Non-majors Course Research Articles

Beyond Reflection: Using ePortfolios for Formative Assessment to Improve Student Engagement in Non-Majors Introductory Science

Success rates in non-majors introductory biology courses tend to be lower than those in courses for majors. The use of student learning ePortfolios correlates with increased retention and improved learning. Additionally, when ePortfolios are used for periodic formative assessment, they have been shown to stimulate student response to feedback and improve the quality of student work—both indicators of increased student engagement. In our study, the implementation of low-stake assignments in ePortfolio fostered a dialogue between the instructor and student outside of class time and provided opportunities for formative assessment of individual student and overall class learning prior to larger, high-stakes summative assessments. Furthermore, ePortfolio allowed the instructor to give students feedback on their work, creating opportunities for confirmation of learning or extended learning outside of class. Through intentional and embedded use of ePortfolios, we have created a learning environment that fosters more interaction with course material outside of class, better assignment turn-in rates, and improved exam scores, for increased success rates in the course. These results describe a promising intervention that can improve success rates in introductory biology courses.

On designing of an intro to web development course for non-majors with modern frameworks and tools

Mobile web development is one of the fast growing fields in IT. New and powerful front-end development technologies and tools are available to help users with limited experience build mobile-friend...

A Call to Develop Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) for Nonmajors Courses.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for non-science majors (nonmajors) are potentially distinct from CUREs for developing scientists in their goals, learning objectives, and assessment strategies. While national calls to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education have led to an increase in research revealing the positive effects of CUREs for science majors, less work has specifically examined whether nonmajors are impacted in the same way. To address this gap in our understanding, a working group focused on nonmajors CUREs was convened to discuss the following questions: 1) What are our laboratory-learning goals for nonmajors? 2) What are our research priorities to determine best practices for nonmajors CUREs? 3) How can we collaborate to define and disseminate best practices for nonmajors in CUREs? We defined three broad student outcomes of prime importance to the nonmajors CURE: improvement of scientific literacy skills, proscience attitudes, and evidence-based decision making. We evaluated the state of knowledge of best practices for nonmajors, and identified research priorities for the future. The report that follows is a summary of the conclusions and future directions from our discussion.

Using puzzles and chases for student engagement in a course for non-majors

This paper describes an experience of engaging non-major students in a general education computing course by using simple puzzles and chases to have the students participating in teams and explorin...

Does the Room Matter? Active Learning in Traditional and Enhanced Lecture Spaces.

SCALE-UP-type classrooms, originating with the Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies project, are designed to facilitate active learning by maximizing opportunities for interactions between students and embedding technology in the classroom. Positive impacts when active learning replaces lecture are well documented, both in traditional lecture halls and SCALE-UP-type classrooms. However, few studies have carefully analyzed student outcomes when comparable active learning-based instruction takes place in a traditional lecture hall and a SCALE-UP-type classroom. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared student perceptions and performance between sections of a nonmajors biology course, one taught in a traditional lecture hall and one taught in a SCALE-UP-type classroom. Instruction in both sections followed a flipped model that relied heavily on cooperative learning and was as identical as possible given the infrastructure differences between classrooms. Results showed that students in both sections thought that SCALE-UP infrastructure would enhance performance. However, measures of actual student performance showed no difference between the two sections. We conclude that, while SCALE-UP-type classrooms may facilitate implementation of active learning, it is the active learning and not the SCALE-UP infrastructure that enhances student performance. As a consequence, we suggest that institutions can modify existing classrooms to enhance student engagement without incorporating expensive technology.

Using a Deliberation of Energy Policy as an Educational Tool in a Nonmajors Chemistry Course

A central goal of nonmajors chemistry courses is to instill within students the sense that chemistry does not occur in a vacuum but rather permeates everyday life. To encourage students to consider chemistry within the broader context of society and public policy, a week-long module in a survey course for nonmajors was designed to connect scientific principles and energy policy. This module featured a deliberative discussion to facilitate students’ evaluation and consideration of multiple viewpoints, rigorously examining different perspectives, trade-offs, benefits, and values represented in multiple alternatives. Our results demonstrate that this approach was highly impactful, resulting in several significant positive outcomes, including a deeper awareness of the connection between chemistry and other disciplines, an increased level of understanding and confidence in their knowledge, and a greater sense of urgency regarding energy policy.

