes lecture was defined as “continuous exposition by the teacher” (quoted from Bligh, 2000 ). The eligible studies were situated in introductory and upper-division courses from a full range of enrollment sizes and multiple STEM disciplines and included majors and nonmajors as participants. The frequency of use and types of active-learning methodologies described in the 225 eligible studies varied widely.Quantitative analysis of the eligible studies focused on comparison of two outcome variables: 1) scores on identical or formally equivalent examinations and 2) failure rates (receipt of a “D” or “F” grade or withdrawal from the course). Major findings were that student performance on exams and other assessments (such as concept inventories) was nearly half an SD higher in active-learning versus lecture courses, with an effect size (standardized mean weighted difference) of 0.47. Analyses also revealed that average failure rates were 55% higher for students in the lecture courses than in courses with active learning. Heterogeneity analyses indicated that 1) there were no statistically significant differences in outcomes with respect to disciplines; 2) effect sizes were lower when instructor-generated exams were used versus concept inventories with both types of courses (perhaps because concept inventories tend to require more higher-order thinking skills); 3) effect sizes were not significantly different in nonmajors versus majors courses or in lower versus upper-division courses; and 4) although active learning had the greatest positive effect in smaller-enrollment courses, effect sizes were higher with active learning at all enrollment sizes. Two types of analyses, calculation of fail-safe numbers and funnel plots, supported a lack of publication bias (tendency to not publish studies with low effect sizes). Finally, the authors demonstrated that there were no statistically significant differences in effect sizes despite variation in the quality of the controls on instructor and student equivalence, supporting the important conclusion that the differences in effectiveness between the two methods were not instructor dependent.In one of the more compelling sections of this meta-analysis, the authors translated the relatively dry numbers resulting from statistical comparisons to potential impacts on the lives of the students taking STEM courses. For example, for the 29,300 students reported for the lecture treatments across all students, the average difference in failure rates (21.8% in active learning vs. 33.8% with lecture) suggests that 3516 fewer students would have failed if enrolled in an active-learning course. This and other implications for the more beneficial impact of active learning on STEM students led the authors to state, “If the experiments analyzed here had been conducted as randomized controlled trials of medical interventions, they may have been stopped for benefit.” That is, the control group condition would have been halted because of the clear, beneficial effects of the treatment. The authors conclude by suggesting additional important implications for future undergraduate STEM education research. It may no longer be justified to conduct more “first-generation” research comparing active-learning approaches with traditional lecture; rather, for greater impact on course design, second-generation researchers should focus on what types and intensities of exposure to active learning are most effective for different students, instructors, and topics.This provocative commentary by Carl Weiman highlights the major findings reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Freeman et al. (2014) and underscores the implications. The graphical representations displaying the key data on effect sizes and failure rates presented in the Freeman et al. meta-analysis are redrawn in the commentary in a way that is likely to be more familiar to the typical reader, making the differences in outcomes for active learning versus lecture appear more striking. Weiman concludes by elaborating on the important implications of the meta-analysis for college-level STEM educators and administrators, suggesting that it “makes a powerful case that any college or university that is teaching its STEM courses by traditional lectures is providing an inferior education to its students. One hopes that it will inspire administrators to start paying attention to the teaching methods used in their classrooms … establishing accountability for using active-learning methods.”National societies, committee reports, and accrediting bodies recommend that engineering curricula be designed to prepare future engineers for the complex interdisciplinary nature of the field and for the multitude of skills and perspectives they will need to be successful practitioners. The authors posit that case-based instruction, with its emphasis on honing skills in solving authentic, interdisciplinary, and ill-defined problems, aligns well with these recommendations. However, the methodology is still relatively underutilized, and its effectiveness is underexamined. This article describes a study designed to advance these issues by comparing lecture- and case-based methods within the same offering of a 72-student, upper-level, required course in mechanical engineering.The study used a within-subjects, posttest only, A-B-A-B research design across four key course topics. That is, two lecture-based modules (the A or baseline phases) alternated with case-based modules (the B or treatment phases). Following each module, students responded to open-response quiz questions and a survey about learning and engagement (adapted from the Student Assessment of Learning Gains instrument). The quiz questions assessed ability to apply knowledge to problem solving (so-called “traditional” questions) and ability to explain the concepts that were used (“conceptual” questions). This study design had the advantage that the same students experienced both the baseline and treatment conditions twice. The authors describe in detail the pedagogical approaches used in both sets of the A and B phases.The quizzes were scored by independent raters (with high interrater reliability) on a 0–3 scale; scores were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. Survey items were analyzed using a principal-components factor analysis; composite scores were generated for a learning confidence factor and an engagement–connections factor. Analyses revealed that the two pedagogical approaches had similar outcomes with respect to the traditional questions, but conceptual understanding scores (indicating better understanding of the concepts that were applied to problem solving) were significantly higher for the case-based modules. Students reported that they appreciated how cases were better than lecture in helping them make connections to real-world concerns and see the relevance of what they were learning, but there were no significant differences in students’ perceptions of their learning gains in the