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Full-Text Articles in Education
Diversity And Equity During Covid 19: An Analysis Of Student Attitude And Understanding In Pathophysiology, Sowmya Anjur
Diversity And Equity During Covid 19: An Analysis Of Student Attitude And Understanding In Pathophysiology, Sowmya Anjur
Faculty Publications & Research
To increase student engagement and reduce frustration over grades, data is being collected in my Pathophysiology classes on specific assessment questions which require students to think and apply what they have learned to answer assessment questions (“transfer” questions). These questions are being administered both before and after students have completed specific modules to assess their attitude and understanding of the material. Data is also being collected on student study habits before and after specific assessments for correlation with their scores on “transfer” questions. It is hoped to reduce student frustration over grades by analyzing their behavior and improving their understanding.
Concept Inventories As A Resource For Teaching Evolution, Robert E. Furrow, Jeremy L. Hsu
Concept Inventories As A Resource For Teaching Evolution, Robert E. Furrow, Jeremy L. Hsu
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
Understanding evolution is critical to learning biology, but few college instructors take advantage of the body of peer-reviewed literature that can inform evolution teaching and assessment. Here we summarize the peer-reviewed papers on tools to assess student learning of evolutionary concepts. These published concept inventories provide a resource for instructors to design courses, gauge student preparation, identify key misconceptions in their student population, and measure the impact of a lesson, course, or broader curriculum on student learning. Because these inventories vary in their format, target audience, and degree of validation, we outline and explain these features. In addition to summarizing …
Ne Stem 4u Afterschool Intervention Leads To Gains In Stem Content Knowledge For Middle School Youth, Christine E. Cutucache, Taylor Boham, Jamie Luhr, Amie Sommers, Nikolaus Stevenson, Erkko Sointu, Kati Mäkitalo‐Siegl, Sirpa Kärkkäinen, Teemu Valtonen, Neal Grandgenett, William Tapprich
Ne Stem 4u Afterschool Intervention Leads To Gains In Stem Content Knowledge For Middle School Youth, Christine E. Cutucache, Taylor Boham, Jamie Luhr, Amie Sommers, Nikolaus Stevenson, Erkko Sointu, Kati Mäkitalo‐Siegl, Sirpa Kärkkäinen, Teemu Valtonen, Neal Grandgenett, William Tapprich
Biology Faculty Publications
Afterschool interventions in STEM are linked to learning gains during the school day. These opportunities engage and excite students about STEM concepts since they observe a more hands-on, project-oriented approach. Often these opportunities for afterschool interventions are infrequent in nature and leave gaps for students in their maturation and understanding. Herein we describe the first report of an afterschool intervention, named NE STEM 4U, targeting socioeconomically disadvantaged middle school youth via a twice weekly, year-long intervention, studied across two years. We assessed the impact of this program on i.) short-term, individual student gains in STEM content knowledge and ii.) delivery …
Multiple–True–False Questions Reveal The Limits Of The Multiple–Choice Format For Detecting Students With Incomplete Understandings, Brian Couch, Joanna K. Hubbard, Chad Brassil
Multiple–True–False Questions Reveal The Limits Of The Multiple–Choice Format For Detecting Students With Incomplete Understandings, Brian Couch, Joanna K. Hubbard, Chad Brassil
School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
By having students select one answer among several plausible options, multiple–choice (MC) questions capture a student’s preferred answer but provide little information regarding a student’s thinking on the remaining options. We conducted a crossover design experiment in which similar groups of introductory biology students were assigned verbatim questions in the MC format or multiple–true–false (MTF) format, which requires students to separately evaluate each option as either true or false. Our data reveal that nearly half of the students who select the correct MC answer likely hold incorrect understandings of the other options and that the selection rates for individual MC …
Assessing Student Comprehension In Introductory Biology: A Comparison Of Free-Response And Multiple-True/False Exam Formats, Macy A. Potts, Brian Couch, Joanna K. Hubbard
Assessing Student Comprehension In Introductory Biology: A Comparison Of Free-Response And Multiple-True/False Exam Formats, Macy A. Potts, Brian Couch, Joanna K. Hubbard
UCARE Research Products
