scholarly journals Weekly Formative Exams and Creative Grading Enhance Student Learning in an Introductory Biology Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. ar2 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. G. Bailey ◽  
J. Jensen ◽  
J. Nelson ◽  
H. K. Wiberg ◽  
J. D. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Effective Means ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
First Year ◽  
Repeated Testing ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Immediate Feedback ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Traditional Course ◽  
Improve Analysis ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

First-year students often become discouraged during introductory biology courses when repeated attempts to understand concepts nevertheless result in poor test scores. This challenge is exacerbated by traditional course structures that impose premature judgments on students’ achievements. Repeated testing has been shown to benefit student ability to recognize and recall information, but an effective means to similarly facilitate skill with higher-order problems in introductory courses is needed. Here, we show that an innovative format that uses a creative grading scheme together with weekly formative midterm exams produced significant gains in student success with difficult items requiring analysis and interpretation. This format is designed to promote tenacity and avoid discouragement by providing multiple opportunities to attempt demanding problems on exams, detailed immediate feedback, and strong incentives to retain hope and improve. Analysis of individual performance trajectories with heat maps reveals the diversity of learning patterns and provides rational means for advising students.

scholarly journals Exploring Biology: A Vision and Change Disciplinary First-Year Seminar Improves Academic Performance in Introductory Biology

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. ar22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline J. Wienhold ◽  
Janet Branchaw
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Research University ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
First Year ◽  
Academic Skill ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Introductory Biology Course ◽  
First Year Seminar

The transition to college is challenging for most students, especially those who aspire to major in the science, technology, engineering, or mathematics disciplines, in which introductory courses can be large and instruction less than optimal. This paper describes a novel, disciplinary first-year seminar (FYS) course, Exploring Biology, designed to address many of the challenges facing aspiring biology students beginning their academic careers at a large public research university. The course addresses typical FYS goals, such as community building, introduction to resources, and academic skill development, and introduces students to the core concepts of biology defined in the 2011 Vision and Change report. Relative to a matched comparison group of students, Exploring Biology alumni were retained at higher rates and had higher levels of academic performance in a subsequent introductory biology course, suggesting Exploring Biology has a positive impact on future academic performance in the discipline. Results from course evaluations and an alumni survey show that, overall, students valued both the FYS components and biology components of the course. These results provide evidence that the Exploring Biology disciplinary FYS model is an intervention that may increase academic success and retention in biology.

scholarly journals Increased Learning Observed in Redesigned Introductory Biology Course that Employed Web-enhanced, Interactive Pedagogy

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl N. McDaniel ◽  
Bradford C. Lister ◽  
Michael H. Hanna ◽  
Harry Roy
Keyword(s):  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Learning Gain ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Traditional Course ◽  
Introductory Biology Course ◽  
Student Composition ◽  
Made In

Our Introduction to Biology course (BIOL 1010) changed in 2004 from a standard instructor-centered, lecture-homework-exam format to a student-centered format that used Web-enhanced, interactive pedagogy. To measure and compare conceptual learning gains in the traditional course in fall 2003 with a section of the interactive course in fall 2004, we created concept inventories for both evolution and ecology. Both classes were taught by the same instructor who had taught BIOL 1010 since 1976, and each had a similar student composition with comparable biological knowledge. A significant increase in learning gain was observed with the Web-enhanced, interactive pedagogy in evolution (traditional, 0.10; interactive, 0.19; p = 0.024) and ecology (traditional, −0.05; interactive, 0.14; p = 0.000009) when assessment was made unannounced and for no credit in the last week of classes. These results strengthen the case for augmenting or replacing instructor-centered teaching with Web-enhanced, interactive, student-centered teaching. When assessment was made using the final exam in the interactive course, for credit and after studying, significantly greater learning gains were made in evolution (95%, 0.37, p = 0.0001) and ecology (143%, 0.34, p = 0.000003) when compared with learning gains measured without credit or study in the last week of classes.

scholarly journals Foundation Skills for Scientists: An Evolving Program

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Dawson ◽  
Sarah Fedko ◽  
Nancy Johnston ◽  
Elaine Khoo ◽  
Sarah King ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Just In Time ◽  
First Year ◽  
Collaborative Approach ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Large Lecture ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

