Toward flipping the classroom: developing an online learning module for introductory biology

Grant:

Gilbert Whitaker Fund for the Improvement of Teaching

Academic Year:

2014 - 2015 (June 1, 2014 through May 31, 2015)

Funding Requested:

$6,000.00

Project Dates:

Thu, 01/01/2015 - Sat, 04/30/2016

Applicant(s):

gyorgyi

dspill

ljwood

Overview of the Project:

The teaching team of Biology 172 (Introduction to Biology—Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology) will develop an online learning and assessment tool. The goals of this tool are to bridge the gap between students of diverse levels of preparation and to provide a superior learning experience by providing more opportunities to practice higher level cognitive skills. Students will have to complete a two-part online quiz before each class. Part 1 will ensure that students come to class prepared, having acquired some of the basic concepts on their own. Class time will then be spent discussing more difficult concepts and developing critical thinking skills. In the second part of the quiz, students' critical thinking skills will be tested on concepts already discussed in class. Students will be able to take the quiz multiple times, each time receiving feedback on which concepts they need to review. On each try, they will receive a new set of questions testing the same concepts. To successfully implement this system, we need a large question pool covering all important concepts taught in the course. The main goal of this project is to generate this question pool. BIO 172 instructors from all terms are involved in the project. This team effort will not only benefit a large number of students, but it will also even out the introductory biology experience across all terms.

Final Report Fields

Project Objectives:

The objective of this project was to develop an online learning and assessment tool in order to allow more lecture time for concepts and critical thinking in a flipped introductory biology classroom.

Project Achievements:

We generated a large question pool to test the many concepts taught in introduction to biology. We now use this pool for online testing, rather than question banks provided by book publishers. Using an instructor-made question bank has many advantages to the students. These questions are more representative of what the instructor considers important and of the type of questions students will encounter on the exam. The pool is editable, and can be updated each year to reflect new discoveries on biology or changes in topics covered in the course. We used the question bank fall '15, winter '16, spring'16 and is currently being used in the summer session of BIOLOGY 172, thus already benefited over 1000 students. The students report that daily on-line homework using this question bank greatly improves their study habits and their learning. Student performance on exams also improved. Final grades have remained the same due to less generous curving of the course.

Continuation:

We will continue using the question bank for the foreseeable future, continuously updating and improving it. In a year years, we may investigate the impact it had on student learning by directly comparing comparable questions on exams and by using the subject mastery survey data gathered at the beginning and at the end of each term.

Dissemination:

So far dissemination included presenting our ideas to our colleagues through meetings focused on teaching. After compiling data from exams and subject mastery surveys, depending on the outcome, we may present our findings at professional meetings (such as the International C. elegans meeting education focused poster session).

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