Question format is an important consideration when designing instruments to gauge student comprehension. In many lecture-style courses, instructors must decide how to effectively test a large group of students. Two common types of question formats used for introductory biology exams are free-response (FR) and multiple-true/false (MTF). FR questions include a question prompt which students respond to with essay-style answers. Conversely, MTF questions include an opening question stem with accompanying statements to be marked as either true or false. The goal of this study was to determine the advantages and disadvantages of FR and MTF question formats for assessing student comprehension …
A Course-Based Research Experience: How Benefits Change With Increased Investment In Instructional Time, Christopher D. Shaffer, Consuelo J. Alvarez, April E. Bednarski, David Dunbar, Anya L. Goodman, Catherine Reinke, Anne G. Rosenwald, Michael J. Wolyniak, Cheryl Bailey, Daron Barnard, Christopher Bazinet, Dale L. Beach, James E.J. Bedard, Satish Bhalla, John Braverman, Martin Burg, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Hui-Min Chung, Kari Clase, Randall J. Dejong, Justin R. Diangelo, Chunguang Du, Todd T. Eckdahl, Heather Eisler, Julia A. Emerson, Amy Frary, Donald Frohlich, Yuying Gosser, Shubha Govind, Adam Haberman, Amy T. Hark, Charles Hauser, Arlene Hoogewerf, Laura L.M. Hoopes, Carina E. Howell, Diana Johnson, Christopher J. Jones, Lisa Kadlec, Marian Kaehler, S. Catherine Silver Key, Adam Kleinschmit, Nighat P. Kokan, Olga Kopp, Gary Kuleck, Judith Leatherman, Jane Lopilato, Christy Mackinnon, Juan Carlos Martinez-Cruzado, Gerard Mcneil, Stephanie Mel, Hemlata Mistry, Alexis Nagengast, Paul Overvoorde, Don W. Paetkau, Susan Parrish, Celeste N. Peterson, Mary Preuss, Laura K. Reed, Dennis Revie, Srebrenka Robic, Jennifer Roecklein-Canfield, Michael R. Rubin, Kenneth Saville, Stephanie Schroeder, Karim Sharif, Mary Shaw, Gary Skuse, Christopher D. Smith, Mary A. Smith, Sheryl T. Smith, Eric Spana, Mary Spratt, Aparna Sreenivasan, Joyce Stamm, Paul Szauter, Jeffrey S. Thompson, Matthew Wawersik, James Youngblom, Leming Zhou, Elaine R. Mardis, Jeremy Buhler, Wilson Leung, David Lopatto, Sarah C.R. Elgin
A Course-Based Research Experience: How Benefits Change With Increased Investment In Instructional Time, Christopher D. Shaffer, Consuelo J. Alvarez, April E. Bednarski, David Dunbar, Anya L. Goodman, Catherine Reinke, Anne G. Rosenwald, Michael J. Wolyniak, Cheryl Bailey, Daron Barnard, Christopher Bazinet, Dale L. Beach, James E.J. Bedard, Satish Bhalla, John Braverman, Martin Burg, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Hui-Min Chung, Kari Clase, Randall J. Dejong, Justin R. Diangelo, Chunguang Du, Todd T. Eckdahl, Heather Eisler, Julia A. Emerson, Amy Frary, Donald Frohlich, Yuying Gosser, Shubha Govind, Adam Haberman, Amy T. Hark, Charles Hauser, Arlene Hoogewerf, Laura L.M. Hoopes, Carina E. Howell, Diana Johnson, Christopher J. Jones, Lisa Kadlec, Marian Kaehler, S. Catherine Silver Key, Adam Kleinschmit, Nighat P. Kokan, Olga Kopp, Gary Kuleck, Judith Leatherman, Jane Lopilato, Christy Mackinnon, Juan Carlos Martinez-Cruzado, Gerard Mcneil, Stephanie Mel, Hemlata Mistry, Alexis Nagengast, Paul Overvoorde, Don W. Paetkau, Susan Parrish, Celeste N. Peterson, Mary Preuss, Laura K. Reed, Dennis Revie, Srebrenka Robic, Jennifer Roecklein-Canfield, Michael R. Rubin, Kenneth Saville, Stephanie Schroeder, Karim Sharif, Mary Shaw, Gary Skuse, Christopher D. Smith, Mary A. Smith, Sheryl T. Smith, Eric Spana, Mary Spratt, Aparna Sreenivasan, Joyce Stamm, Paul Szauter, Jeffrey S. Thompson, Matthew Wawersik, James Youngblom, Leming Zhou, Elaine R. Mardis, Jeremy Buhler, Wilson Leung, David Lopatto, Sarah C.R. Elgin
Faculty Publications
There is widespread agreement that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs should provide undergraduates with research experience. Practical issues and limited resources, however, make this a challenge. We have developed a bioinformatics project that provides a course-based research experience for students at a diverse group of schools and offers the opportunity to tailor this experience to local curriculum and institution-specific student needs. We assessed both attitude and knowledge gains, looking for insights into how students respond given this wide range of curricular and institutional variables. While different approaches all appear to result in learning gains, we find that a significant …
Using The Pace Eportfolio To Assess Core Values, Beth Klingner, Linda Anstendig, Sarah Burns-Feyl
Using The Pace Eportfolio To Assess Core Values, Beth Klingner, Linda Anstendig, Sarah Burns-Feyl
Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics
No abstract provided.