Student Scientists: Transforming the Undergraduate Biology Lab into a Research Experience

This article features an authentic research-lab experience developed for use in a freshman-level general biology course for nonmajors at a two-year college. Students work in groups to select and investigate factors affecting microalgal cell growth and relate their findings to a real-life application of social significance. This lab experience was designed using a four-step pedagogical framework originally developed at a four-year university in a sophomore-level molecular and cell biology course. The creators of the pedagogical framework at the four-year university mentored the instructor at the two-year college through the process of using the pedagogical framework to design and implement the authentic research lab experience described in this article. This example shows that adaptation of successful pedagogical models, particularly within mentoring partnerships, can greatly increase the implementation of authentic research experiences in biology lab courses at varying levels of study.

Strengthening introductory psychology: A new model for teaching the introductory course.

Introductory psychology (Intro Psych) is one of the most popular and frequently taught courses on college campuses, yet educators in psychology have limited knowledge about what is covered in classes around the nation or the extent to which class content reflects the current scope of the discipline. There is no explicit model to guide course content selection for the intro course, which poses substantial challenges for instructors. This article proposes a new model for teaching the intro course that integrates (a) scientific foundations, (b) 5 major domains or pillars of knowledge (biological, cognitive, developmental, social and personality, and mental and physical health), and (c) cross-cutting themes relevant to all domains (cultural and social diversity, ethics, variations in human functioning, and applications; American Psychological Association, 2014). We advocate for national assessment of the course, a similar introductory course for majors and nonmajors, the inclusion of experiential or laboratory components, and additional training resources for instructors of the intro course. Given the exponential growth of psychological knowledge and applications during the past decades, we caution against attempting to provide exhaustive coverage of all topic areas of psychology in a one-semester course. We conclude by discussing the challenges that lie ahead for the discipline of psychology as it launches this new model for Intro Psych.

Nonmajors' Shifts in Attitudes & Perceptions of Biology & Biologists Following an Active-Learning Course:

This exploratory study examined the impacts of a student-centered, active-learning course on nonmajors' attitudes and perceptions of biology and biologists. Results revealed changes along various measured attitude variables. Most notably, participants saw significant positive shifts in their perceptions of biology as a scientific field that contrasted with their relatively stable perceptions of biologists as scientists. Implications are discussed in the context of the impacts of nonmajors biology courses on future K–12 science instructors and potential influxes of students into the science pipeline.

Influencing highly religious undergraduate perceptions of evolution: Mormons as a case study

Students frequently hold an incorrect view of evolution. There are several potential barriers that prevent religious students, specifically, from engaging evolutionary theory in the classroom. This study focuses on two hypothesized barriers on learning evolutionary theory in a highly religious model population, specifically members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon): (1) religious views stemming from incorrect or inadequate understanding of the Mormon church’s neutral stance on evolution and (2) misunderstanding of the theory of evolution. The LDS population at Brigham Young University provides the ideal setting for studying evolution education among religious individuals in a controlled environment. To ascertain the prevalence and effect of these barriers, we measured the relationship between acceptance of evolution and knowledge of evolution, religiosity, and understanding of religious doctrine on evolution in introductory non-majors biology courses. Additionally, we measured the effect of including a discussion on religious doctrine in the classroom. Students in all sections, except for one control section, were taught a unit on evolution that included a discussion on the neutral LDS doctrine on evolution. Data was gathered pre, post, and longitudinally. Our data demonstrate a positive relationship between knowledge and acceptance of evolution, a positive relationship between understanding of religious doctrine and acceptance of evolution, and a negative relationship between religiosity and acceptance of evolution. Additionally, when an in-class discussion was held addressing the LDS doctrine on evolution students became more accepting of the principles of evolution. These data provide compelling evidence that an accurate understanding of their religious doctrines and knowledge of evolution can lead to greater acceptance of the basic concepts of evolution among highly religious students.

