BIOLOGY TEACHING

Three Measures of Success

The following comments may be of aid to beginning instructors of undergraduate biology.

1. Are the learning outcomes relevant?

Educational activities should reflect what real people actually do, as biologically literate citizens or employees. Little of their time is spent watching lectures, rather they are involved in application of information -- decision-making, problem-solving, investigation, policy analysis, debate, critical thinking, creative thinking, and information-retrieval. These are the activities that should be occurring in the lecture hall, field, and laboratory. Fortuitously, they are also the kinds of activities that create an exhilarating learning environment.

All too often biology courses over-emphasize trivial and easy-to-test activities that ask students only to recall, recognize, describe, or "compare and contrast" information that has been memorized. I have observed this weakness on the exams of major universities. Alfred Whitehead noted that "So far as the mere imparting of information is concerned, no university has had any justification for existence since the popularization of printing in the fifteenth century." This is no less true today with the availability of the Internet. The introductory course should incorporate a diversity of learning outcomes, and this diversity should be reflected both in classroom activities and in student assessment protocols.

  • Rigorously examine the learning needs of your students as future technicians, scientists, and citizens, and compose a list of learning outcomes that reflects those needs.

    Students will become good decision-makers only if they have practiced weighing information and making decsions. They do not greatly benefit from simply being asked to recall information.

    For example, a learning outcome claiming that students will be able to "describe" biogeochemical cycling is of less ultimate benefit to the students as future citizens than is an outcome claiming students also will be able to interpret data, forecast pollution impacts, and evaluate arguments regarding pollution risks.

    A learning outcome claiming that students will be able to "discuss" or "understand" the evidence for evolution is of less use than an outcome claiming that the students also will be able to critique arguments pertaining to evolutionary evidence and rank novel evidence or investigative designs in order of inferential power.

    A course outcome claiming that the students will be able to "explain" or "describe" acid-base homeostasis incorporates a less diverse skill repertoire than an outcome claiming that the students also will be able to solve problems in acid-base physiology by applying the Henderson equation to case history information.

    An outcome claiming students will be able to describe an ecological footprint is of less value than an outcome claiming that the students also will be able to evaluate the environmental impact of their personal reproductive decisions in view of the birth/death surplus in North America.

  • Try ranking the course outcomes in order of importance rather than in order of subject matter. Try listing them in categories such as occupational, personal, civic, national, and global. Try classifying learning outcome utility targets as one-year, ten-year, and life-long.

    Don't underestimate the needs of non-majors. Many, after leaving college, will become involved in civic debates, in non-governmental organizations, and in politics. They can benefit from skills in information-retrieval, they can benefit from an ability to read a meta-analysis, and from a proficiency in asking incisive research questions.

    Learning outcome targets should be sufficiently flexible to maximize the individual potential of each student. A rigid curriculum may fail to cultivate unique talents, backgrounds, and interests of individual students.

    You may be surprised at how your lists of learning outcomes differ from a traditional syllabus. When you have a prioritized list of outcomes, apportion class time accordingly.

    And needless to say, test questions must actually measure these higher-level learning outcomes.

  • Design classroom activities utilizing case problems (see links below) that develop skills in self-directed learning, information retrieval, analytical behavior, creative and critical thinking. For example, if the students are to study cellular respiration, begin that section of the course with a captivating case of a person (or pet or wild animal) with signs of a possible metabolic pathology (e.g., phosphofructokinase deficiency) telling the students that eventually they will have to suggest a cause and possible treatment of the disorder. After some instruction in cellular respiration, have the students work in small groups to brainstorm solutions to this case. They will acquire a thorough grasp of the biology, and in addition will develop skills of disciplined analysis, reflective thinking, and problem-solving. In determining what further information they require, the students will learn to ask sagacious questions, a key skill for scientists and citizens alike.

  • Involve the entire class in critically assessing a real community project, proposed project, or policy, over a period of a semester or two. This might involve the biological implications of a land-use proposal, utility upgrade, utility corridor, communicable disease control plan, community health program, climate action plan, fishery, forestry, park or wildlife management plan, drug-abuse treatment program, or whatever is available. Student groups may be assigned to investigate various aspects of the project and perhaps collect field data, and once per week the project could be discussed in class. The expectation that students will make evidence-based recommendations guarantees an authentic learning experience and creates an appetite for learning on a need-to-know basis.

  • Design writing assignments that are authentic, such as constructing a web page or writing a position paper that must be sent to a politician, government department, or other organization.

  • Design laboratory activities involving meaningful open-ended investigative projects that develop individual student potential and that contribute to the pre-employment resume of the student.

  • Construct exams that present realistic case problems requiring students to engage in reflective thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. This can, if necessary, be accomplished with imaginative multiple-choice questions (see link below to multiple-choce examples).

  • Consider the use of open-book exams, emulating the workplace, or allow students to bring to the exam a 4 x 6 inch file card that can be filled with information. This forces you to design test questions that emphasize creative thinking, analysis, interpretation, and application of core concepts to novel data.

2. Are the teaching methods effective?

Short-term effectiveness is measured by exam results, but biology education should also confer lifelong benefits. Research shows that student achievement can be enhanced by use of (a) case examples meaningful to the learner, (b) active learning rather than passive listening (experience is always the greatest teacher), (c) concrete application of core concepts in many contexts, (d) practice and repetition, (e) feedback, and (f) emotional content.

  • Teach principles of biology using case examples and assignments that are meaningful to students, e.g., human pathologies, local pollution, local industry, natural disasters, cancer, genetically modified foods, sports medicine, drug abuse, fad diets, sexually-transmitted diseases, overpopulation, climate and environmental issues, evolution political controversies, alternative medicine and health fraud, bio-terrorism, influenza pandemics, or whatever is current. If there are biological concepts that cannot be presented in the context of interesting case examples, the instructor must seriously question whether or not those concepts are worth presenting.