New England Faculty And College Students Differ In Their Views About Evolution, Creationism, Intelligent Design, And Religiosity, Guillermo Paz-Y-Miño C, Avelina Espinosa
New England Faculty And College Students Differ In Their Views About Evolution, Creationism, Intelligent Design, And Religiosity, Guillermo Paz-Y-Miño C, Avelina Espinosa
Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications
Public acceptance of evolution in Northeastern U.S. is the highest nationwide, only 59%. Here, we compare perspectives about evolution, creationism, intelligent design (ID), and religiosity between highly educated New England faculty (n = 244; 90% Ph.D. holders in 40 disciplines at 35 colleges/universities) and college students from public secular (n = 161), private secular (n = 298), and religious (n = 185) institutions: 94/3% of the faculty vs. 64/14% of the students admitted to accepting evolution openly and/or privately, and 82/18% of the faculty vs. 58/42% of the students thought that evolution is definitely true or probably true, respectively. Only …
Assessment Of Biology Majors’ Versus Nonmajors’ Views On Evolution, Creationism, And Intelligent Design, Guillermo Paz-Y-Mino C., Avelina Espinosa
Assessment Of Biology Majors’ Versus Nonmajors’ Views On Evolution, Creationism, And Intelligent Design, Guillermo Paz-Y-Mino C., Avelina Espinosa
Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications
The controversy around evolution, creationism, and intelligent design resides in a historical struggle between scientific knowledge and popular belief. Four hundred seventy-six students (biology majors n=237, nonmajors n=239) at a secular liberal arts private university in Northeastern United States responded to a five-question survey to assess their views about: (1) evolution, creationism, and intelligent design in the science class; (2) students’ attitudes toward evolution; (3) students’ position about the teaching of human evolution; (4) evolution in science exams; and (5) students’ willingness to discuss evolution openly. There were 60.6% of biology majors and 42% of nonmajors supported the exclusive teaching …
Acceptance Of Evolution Increases With Student Academic Level: A Comparison Between A Secular And A Religious College, Guillermo Paz-Y-Mino C., Avelina Espinosa
Acceptance Of Evolution Increases With Student Academic Level: A Comparison Between A Secular And A Religious College, Guillermo Paz-Y-Mino C., Avelina Espinosa
Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications
Acceptance of evolution among the general public, high schools, teachers, and scientists has been documented in the USA; little is known about college students’ views on evolution; this population is relevant since it transits from a high-school/parent-protective environment to an independent role in societal decisions. Here we compare perspectives about evolution, creationism, and intelligent design (ID) between a secular (S) and a religious (R) college in the Northeastern USA. Interinstitutional comparisons showed that 64% (mean S + R) biology majors vs. 42/62% (S/R) nonmajors supported the exclusive teaching of evolution in science classes; 24/29% (S/R) biology majors vs. 26/38% (S/R) …
Measuring Knowledge Of Natural Selection: A Comparison Of The C.I.N.S., An Open-Response Instrument, And An Oral Interview, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld
Measuring Knowledge Of Natural Selection: A Comparison Of The C.I.N.S., An Open-Response Instrument, And An Oral Interview, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld
Publications and Research
Growing recognition of the central importance of fostering an in-depth understanding of natural selection has, surprisingly, failed to stimulate work on the development and rigorous evaluation of instruments that measure knowledge of it. We used three different methodological tools, the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS), a modified version of Bishop and Anderson's (Bishop and Anderson [1990] Journal of Research in Science Teaching 27: 415-427) open-response test that we call the Open Response Instrument (ORI), and an oral interview derived from both instruments, to measure biology majors' understanding of and alternative conceptions about natural selection. We explored how these instruments …