Reactivity I: A Foundation-Level Course for Both Majors and Nonmajors in Integrated Organic, Inorganic, and Biochemistry

A foundation level course is presented that integrates aspects of organic, inorganic and biochemistry in the context of reactivity. The course was designed to serve majors in chemistry and other sciences (biochemistry, biology, nutrition), as well as nursing and pre-health professions students. Themes of the course were designed to highlight a range of applications of chemistry, including synthesis, catalysis, and materials science, in order to teach students the wider societal significance of chemistry, in addition to chemical concepts. Special attention was paid to topics relevant to health and biology.

The Greatest Learning Return on Your Pedagogical Investment: Alignment, Assessment or In-Class Instruction?

Critical thinking is often considered an essential learning outcome of institutions in higher education. Previous work has proposed three pedagogical strategies to address this goal: more active, student-centered in-class instruction, assessments which contain higher-order cognitive questions, and greater alignment within a classroom (i.e., high agreement of the cognitive level of learning objectives, assessments, and in-class instruction). Our goals were to determine which of these factors, individually or the interactions therein, contributed most to improvements in university students’ critical thinking. We assessed students’ higher-order cognitive skills in introductory non-majors biology courses the first and last week of instruction. For each of the fifteen sections observed, we also measured the cognitive level of assessments and learning objectives, evaluated the learner-centeredness of each classroom, and calculated an alignment score for each class. The best model to explain improvements in students’ high-order cognitive skills contained the measure of learner-centeredness of the class and pre-quiz scores as a covariate. The cognitive level of assessments, learning objectives, nor alignment explained improvements in students’ critical thinking. In accordance with much of the current literature, our findings support that more student-centered classes had greater improvements in student learning. However, more research is needed to clarify the role of assessment and alignment in student learning.

Impact of General Chemistry on Student Achievement and Progression to Subsequent Chemistry Courses: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis

General chemistry is a gateway course that impacts the STEM trajectory of tens of thousands of students each year, and its role in the introductory curriculum as well as its pedagogical design are the center of an ongoing debate. To investigate the role of general chemistry in the curriculum, we report the results of a posthoc analysis of 10 years of archived student data (ca. 12,000 students) aimed at discovering whether taking college-level general chemistry has an impact on student performance in and progression to subsequent chemistry courses. We introduce regression discontinuity; a quasi-experimental method that originated in educational psychology and can be used to estimate causal impacts of educational treatment when ex ante randomization is not feasible. Using regression discontinuity, we estimated a positive impact of prior general chemistry coursework of about one-fourth of a letter grade in two subsequent courses, Organic Chemistry I and a physical general chemistry course for nonmajors. We a...

Looking inside the brain: the power of neuroimaging

Looking inside the brain: the power of neuroimaging

22nd Annual ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE)

Retention and performance in introductory biology classes is a challenge for many institutions, particularly at two-year schools. Active learning, practice, peer lead workshops and structure have all been shown to increase performance in these classes. A meta-analysis by Freeman et al. (2014) showed that science courses that incorporate active learning increase exam scores and the chance of passing the course. Arbruster et al. (2009) showed an increase in exam scores and student engagement in introductory biology courses specifically. Retrieval and practice have also been shown to increase learning (Karpicke and Blunt 2011, Freeman et al. 2007). In 2009, Ralph Preszler demonstrated that peer lead workshops increase student learning and engagement in introductory biology courses.In teaching past courses I used lecture combined with questioning of the entire class, sometimes with clickers sometimes using the traditional raised hand method, and case studies; however, students did not come to class prepared, leading to repetition of the basic material in the text during lecture and leaving little time for active learning exercises. This lead to a major reorganization of all my classes in the summer of 2013. The reorganized classes included Bio 101, a first semester biology course for nonmajors ranging from pre-nursing to business to art majors. Bio 101 covers basic chemistry, the cell, energy transfer, genetics, and evolution, and has a high drop rate, similar to other institutions. A modified Team Based Learning (TBL) format, with built-in increased active learning, recall, structure and peer lead work, was expected to give an increase in retention and exam scores in introductory biology courses. The modified team-learning method used combined TBL, as outlined in Michaelson et al. (2003), with various lecture lengths and application types. Teams were formed at the beginning of the semester and remained for the entire semester. Readiness assessment tests (RATs) were based on readings and other supplementary material provided on Blackboard. RATs were taken first individually (iRAT) then as a team (tRAT). RATs were evaluated for areas of confusion and followed by lecture on these topics. After lecture, various types of applications were implemented including case studies, problem sets, or discussion/acting. Four tests were given during each semester.Retention and average exam scores in introductory biology courses taught by the same instructor were compared between the 2012 and 2013 academic years. In 2012, lecture combined with moderate use of case studies and other types of active learning (clickers) were used. Two sections of Bio 101 were taught in the fall of 2012 and three sections in the spring of 2013, for a total of 170 students. The modified TBL approach was implemented in 2013 as described above. One section was taught in each semester of the 2013 academic year for a total of 42 students. Implementing the modified TBL format lead to a 10% decrease in student withdrawals from the course. The average final grade was 0.20 grade points higher after implementation. In addition there was a 14% increase in students passing the course (D or above) and a modest (6%) increase in students earning a C or higher. There was a small, but statistically significant increase in overall average exam scores and for exam one (t-test, p<0.05). However, this was not significant for the other three exams (t-test, p>0.05). These data support work that has been done in other introductory biology classrooms and demonstrate that the above changes in course format can benefit students enrolled in two-year institutions.ASM Curriculum Guideline Concept(s): Advancing STEM education and researchPedagogical Category(ies): Course design, Teaching approaches