case-based versus the lecture modules. The authors note that many studies have likewise demonstrated that students’ perceptions of their learning gains in more learner-centered courses are often not accurate reflections of the actual learning outcomes.The authors conclude that while these results are promising indications of the effectiveness of case-based instruction in engineering curricula, the studies need to be replicated across a number of semesters and in different engineering disciplines and extended to assess the long-term effect of case-based instruction on students’ ability to remember and apply their knowledge.Although this study was limited to an engineering context, the case-based methodologies and research design seem well-suited for use in action research in other disciplines.Well-documented challenges to conceptual change faced by students of evolution include the necessity of unseating existing naïve theories (such as natural selection having purposiveness), having the ability to view the complex and emergent nature of evolutionary processes through systems-type thinking, and being able to see the connections between evolutionary content learned in the classroom and everyday life events that can facilitate appreciation of its importance and motivate learning. To help students meet these challenges, the authors adapted a pedagogical model called Teaching for Transformative Experiences in Science (TTES) in the course of instruction on six major concepts in evolutionary biology. This article reports on a comparison of the effectiveness of TTES approaches in fostering conceptual change and positive affect with that of instruction enhanced with use of refutational texts (RT). Use of RTs to promote conceptual change, a strategy with documented effectiveness, entails first stating a misconception (the term used by the authors), then explicitly refuting it by elaborating on a scientific explanation. By contrast, the TTES model promotes teaching that fosters transformative learning experiences—teaching in which instructors 1) place the content in a context allows the students to see its utility or experiential value; 2) model their own transformative experiences in learning course concepts; and 3) scaffold a process that allows students to rethink or “resee” a concept from the perspective of their previous, related life experiences.The authors designed the study to address three questions relevant to the comparison of the two approaches: would the TTES group (vs. the RT group) demonstrate or report 1) greater conceptual change, 2) higher levels of transformative experience, and 3) differences in topic emotions (more positive affect) related to learning about evolution? The study used three survey instruments, one that measured the types and depth of students’ transformative experiences (the Transformative Experience Survey, adapted from Pugh et al., 2010 ), another that assessed conceptual knowledge (Evolutionary Reasoning Scale; Shulman, 2006 ), and a third that evaluated the emotional reactions of students to the evolution content they were learning (Evolution Emotions Survey, derived from Broughton et al., 2011 ). In addition to Likert-scale items, the Transformative Experience Survey contained three open-ended response questions; the responses were scored by two independent raters using a coding scheme for degree of out-of-school engagement. The authors provide additional detail about the nuances of what these instruments were designed to measure and their scoring schemes and include the instruments in the appendices. The Evolutionary Reasoning Scale and the Evolution Emotions survey were administered as both pre- and posttests, and the Transformative Experience survey was administered only at the end of the intervention. The treatment (TTES, n = 28) and comparison (RT, n = 27) groups were not significantly different with respect to all measured demographic variables and the number of high school or college-level science courses taken.Briefly, the evolutionary biology learning experience that participants were exposed to was 3 d in duration for both the treatment and comparison groups. On day 1, the instructor (the same person for both groups) gave a PowerPoint lecture on the same six evolutionary concepts, with illustrative examples. For the treatment group only, the instructor drew from his own transformative experiences in connection with the illustrative examples, describing how he used the concepts, what their value was to him, and how each had expanded his understanding and perception of evolution. On days 2 and 3 for the treatment group, the students and instructor engaged in whole-class discussions about their everyday experiences with evolution concepts (and related misconceptions) and their usefulness; the instructor scaffolded various “reseeing” experiences throughout the discussions. For the comparison group, misconceptions and refutations were addressed in the course of the day 1 lecture, and on days 2 and 3, the participants read refutational texts and then took part in discussions of the texts led by the instructor.Survey results and accompanying statistical analyses indicated that both groups exhibited gains (with significant t statistics) in understanding of the evolution concepts as measured by the Evolutionary Reasoning Scale (Shulman, 2006 ). However, the gains were greater for the treatment (TTES) group: effect size, reported as a value for eta-squared, η2, equaled 0.29. The authors point out by way of context for this outcome that use of RTs, along with follow-up discussions that contrast misconceptions with scientific explanations, has been previously shown to be effective in promoting conceptual change; thus, the comparison was with a well-regarded methodology. Additionally, the Transformation Experience survey findings indicated higher levels of transformative experience for the TTES group participants; they more extensively reported that the concepts had everyday value and meaning and expanded their perspectives. The TTES group alone showed pre- to posttest gains in enjoyment while learning about evolution, a positive emotion that may have classroom implications in terms of receptivity to learning about evolution and willingness to continue study in this and related fields.The authors conclude that the TTES model can effectively engage students in transformative experiences in ways that can facilitate conceptual change in content areas in which that change is difficult to achieve. In discussing possible limitations of the study, they note in particular that the predominance of female study participants (71% of the total) argues for its replication with a more diverse sample.I invite readers to suggest current themes or articles of interest in life sciences education, as well as influential papers published in the more distant past or in the broader field of education research, to be featured in Current Insights. Please send any suggestions to Deborah Allen (ude.ledu@nellaed).  相似文献   

