scholarly journals Development of an Online General Biology Open Educational Resource (OER) Laboratory Manual

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Y. Brogun ◽  
Azure N. Faucette ◽  
Kristin Polizzotto ◽  
Farshad Tamari
Keyword(s):  
Open Educational Resource ◽  
Educational Resource ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Laboratory Manual ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Organismal Biology ◽  
Introductory Biology Course ◽  
Science Educators ◽  
Learning Laboratories

Currently, many academic institutions are using one or more variations of online modalities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and science educators face a unique challenge with distance-learning laboratories. Many resources to engage students in virtual, interactive laboratory activities exist, but we found that high costs and/or overlooked content left gaps for several topics typically taught in a general, introductory biology course for undergraduate biology majors (e.g., organismal biology).

scholarly journals Differences in Metacognitive Regulation in Introductory Biology Students: When Prompts Are Not Enough

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. ar15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Dangremond Stanton ◽  
Xyanthe N. Neider ◽  
Isaura J. Gallegos ◽  
Nicole C. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Metacognitive Knowledge ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Metacognitive Development ◽  
Metacognitive Regulation ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

Strong metacognition skills are associated with learning outcomes and student performance. Metacognition includes metacognitive knowledge—our awareness of our thinking—and metacognitive regulation—how we control our thinking to facilitate learning. In this study, we targeted metacognitive regulation by guiding students through self-evaluation assignments following the first and second exams in a large introductory biology course (n = 245). We coded these assignments for evidence of three key metacognitive-regulation skills: monitoring, evaluating, and planning. We found that nearly all students were willing to take a different approach to studying but showed varying abilities to monitor, evaluate, and plan their learning strategies. Although many students were able to outline a study plan for the second exam that could effectively address issues they identified in preparing for the first exam, only half reported that they followed their plans. Our data suggest that prompting students to use metacognitive-regulation skills is effective for some students, but others need help with metacognitive knowledge to execute the learning strategies they select. Using these results, we propose a continuum of metacognitive regulation in introductory biology students. By refining this model through further study, we aim to more effectively target metacognitive development in undergraduate biology students.

scholarly journals Student Association of Lecture Content with the Five Core Concepts of Biology: Novel Results from an Introductory Biology Course

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyriaki Chatzikyriakidou ◽  
Marie-Janelle Tacloban ◽  
Kassandra Concepcion ◽  
John Geiger ◽  
Melissa McCartney
Keyword(s):  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Introductory Biology Course ◽  
Student Association

Challenges in integration of concepts persist among undergraduate biology students. The 5 core concepts (5CCs) of biology presented in Vision and Change provide a comprehensive, concept-based description of the knowledge of biology, summarized in five main biological scales and five overarching principles that dictate natural biological phenomena and processes.

scholarly journals A Problem-Sorting Task Detects Changes in Undergraduate Biological Expertise over a Single Semester

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. ar21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Hoskinson ◽  
Jessica Middlemis Maher ◽  
Cody Bekkering ◽  
Diane Ebert-May
Keyword(s):  
Sorting Task ◽  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Disciplinary Expertise ◽  
Novices And Experts ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

Calls for undergraduate biology reform share similar goals: to produce people who can organize, use, connect, and communicate about biological knowledge. Achieving these goals requires students to gain disciplinary expertise. Experts organize, access, and apply disciplinary knowledge differently than novices, and expertise is measurable. By asking introductory biology students to sort biological problems, we investigated whether they changed how they organized and linked biological ideas over one semester of introductory biology. We administered the Biology Card Sorting Task to 751 students enrolled in their first or second introductory biology course focusing on either cellular–molecular or organismal–population topics, under structured or unstructured sorting conditions. Students used a combination of superficial, deep, and yet-uncharacterized ways of organizing and connecting biological knowledge. In some cases, this translated to more expert-like ways of organizing knowledge over a single semester, best predicted by whether students were enrolled in their first or second semester of biology and by the sorting condition completed. In addition to illuminating differences between novices and experts, our results show that card sorting is a robust way of detecting changes in novices’ biological expertise—even in heterogeneous populations of novice biology students over the time span of a single semester.

cMOOCs and Global Learning: An Authentic Alternative

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Yeager ◽  
Betty Hurley-Dasgupta ◽  
Catherine A. Bliss
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Research Review ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
Open Educational Resource ◽  
Educational Resource ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Definition Of

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) continue to attract press coverage as they change almost daily in their format, number of registrations and potential for credentialing. An enticing aspect of the MOOC is its global reach. In this paper, we will focus on a type of MOOC called a cMOOC, because it is based on the theory of connectivism and fits the definition of an Open Educational Resource (OER) identified for this special edition of JALN. We begin with a definition of the cMOOC and a discussion of the connectivism on which it is based. Definitions and a research review are followed with a description of two MOOCs offered by two of the authors. Research on one of these MOOCs completed by a third author is presented as well. Student comments that demonstrate the intercultural connections are shared. We end with reflections, lessons learned and recommendations.

