Assessments as research education tools in an undergraduate cell biology course.

Abstract

A layered assessment strategy in an undergraduate cell biology course facilitated student understanding of how scientific knowledge was discovered in addition to measuring student learning. First, students were assigned a semester-long project to maintain a “journal” of 16-18 experimental techniques, such as fluorescence microscopy or cryo-electron microscopy. Some techniques were required for everyone, and other techniques could be selected by students based on their interest. In addition to writing about how the technique works, students were asked to find articles where scientists had used those techniques and describe the experiment and findings in the paper. Additionally, interactive lectures, group work during class time, and homework were necessary components to support student learning. Assessments asked students to apply what they learned about experimental techniques to specific processes or features in a cell, based on material covered in that unit. Each assessment included three components: individual take-home questions, individual multiple-choice questions, and a group component. The group component presented students with a scenario, asked them to propose a hypothesis, experimental approaches to test their hypothesis, and predict what the results would show if their hypothesis was correct. This strategy ensures students learn vocabulary and concepts and connect experimental techniques to their understanding of cellular structure and function and how that knowledge was discovered. The benefits of adjusting the overall course structure and to using this assessment strategy are many. Students reported learning even during the assessment, and the emphasis on group work required all students to be prepared while asking them to collaborate and communicate effectively as if they were scientists in a group working on a particular question.