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Thanks!     
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Nearly a decade ago, Smith, Street, and Olivarez (2002 Smith , A. B. , Street , M. A. , & Olivarez , A. ( 2002 ). Early, regular, and late registration and community college student success: A case study . Community College Journal of Research and Practice , 26 ( 3 ), 261 – 273 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) discussed the impact of a late registration policy on students at a community college in Texas. Their study revealed that the policy was detrimental to student success and should be discontinued. There are still colleges, however, that continue the policy of late registration, and this study examines the impact on student success at one community college in Florida. The results reflect that students who register on or after the first day of class are not as successful academically when compared to students who registered early.  相似文献   

12.
This qualitative study highlighted student perspectives on barriers to success at a community college located in a south Texas city. The study examined barriers to student success, the knowledge that successful students possess to overcome the barriers, and the actions that successful students undertake to overcome the barriers. Padilla's (2004 Padilla , R. V. ( 1999 ). College student retention: Focus on success . Journal of College Student Retention , 1 ( 2 ), 131 – 145 .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) theoretical framework and methods for modeling student success provided the conceptual framework for the study. The data analysis resulted in the development of a local student success model and an implementation model for student services at the subject campus.  相似文献   

13.
This paper investigates the cognitive experiences of four religious students studying evolutionary biology in an inner city government secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. The participants in the study were identified using the Religious Background and Behaviours questionnaire (Connors, Tonigan, & Miller, 1996 Connors, G. J., Tonigan, J. S., & Miller, W. R. (1996). A measure of religious background and behaviour for use in behaviour change research. Psychology of Addictive Behaviours, 10, 90–96. doi:10.1037/0893-164X.10.2.90[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Participants were interviewed and asked to respond to questions about their cognitive experiences of studying evolutionary biology. Students' responses were analysed using cultural analysis of discourse to construct a cultural model of religious students of science. This cultural model suggests that these students employ a human schema and a non-human schema, which assert that humans are fundamentally different from non-humans in terms of origins and that humans have a transcendental purpose in life. For these students, these maxims seem to be challenged by their belief that evolutionary biology is dictated by metaphysical naturalism. The model suggests that because the existential foundation of these students is challenged, they employ a believing schema to classify their religious explanations and a learning schema to classify evolutionary biology. These schemas are then hierarchically arranged with the learning schema being made subordinate to the believing schema. Importantly, these students are thus able to maintain their existential foundation while fulfilling the requirements of school science. However, the quality of this “learning” is questionable.  相似文献   

14.
International research suggests that government policy, institutional culture and learner characteristics influence the attrition rate of first-year tertiary education students. These variables were investigated in relation to a cohort of 21 New Zealand students who failed a core literacy paper. The research utilised questionnaires, interviews with staff and students and observations around a series of workshops designed to review the literacy course. Results align with international findings, but also differ because of site-specific institutional, and student socio-cultural factors. The workshops improved students’ course content knowledge, but did not address deep-seated, literacy and culturally-based impediments that contribute to attrition. Principles of social justice and social contract theory described by Rawls (1958 Rawls, J. 1958. Justice as fairness. Philosophical Review, 67: 164–193. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Sen (2009 Sen, A. 2009. The idea of justice, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press and London: Allen Lane. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) are used to critique policy and pedagogical and learner characteristics. Based on this critique, the research concluded that some aspects of policy and institutional, cultural and student behaviour were unjust.  相似文献   

15.
Current printed courses of the Open universiteit (Ou) have been designed according to a variety of course models; for example the ‘learning unit model’ or the ‘textbook‐workbook model’ (van den Boom & Schlusmans 1991). Considering the potential of the ILCE approach (Valcke & Martens, this issue), one can imagine new and innovative course models that build on the interactivity and flexibility possibilities of such an environment An essential feature of the ILCE approach is that developers can consider student differences when designing and producing learning materials.

