ua introductory biology redesign: final report lisa elfring, elizabeth willott, susan jorstad, ted...
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UA Introductory Biology Redesign: Final report
Lisa Elfring, Elizabeth Willott, Susan Jorstad, Ted Weinert, Ravi Palanivelu,
Rob Leonard, Brian Larkins, Kate DixonUniversity of Arizona
Introductory Biology at UA
~1800 students per year, ~1500 in fall This is a course for majors (>25 different
majors) Six fall sections taught by 6-9 faculty Lecture sections of 200-300 students Few graduate student TAs-- Undergraduate
tutors assist in class Traditional lecture-style presentation, no
required discussion sections Variable use of instructional technology
Goals of our redesign1. Enhance student learning by using more active-learning
techniques and increasing students’ out-of-class time spent on the course
2. Promote students’ view of biology as a rapidly changing, interdisciplinary endeavor
3. Increase the uniformity in course content and instructional approaches among the different sections
4. Increase student success rates in the class (number of students who achieve overall scores ≥ 60% in the course).
5. Develop mechanisms that enable these changes and accommodate anticipated increased student enrollment without a concomitant increase in personnel.
Key features of redesign
Pre-class tutorials and quizzes In-class activities that promote student
interaction and higher-level learning Undergraduate tutors use technology to
provide out-of-class help Learning materials adopted from Pearson
Publishing- Mastering Biology Assessment: Pre- and post-tests, embedded
final exam questions, “post-post” tests in ensuing biology courses
Final report: Fall 2008, full implementation Five of six sections used the redesign
strategies (n=1,184 students). One instructor (n= 284 students) chose not
to follow the redesign protocol All redesigned sections adopted 11 common
final exam questions on key concepts All sections completed pre- and posttests
(administered in laboratory sections)
Learning outcomes•Compared traditional sections taught in Fall 2007 with redesigned sections taught by those instructors in Fall 2008.•Retirements and a death in Fall 2007-- 2 new instructors in 2008
Pretest Posttest Gain
2007 traditionalN= 515
52.15%+/- 9.6%
59.6%+/- 11.5%
7.47%
2008 redesignedN= 814
55.31%+/- 10.2%
63.95%+/- 8.6%
8.64%
Other student impacts Course evaluations: ratings essentially
unchanged Lecture attendance: ~75% vs. ~45% for
traditional sections (clicker points) Students positive about usefulness of
– Online quizzes (67%) – Clicker exercises (48%)– Instructor-created podcasts (75%)– In-class problem-solving (61%)
Course retention
2007A 13.67%B 22.71%C 25.21%D 21.88%E 9.99%W 5.47%DR 0.71%Other 0.36%% DEWDr 38.41%
2008A 13.23%B 22.50%C 30.43%D 16.82%E 11.34%W 3.97%DR 1.42%Other 0.28%% DEWDr 33.83%
Cost savings
We moved from 9 faculty in 2007 to 7 in 2008 (target: 4 faculty teaching 6 sections)
We moved from 6 graduate teaching assistants to 2
We moved from 30 undergraduate tutors to 42
Enrollment stayed relatively constant
Challenges Uniformity of approach between instructors
– Changing instructor lineup– Assessment, grade cutoff issues
Time to become familiar with new resources (Mastering Biology)
Student compliance in registering properly for technology resources
Time required for incorporating grades from clickers, tutorials into course gradebook
Recruiting undergraduate tutors
Surprises- positive Student response was largely positive 2008 students asking to serve as
undergraduate tutors for Fall 2009 Increased collaboration between most
faculty-- focus on assessment has increased engagement
Ongoing engagement with publisher about text and Mastering Biology resources
Surprises-negative
About 1/3 students expected to receive an A at the end of the semester, despite much evidence to the contrary
Pretest/posttest question: “My interest in the content of this course is ___________.” Results in 2007 and 2008: 25% responded “great” on pretests, 9% responded “great” on posttests
The future Shared course resources: Instructor-created
podcasts, useful animations and links, exam and quiz questions, clicker questions, and course resources are available on a password-protected website
Budget situation is uncertain. Will course enrollments continue to increase?
For 2009, 5 instructors will teach 6 sections Instructor meetings continue-- opportunity for
continued professional development and collaboration
Moving toward common final exam