We have undertaken an integrated and collaborative approach to developing foundational skills of students in a first year, Introductory Biology course. The course is a large lecture and laboratory course with enrollments ranging from 800-1000 per year. Teaching and Learning experts were brought into the course as weekly ‘Foundation Skills for Scientists’ sessions were created. The initial challenges were to have effective knowledge exchange between collaborators and create an integrated course syllabus. Once effective sessions were created, the next challenge was to improve student valuation of them. High value was only achieved when the skill sessions were tightly linked to course assignments and activities and was delivered ‘just in time’. Even then, the challenge has been to motivate students to realize that the sessions are directly relevant to them. Overall, student performance has improved since the program was initiated as measured by rate of retention in the course, overall course marks and quality of writing. Nous avons utilisé une approche intégrée et collaborative pour approfondir les compétences de base des étudiants de première année qui suivent un cours d’introduction à la biologie. Il s’agit d’un cours magistral et en laboratoire, auquel s’inscrivent entre 800 et 1000 étudiants par an. Ce cours a bénéficié de l’apport d’experts en enseignement et en apprentissage afin d’appuyer le développement de séances hebdomadaires portant sur les compétences de base en sciences. Les difficultés initiales étaient de susciter un échange de connaissances efficace entre les collaborateurs et de créer un plan de cours intégré. Une fois les séances organisées, la difficulté suivante a été de faire en sorte que les étudiants les apprécient davantage. Ces derniers les ont jugées très utiles uniquement lorsqu’elles étaient étroitement liées aux tâches et aux activités et lorsqu’elles étaient offertes au moment opportun. Même alors, le défi a consisté à motiver les étudiants afin qu’ils se rendent compte que les séances leur sont directement pertinentes. Dans l’ensemble, la performance des étudiants s’est améliorée depuis le début du programme comme l’indiquent les mesures du taux de persévérance dans le cours, les notes générales et la qualité de la rédaction.

Implementing Online Assessment for Summative Purpose in an Electronic Engineering Course

2012 ◽  
pp. 288-301
Author(s):  
Rahmat Sanudin
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
First Year ◽  
Online Assessment ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Electronic Engineering ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
E Learning

A computer-based approach of academic online assessment has been implemented in electronic engineering course in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). The implementation of online assessment method is seen as an alternative to conventional assessment method used for years. Unlike the conventional approach, the online assessment does not require the students and lecturer to be in one place for the purpose of evaluation. The online assessment system enables the ease-of-use performance, functionality and flexibility in such a way that lecturers are able to ensure and maintain the objective of specified assessment. The purpose of this chapter is to present a first attempt in implementing the online assessment to first year students in electronic engineering course. This study was implemented to investigate the effectiveness of using e-learning platform as an assessment tool. The result obtained from online assessment is then compared with the paper-based assessment in term of students’ performance and the difficulty of questions. It is concluded that the implementation of this online assessment is an effective means to hold an assessment, and thus, could become an alternative to the conventional assessment approach.

scholarly journals TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY AS A MEANS OF ADAPTING A A FORMER SCHOOL CHILD TO STUDYING IN A UNIVERSITY

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 81-85
Author(s):  
Chulpan I. Nizamova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Time Management ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
University Education ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
First Year ◽  
School Students ◽  
Educational Activities ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Management Technology ◽  
Pedagogical Research

School education is different from university education. If at school students are under the care of parents and a team of teachers, then at university students face the need to independently organize their learning activities. This kind of change is embarrassing for many first-year students. This problem is associated with the low level of self-organization of first-year students. In addition to this, self-organization of students has its own character of manifestation in different groups of students. Based on the above, an urgent problem in pedagogical research is a qualitative and quantitative diagnosis of the level of selforganization of first-year students and the search for effective means to increase the level of self-organization of students. Thus, the problem of this study is to identify the existing level of self-organization among first-year students and recommend how to increase the level of selforganization. To diagnose the level of self-organization we used a diagnostic complex created by the author. According to the identified level and characteristics of self-organization, there are given recommendations for increasing the level and quality of self-organization of firstyear students using time management techniques. An increase in the level of self-organization in the experimental group of students in educational activities was revealed. Consequently, the time management technology in the development of students’ organizational skills in educational activities is considered justified and effective self-management.

AN ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY THROUGH STORYTELLING FOR GRADE X SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khairani Nur Adha And Rahmad Husein
Keyword(s):  
Research Finding ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
First Grade ◽  
First Year ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Oral Test ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Low Ability

The aim of this research was to find out the ability of the first year students in speaking by using storytelling at MAS. Al-Jam’iyatul Wasliyah. The design of this research was descriptive research. The population of this research was 20 students of XC class in the first grade at MAS. Al-Jam’iyatul Wasliyah. In selecting the sample the writer used random sampling technique. The total number of the sample was 12 students. The data was collected by using oral test. The researcher only measured the ability of students’ speaking in storytelling by considering five components of speaking: (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency, and comprehension). And their speaking had been recorded by using phone recorder. From the result of analyzing the data, the researcher found that the students’ speaking ability by using storytelling was moderate. It proved by the fact that 4 students (33.33%) classified as high ability, 4 students (33.33%) classified as moderate ability, and 4 students (33.33%) classified as low ability. Based on the data, the students’ score were bigger in the high and moderate level than in the low ability level. Based on the research finding, the English teacher is suggested to consider the five components in scoring speaking ability (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency, and comprehension). The students are suggested to do more practice in pronunciation and fluency, because they dominantly speak incorrect pronunciation and have pauses in the sentences. Students are also suggested to enrich their vocabulary by using storytelling.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document