In this article we will explore the problem of adapting the delivery of learning materials to student characteristics in relation to a course based on ‘cases’ in the law domain. Two different study modes are researched: a study mode that starts with the theory and next moves to practical work with the cases versus a study mode that starts with the practical work and next moves to the theoretical base.

Two studies are presented. Within the exploratory study, the research questions focus on the potential interrelations between student characteristics and the preference/choice for one of the two study modes. From the results can be concluded that almost all students from the Open universiteit prefer a theory‐based study mode, because they have a relatively large amount of experience with this study mode and because they find it a successful study mode.

In the second study, an experimental design is adopted with students studying in one of four different conditions: two study modes of printed learning materials and two study modes of interactive learning materials. In contrast with the exploratory study students clearly indicate a more diverse preference for certain study modes. Students also differ in their preference for the delivery mode. However the more traditional study and delivery mode (theory‐based and printed learning material) remains more popular. Again this might again be due to the greater experience students have with this approach. Only two student characteristics are significantly related to opting for the practice‐based study mode: the experience level with a study mode and one's prior knowledge with the subject matter. Comparable results were detected regarding the preferred delivery mode: students with little prior knowledge more readily prefer a printed book, probably because they have a better overview.  相似文献   


16.
“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”Alan Cohen (Used by permission. All rights reserved. For more information on Alan Cohen''s books and programs, see (www.alancohen.com.)
With the support of the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) administration and a grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the departments of Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, and Curriculum and Instruction have developed a biology–math integrated curriculum. An interdisciplinary faculty team, charged with teaching the 18 curriculum modules, designed this three-semester curriculum, known as SYMBIOSIS. This curriculum was piloted to two student cohorts during the developmental stage. The positive feedback and assessment results of this project have given us the foundation to implement the SYMBIOSIS curriculum as a replacement for the standard biology majors curriculum at the introductory level. This article addresses the history and development of the curriculum, previous assessment results and current assessment protocol, and the future of ETSU''s approach to implementing the SYMBIOSIS curriculum.  相似文献   

17.
The challenges of social inclusion and access to the curriculum facing students with visual impairment in schools are well documented. The refreshed UK Vision Strategy (2013 UK Vision Strategy. (2013). Outcome 3. Retrieved from http://www.vision2020uk.org.uk/UKVisionstrategy/page.asp?section=289&sectionTitle=Outcome+3 [Google Scholar]) seeks to improve education for students with vision impairment. In order to do this, it is important to understand how students with visual impairment experience education. This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine and understand the way in which two vision-impaired students with albinism experienced inclusion and support in high school. The students, aged 16 and 15, had approximately 10% functional vision, stable from birth and had a record of additional support needs at their respective schools. They were interviewed using a simple schedule of open questions to explore their perceptions of inclusion and of using low-vision aids in school. The two main themes that emerged from the interviews were experiencing low vision in school and experiencing additional support in school. A negative cycle of inclusion was identified based on the students’ internalised feelings of difference. Discrepancy was identified between the low-vision aid priorities identified by experts and those identified by students. Recommendations are made to address these issues.  相似文献   