An Animated Introduction to Relational Databases for Many Majors

Database technology affects many disciplines beyond computer science and business. This paper describes two animations developed with images and color that visually and dynamically introduce fundamental relational database concepts and querying to students of many majors. The goal is for educators in diverse academic disciplines to incorporate the animations in their existing courses in order to meet their pedagogical needs. The introduction of the animations was assessed and evaluated within several contexts, including non-majors courses offered by computer scientists as well as a course on computational molecular biology. The evaluation indicated that student knowledge of fundamental database concepts improved significantly with the use of the courseware. The animations provide visual learners with an engaging method to learn the topics presented with the ability to replay the dynamic presentation. Overall, the evaluation indicates the accessibility of database topics across the disciplines as well as the specific concepts that need further elaboration.

Use of Social Media to Manage Out‐of‐Class Discussion

Discussion is potentially the least used of the science educator's tools. The cause of this is multifaceted, but the reality remains that some topics, such as ethics, or current events, are often best approached through discussion. Unfortunately, discussions consume valuable class time and many science educators are uncomfortable directing or managing classroom discussions. Social media provides a forum through which it is simple to generate a discussion group for a class or combination of sections, and manage discussions outside of the classroom. Advantages of using social media include flexibility and ease of use for students, ability to return to a conversation at any point in the future, ability to manage conversations and quantitate contributions, and provide students that would otherwise not speak up in class a voice. This technique has been used with positive results in both general chemistry and an honors non‐majors course.

Comparison of Academic Misconduct across Disciplines – Faculty and Student Perspectives

Academic misconduct by students in higher education is a fact and is a challenge to the integrity of higher education and its reputation. Furthermore such misconduct is counterproductive to the ethics component of higher education. The purpose of this research is to explore, investigate and compile the anecdotal accounts of academic misconduct conducted by students in classes in higher education across disciplines. This research is a result of the combined efforts of faculty members representing the disciplines of humanities, arts, social sciences, business, languages, music, and various engineering fields. The goal is to bring to light the various methods and strategies that students use to cheat during exams, quizzes, term papers, etc. As a collaborative effort, the authors also investigate techniques faculty can use to prevent academic misconduct in both face-to-face and virtual classrooms. Student viewpoints are also presented as part of this study and are collected through an anonymous survey. Students get a chance to reveal what motivates them to cheat in exams, quizzes and other assessments. They also indicate some of the techniques their peers use in supervised (e.g. tests, quizzes, exams etc.) and un-supervised (e.g. homework, projects, lab reports, online environment etc.) assessments. The survey also reveals whether students are more likely to cheat in the major required courses or non-major elective courses etc. Some of the techniques that deter students from cheating are also discussed.

Programming should not be part of a CS course for non-majors

Programming should not be part of a CS course for non-majors

Computational thinking in a non-majors CS course requires a programming component

Computational thinking in a non-majors CS course requires a programming component