  • Emphasize generic process skills such as information-retrieval, investigation, analysis, and self-directed learning, which have many opportunities for repetition, and which have wide application beyond school. These skills are likely to be remembered and are likely to serve students well in future.

  • Focus teaching on fluency with core concepts, stripped of trivial details. Less is more. Students can fill in details themselves when reading, studying, and problem-solving if they have a strong grasp of key concepts and can apply them in a variety of contexts. Avoid trivia-cluttering of key concepts to the point where the students are overwhelmed by details.

  • Employ learning activities that have emotional content, such as student group-work that demands some interpersonal skills and conflict-resolution skills. Incorporation of bio-ethical issues into case problems can facilitate this.

  • Develop extramural assignments that require students to interact with other people and that create emotional content and social application. For example, ask students to investigate via interviews the health history of a volunteer such as a senior citizen. A written report by the student can include an interpretive pathophysiology. Similar assignments might include critical biological analysis of a local industry, business, or utility. Students might focus on some aspect of community drinking water protection, sewage treatment, power plant impacts, milling, fishery, foresty, forest health issues, woodlot management, horticultural pathology, farm habitat protection, alternative medicine practice, etc. The opportunities are endless.

  • Lecture for a maximum of 20 minutes, then employ practice -- active learning in the classroom -- small group work on an assigned problem requiring discussion and choices to be debated among the students in each group. This requires students to critique the understanding of others in the group and to explain concepts to each other (peer-tutoring), creating a stimulus-rich learning field. Liberate class time for these activities by preparing manuals and hand-outs for students, thus minimizing note-taking.

  • Use dialogue and diagnostic questioning when assisting an individual student. Answer a question with a question. If a student asks "Please explain PCR to me," first ask the student "What do you think PCR means?" "What is DNA?" You may well be shocked by the answers, but you will have revealed the learning pathways required to aid the student. When teaching an individual, don't give a mini-lecture, rather employ dialogue and diagnostic questioning until you are satisfied that the student has improved.

  • Allow students to learn from feedback -- provide sample tests with model answers for self-practice, provide writing assignment exemplars, and allow extra credit for revision of work critiqued by the instructor.

  • Arrange intervention for students who perform poorly. They should be referred to a learning assistance center for diagnostic testing. The Whimbey Analytical Skillls Inventory is a powerful predictor of success in biology.

3. Are the students inspired?

Inspired students continue to learn. Inspired students have a zest for learning. Measures used by researchers may include "attitude" questionnaires, class attendance statistics, study time, retention/attrition ratios, library use, career path changes, participation in extracurricular activities, subscription to magazines, visitation of web sites, attendance at conferences, and lifelong learning. What inspires students? (1) A learning context relevant to their lives, and (2) the behavior of the instructor.

  • Act professional. The instructor is a vicarious learning model. Students' perception of the credibility of the instructor may strongly influence their reaction to the course content. You are more likely to inspire students if you are thoroughly prepared, well-rehearsed, well-organized, enthusiastic, and entertaining. Be positive, encourage students, and provide as much feedback as possible to individuals. Classroom morale does affect student achievement.

  • Select learning issues that are meaningful to your learners. Learning should be fun and exciting. Students can become engrossed in learning activities that are pertinent to their needs and interests. Personal interest is a huge amplifier of learning. I have seen student work-groups continue discussions long after class because they were so engaged by a case problem. I have known freshman students to travel thousands of miles to a conference because they were inspired by a course assignment that allowed them to focus on a topic of interest to them.

  • Design a course syllabus using topical issues in place of traditional textbook chapter headings, which students often perceive as boring. For example, a section of the course titled "Cancer" is more appealing than "Cell Division," although the same concepts can be dealt with in each case. The feature articles in Scientific American magazine provide an excellent model. A captivating topic can be accompanined by presentation of basic concepts, which in the magazine are are well-illustrated in schematic diagrams accompanying the text.

  • Give students some ownership of the agenda. Develop an activity-focused classroom -- begin the class by posing a biological problem that might be confronted by an employee or citizen, then ask the students to help decide what knowledge or skills may be needed to solve the problem. Use authentic problems whenever possible.

  • Provide an appealing context for classroom learning. A lecture on abstruse metabolic pathways may be exciting to the instructor, but may bore students. If, however, the students are grappling with a fascinating case problem to which the metabolic pathway may hold a key, the lecture may rivet their attention.

  • Provide an appealing context for homework. Rather than assigning readings just for the sake of learning, assign an intriguing problem with the reading as a reference. The students will then be drawn to the reading as a helpful resource, much as learning occurs in a workplace, that is on a need-to-know basis.

  • Maximize individual student potential by providing choices of learning applications. Encourage students to pursue topics related to career goals or hobbies. In the general course these might include pharmacy, forestry, music (bioacoustics), dentistry, law (forensic biology, environmental law), etc.

  • Ask the students to maintain a journal and to submit five examples of biology-related activities or applications from their everyday life. This raises student awareness of the relevance of the course and provides the instructor with an estimate of the strength of student interest..

  • Don't forego student-centered learning activities simply because marking time is limited. Significant experiential learning is not contingent upon formal individual evaluation. Some marks can be allocated to participation rather than detailed grading of the product.

Links

  • Problem-based Learning in Biology with 20 Case Examples
  • Critical Thinking in Biology Using Case Problems
  • Biology Case Studies in Multiple-choice Questions
  • Pronunciation of Biological Latin
  • Cartoons -- biology, ecology, conservation

    Copyright 2001 Peter Ommundsen

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