Support for Study: Online Educational Environments and the Rights to Education

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Lin ◽  
Karen Swan
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Collaborative Inquiry ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
The Self ◽  
Open Educational Resource ◽  
Educational Resource ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Independent Inquiry

This paper uses an online learning conceptual framework to examine the “rights to education” that the current online educational environments could provide. The conceptual framework is composed of three inquiries or three spaces for inquiries, namely, independent inquiry, collaborative inquiry, and formative inquiry towards expert knowledge [42] that online learners pursue and undertake in the process of their learning. Our examinations reveal that most online open educational resource environments (OERs) can incorporate more Web2.0 or Web3.0 technologies so as to provide the self-directed learners, who are the main audience of OERs, with more opportunities to participate, collaborate, and co-create knowledge, and accordingly, to achieve their full rights to education.

Engaging Undergraduate Public Health Students Through a Textbook Creation Project

2020 ◽  
pp. 237337992096241
Author(s):  
Jessica Sloan Kruger ◽  
Christopher Hollister
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Open Educational Resource ◽  
Educational Resource ◽  
Final Version ◽  
Primary Motivation ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Health Course ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Undergraduate Public Health

This study examines students’ perceptions of an open pedagogy experiment in which they created their own textbook for an undergraduate public health course. The lead author’s primary motivation for developing this assignment was the high cost associated with the traditional textbooks that were otherwise needed to cover the breadth of subject matter in the course. The resulting open textbook included 19 chapters, covering all the required components of the course, and the final version was published in a statewide open educational resource repository. Students provided feedback about this undertaking by way of an end-of-term survey. The results showed high percentages of students who associated the textbook creation project with greater engagement and satisfaction than the passive use of traditional textbooks. Students also reported their perception of a learning benefit related to the creation of course content. Pedagogical implications of this study are discussed, and future research questions are proposed.

scholarly journals Writing Assignments with a Metacognitive Component Enhance Learning in a Large Introductory Biology Course

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Mynlieff ◽  
Anita L. Manogaran ◽  
Martin St. Maurice ◽  
Thomas J. Eddinger
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Act Scores ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Calibrated Peer Review ◽  
Written Recall ◽  
Introductory Biology Course ◽  
Retention Of Knowledge ◽  
Improve Student Learning

Writing assignments, including note taking and written recall, should enhance retention of knowledge, whereas analytical writing tasks with metacognitive aspects should enhance higher-order thinking. In this study, we assessed how certain writing-intensive “interventions,” such as written exam corrections and peer-reviewed writing assignments using Calibrated Peer Review and including a metacognitive component, improve student learning. We designed and tested the possible benefits of these approaches using control and experimental variables across and between our three-section introductory biology course. Based on assessment, students who corrected exam questions showed significant improvement on postexam assessment compared with their nonparticipating peers. Differences were also observed between students participating in written and discussion-based exercises. Students with low ACT scores benefited equally from written and discussion-based exam corrections, whereas students with midrange to high ACT scores benefited more from written than discussion-based exam corrections. Students scored higher on topics learned via peer-reviewed writing assignments relative to learning in an active classroom discussion or traditional lecture. However, students with low ACT scores (17–23) did not show the same benefit from peer-reviewed written essays as the other students. These changes offer significant student learning benefits with minimal additional effort by the instructors.

A Mixed Exam Format Closes the Gap for Students with a Conflict between Their Religious Belief & the Theory of Evolution

2014 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrin F. Stanger-Hall ◽  
Julianne A. Wenner
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Religious Conflict ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Constructed Response ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Acceptance Of Evolution ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

We assessed the performance of students with a self-reported conflict between their religious belief and the theory of evolution in two sections of a large introductory biology course (N = 373 students). Student performance was measured through pretest and posttest evolution essays and multiple-choice (MC) questions (evolution-related and non-evolution-related questions) on the final exam and posttest. The two class sections differed only in exam format: MC with or without constructed-response (CR) questions. Although students with a reported conflict scored significantly lower on the final exam in the MC-only section, they scored equally well in the MC+CR section, and all students in the MC+CR section performed significantly better overall. As a result, (1) a religious conflict with evolution can be negatively associated with student achievement in introductory biology, but (2) assessment with constructed response was associated with a closed performance gap between students with and without a conflict. We suggest that differences in exam format and focus on student acceptance of evolution (either evidence-based or opinion), rather than reported conflict, may contribute to the inconsistencies in student learning of evolution across research studies, and that CR questions may help students overcome other obstacles to learning evolution.

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