PI - John S. Peters, College of Charleston, Department of Biology
Co-PI - Brian Scholtens, College of Charleston, Department of Biology
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Problem-Based
Learning & Scientific Inquiry in Introductory Biology
PI - John S. Peters, College of Charleston, Department of Biology Co-PI - Brian Scholtens, College of Charleston, Department of Biology |
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| Project Abstract |
Announcements If you would like
information about
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| PBL Instructor Resources |
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| Inquiry-based Labs | |||||
| What and Why of PBL | |||||
| Collaborative Learning |
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| Evaluate your Teaching Approach |
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| Project Evaluation & Research |
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| Teaching Journals and Conferences |
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| Science Education Research |
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| Journal of
Undergraduate Biological Investigations |
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| General Education Goals |
PBL
Instructor
Resources Addlestone Library |
Instructor PBL/Case Studies Resource Library - The intent of the resource library is to facilitate the teaching of introductory biology from the perspective of relevant, and real world issues that are likely to confront students in their personal, professional and civic lives. This Instructor Library Index does this by organizing teaching resources by both biological content area and by issue. Choose a topic/content area and get a brief list of issues which are relevant to that topic area. Click on an issue and get a detailed summary of available teaching resources (case studies, problems, videos, articles, activities, and other resources). SUNY Buffalo’s National Center for Case Study Teaching - This site contains case studies and other resources for assisting with implementation in the classroom. University of Delaware's Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education. The PBL Clearinghouse has PBL problems, and teaching suggestions and resources for problems in many areas of science. This site requires free registration. Vision & Change in Undergraduate Biology Education Working Group Resourses Addressing Faculty Questions about Student-Centered Learning - Assembled by Jeff Froyd and Nancy Simpson - Texas A&M University MERLOT Biology Portal - A clearinghouse for a wealth of resources for teaching biology. Science Education Research Center at Carlton College (SERC) - Another clearinghouse of resources for science education for K-12 and undergraduate faculty. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE) - a peer reviewed publication of ecological educational materials by the Ecological Society of America RubiStar - A neat little web site which helps teachers create grading rubrics for writing assignments. Rubrics are a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of student work. A good rubric will list the things the student must have included to receive a certain score or rating. Rubrics help the student figure out how their project will be evaluated, and provide a way for teachers to standardize grading practice. I've also found that good rubrics make the process of grading writing assignments easier and faster. |
Inquiry-based Learning  |
Discovering Biological Science - Inquiry-based Laboratories for Introductory Biology
The Discovering Biological
Science labs, developed by Dr. John Peters and Dr.
Brian Scholtens weave together a series of labs
which explore important introductory biology
concepts, while providing students with experiences
that lead them to understand and appreciate the
collaborative, creative and dynamic nature of
science. There are two different introductory
biology lab manuals that can be adopted as is, or
instructors can select individual labs for building
a customized lab solution. The series of
inquiry-based biology labs are suitable for both
majors and non-majors courses and are available for
preview and adoption through Hayden-McNeil
of Macmillan Learning. Feel
free to contact the author John Peters, Ph.D. (petersj@cofc.edu)
if you have questions.
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The Helping Puzzle - A interactive activity which can be used to help students, SI Leaders, and faculty experience the benefits of collaborative learning. Groups in Action - Video vignettes for triggering group discussion. From the University of Delaware's - Problem Based Learning Team-based Learning - This site has articles,references, videos, and webinars that will assist you with effective implementation of collaborative learning in the classroom. Several articles in the TBL bibliography by Larry Michaelson at this site are essential reads if you are new to collaborative learning. Peer Instruction - Education is more than just transfer of information, yet that is what is mostly done in large introductory courses - instructors present material (even though this material might be readily available in printed form) and for students the main purpose of lectures is to take down as many notes as they can. Few students have the ability, motivation, and discipline to synthesize all the information delivered to them. Yet synthesis is perhaps the most important - and most elusive - aspect of education. In this engaging seminar, Mazur shows how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to synthesizing information greatly improves the learning that takes place in the classroom. The Readiness Assurance Process (RAP) - These short quizzes, which I refer to as RATS (Readiness Assurance Tests), are short (5-10 minute) quizzes given at the beginning of the class period. The purpose of RATs is to 1) check student knowledge of biological concepts from the reading/research for that day's class; 2) give both the teacher and the student feedback on what was learned from the reading; 3) engender active/collaborative and critical discussion among students about biological concepts and their problem applications; 4) help the teacher determine what concepts from the reading students need help with during class. RAT's (or RAPs) are usually first taken individually, and then again in teams. Students receive both and individual grade and a team grade oneach RAT. More information on the theory and practice of the Readiness Assurance Process can be found in the article by Larry Michaelsen below.
Using class passports to form diverse teams Concept Mapping!
Clifton Strengths (formerly StrenthsQuest) - This is an online instrument you can use to help students discover their natural talents; then teach them how to develop their talents into strengths, and coach them to apply their strengths. In collaborative learning, this instrument could be used to help students appreciate the diversity of strengths among teammates, an how to work together more effectively. |
Teaching Evaluation Resources |
Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) - The newly revised version allows instructors to gather learning-focused feedback from students. The SALG survey asks students to rate how each component of a course (e.g., textbook, collaborative work, labs) helped them to learn, and to rate their gains toward achieving the course goals. The SALG survey can be customized to fit any college-level course, and can be administered multiple times per course. A baseline instrument allows faculty to compare gains relative to incoming student characteristics. Once registered on the new SALG site, you can:
Bioliteracy Project - Concept inventories in biology: "Our goal is to develop and distribute tools to assess whether students are learning what teachers think they are teaching." National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science College of Charleston General Education goals and the Natural Sciences or the AACU's General Education Goals - How well does your non-majors biology course meet these goals? |
Science Ed. Research |
Evidence
for
the Efficacy of Student-Active Pedagogies
- Assembled by Jeffrey E. Froyd Research Professor
Director of Faculty and Organizational Development Texas
A&M University (froyd@tamu.edu) Version: 5 August 2008 At MIT, Large Lectures are Going the Way of the Blackboard. by Sara Rimer. A recent article in the New York Times regarding MIT's switch to small, collaborative and inquiry-based introductory physics classes. Why Peer Discussion Improves Student Performance on In-Class Concept Questions. Science 2 January 2009:Vol. 323. no. 5910, pp. 122 - 124. - Research into the effect of peer-discussion on students' understanding of concepts. |
| Project Evaluation |
Thematic Maps of Focus Group Interviews - Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Traditional Instructional Models in College General Education Biology: Student Perceptions about Learning Science. These maps summarize our findings from pre and post reform focus group interviews. Each map summarizes the project researcher's synthesis of student perceptions about learning that emerged from their course experience. SENCER Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SENCER SALG) - This web-based instrument is one of the instruments being used to assess students' views about how the course impacted their learning and and personal and civic engagement with science. Views on Science Technology and Society -(VOSTS) - A web-based and modified multiple response version of (VOSTS) - This instrument is also being used to assess students' views about the relationships between science and technology, the impact of science and technology on society, the nature of science, media vs.school presentations, and scientists' vs. the publics' role in socio-scientific decision making. |
College of Charleston. Last
updated 9-13-2012. Questions and comments, email John S.
Peters, Ph.D, petersj@cofc.edu