18.
The scale and importance of Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action challenges us to ask fundamental questions about widespread transformation of college biology instruction. I propose that we have clarified the “vision” but lack research-based models and evidence needed to guide the “change.” To support this claim, I focus on several key topics, including evidence about effective use of active-teaching pedagogy by typical faculty and whether certain programs improve students’ understanding of the Vision and Change core concepts. Program evaluation is especially problematic. While current education research and theory should inform evaluation, several prominent biology faculty–development programs continue to rely on self-reporting by faculty and students. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty-development overviews can guide program design. Such studies highlight viewing faculty members as collaborators, embedding rewards faculty value, and characteristics of effective faculty-development learning communities. A recent National Research Council report on discipline-based STEM education research emphasizes the need for long-term faculty development and deep conceptual change in teaching and learning as the basis for genuine transformation of college instruction. Despite the progress evident in Vision and Change, forward momentum will likely be limited, because we lack evidence-based, reliable models for actually realizing the desired “change.”
All members of the biology academic community should be committed to creating, using, assessing, and disseminating effective practices in teaching and learning and in building a true community of scholars. (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2011 , p. 49)
Realizing the “vision” in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (Vision and Change; AAAS, 2011 ) is an enormous undertaking for the biology education community, and the scale and critical importance of this challenge prompts us to ask fundamental questions about widespread transformation of college biology teaching and learning. For example, Vision and Change reflects the consensus that active teaching enhances the learning of biology. However, what is known about widespread application of effective active-teaching pedagogy and how it may differ across institutional and classroom settings or with the depth of pedagogical understanding a biology faculty member may have? More broadly, what is the research base concerning higher education biology faculty–development programs, especially designs that lead to real change in classroom teaching? Has the develop-and-disseminate approach favored by the National Science Foundation''s (NSF) Division of Undergraduate Education (Dancy and Henderson, 2007 ) been generally effective? Can we directly apply outcomes from faculty-development programs in other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines or is teaching college biology unique in important ways? In other words, if we intend to use Vision and Change as the basis for widespread transformation of biology instruction, is there a good deal of scholarly literature about how to help faculty make the endorsed changes or is this research base lacking?In the context of Vision and Change, in this essay I focus on a few key topics relevant to broad-scale faculty development, highlighting the extent and quality of the research base for it. My intention is to reveal numerous issues that may well inhibit forward momentum toward real transformation of college-level biology teaching and learning. Some are quite fundamental, such as ongoing dependence on less reliable assessment approaches for professional-development programs and mixed success of active-learning pedagogy by broad populations of biology faculty. I also offer specific suggestions to improve and build on identified issues.At the center of my inquiry is the faculty member. Following the definition used by the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (www.podnetwork.org), I use “faculty development” to indicate programs that emphasize the individual faculty member as teacher (e.g., his or her skill in the classroom), scholar/professional (publishing, college/university service), and person (time constraints, self-confidence). Of course, faculty members work within particular departments and institutions, and these environments are clearly critical as well (Stark et al., 2002 ). Consequently, in addition to focusing on the individual, faculty-development programs may also consider organizational structure (such as administrators and criteria for reappointment and tenure) and instructional development (the overall curriculum, who teaches particular courses). In fact, Diamond (2002) emphasizes that the three areas of effort (individual, organizational, instructional) should complement one another in faculty-development programs. The scope of the numerous factors impacting higher education biology instruction is a realistic reminder about the complexity and challenge of the second half of the Vision and Change endeavor.This essay is organized around specific topics meant to be representative and to illustrate the state of the art of widespread (beyond a limited number of courses and institutions) professional development for biology faculty. The first two sections focus on active teaching and biology students’ conceptual understanding, respectively. The third section concerns important elements that have been identified as critical for effective STEM faculty-development programs.  相似文献   

19.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science 2011 report Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education encourages the teaching of developmental biology as an important part of teaching evolution. Recently, however, we found that biology majors often lack the developmental knowledge needed to understand evolutionary developmental biology, or “evo-devo.” To assist in efforts to improve evo-devo instruction among undergraduate biology majors, we designed a concept inventory (CI) for evolutionary developmental biology, the EvoDevoCI. The CI measures student understanding of six core evo-devo concepts using four scenarios and 11 multiple-choice items, all inspired by authentic scientific examples. Distracters were designed to represent the common conceptual difficulties students have with each evo-devo concept. The tool was validated by experts and administered at four institutions to 1191 students during preliminary (n = 652) and final (n = 539) field trials. We used student responses to evaluate the readability, difficulty, discriminability, validity, and reliability of the EvoDevoCI, which included items ranging in difficulty from 0.22–0.55 and in discriminability from 0.19–0.38. Such measures suggest the EvoDevoCI is an effective tool for assessing student understanding of evo-devo concepts and the prevalence of associated common conceptual difficulties among both novice and advanced undergraduate biology majors.  相似文献   

20.
Examinations are used to measure student performance and to infer student ability. The design of examinations, the setting of questions, and the marking and the interpretation of marks, require professional skills for the performance of the teacher as examiner. It is vitally important that interpretation of the meaning of marks distinguishes between the quality of the question and the quality of the student responding to the question.

Consideration of the end‐of‐course or final examination is used to discuss concepts of difficulty and time, fairness and validity, as intended by the teacher/examiner and as perceived by the student/candidate. Evaluation of the final examination can take a variety of forms, for example, student questionnaire, independent assessment of student papers, and correspondence of achieved weighting with planned weighting.

These considerations are discussed with reference to the final examination experiences of two groups of students – fourth year Architecture students and graduate Education students. When marks are to be combined, standard deviations and correlations should be reported and used to ensure that the planned weighting is achieved.

It is concluded that evaluation of the examination is important for making professional judgement of both teacher and student performance. Evaluation of the final examination should be part of the course evaluation and should include student perceptions of the nature of the examination and the quality of the questions.  相似文献   


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