Developing higher-order thinking in the 100-level classroom
Kevin GouldSchool of Biological Sciences
Victoria University of [email protected]
Pathways to Success
Two goals:
1) Improved performance & retention in Plant Science
2) Deeper learning, creative & critical thinking
Can 100-level students engage in high-order learning?
Krathwohl DR, Anderson LW (Eds), 2001. A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
2Replace prescriptive, menu-driven labs with
problem-solving exercises requiring teamwork
“Your task in this part of the lab is to design and conduct an experiment
of your choice to investigate adventitious rooting in hypocotyl cuttings of
Vigna radiata, the mung bean. Working as a team of five or six people,
you have been supplied with… …”
“In this part of the lab, you will assume the role of a team of
scientists working for an agrochemical company. The chemists have
handed to you a solution containing a newly synthesised compound
which has structural similarities to a plant hormone …Your goal is to
determine the possible biological activity of this new compound. “
3 Promote student engagement through interactive lectures
Design a plant “Draw or describe the features of a plant that is ideally suited for survival in the habitat assigned to you, and explain your choices…”
You are in Uluru National Park in Australia….
Use of ‘clickers’ to promote class discussion 4
Students learn and engage more fully when they are involved in some form of discussion, or peer learning
(Bruff, 2009)
When you eat a potato, you are eating a:
1. Root
2. Bulb
3. Seed
4. Stem
5. Bud
6. Flower
But not all clicker questions are created equal
0
5
10
15
20
25
A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C D E
Final Grade
% E
nro
lled
Stu
den
ts 2008
2009
Final grades for BIOL 113 before (2008) and after (2009) Pathways to Success
Using clickers in lectures helps you to pay
more attention than in other lectures
N %
Strongly Agree 66 50
Agree 49 37
Neutral 16 12
Disagree 1 1
Strongly Disagree 0 0
Total 132 100
Seeing the correct answers to questions helps you to judge how well you understand the subject
N %
Strongly Agree 86 65
Agree 45 34
Neutral 2 1
Disagree 0 0
Strongly Disagree 0 0
Total 133 100
Overall, how useful do you think clickers are in lectures?
N %
Very useful 68 51
Quite useful 62 46
Neutral 4 3
Not useful 0 0
Not at all useful 0 0
Total 134 100
“…I just want to say thanks for changing the course. I failed this paper last year, probably because I hated plants and found it really boring. When I'm not interested in something it's very hard for me to learn, and I was dreading having to do it again this year…
… But this year it's so much better. I actually enjoy coming to the lectures, and I feel like I've learnt more in the last few weeks than what I did during the whole semester last year…
… I've become really interested in plants and I finally understand your enthusiasm for botany (last year I just thought you were crazy)…
… BIOL113 has gone from being the course I hated the most last year to my favourite class this year…”