Analysis of Students' Aptitude to Provide Meaning to Images that Represent Cellular Components at the Molecular Level

The number of experimentally derived structures of cellular components is rapidly expanding, and this phenomenon is accompanied by the development of a new semiotic system for teaching. The infographic approach is shifting from a schematic toward a more realistic representation of cellular components. By realistic we mean artist-prepared or computer graphic images that closely resemble experimentally derived structures and are characterized by a low level of styling and simplification. This change brings about a new challenge for teachers: designing course instructions that allow students to interpret these images in a meaningful way. To determine how students deal with this change, we designed several image-based, in-course assessments. The images were highly relevant for the cell biology course but did not resemble any of the images in the teaching documents. We asked students to label the cellular components, describe their function, or both. What we learned from these tests is that realistic images, with a higher apparent level of complexity, do not deter students from investigating their meaning. When given a choice, the students do not necessarily choose the most simplified representation, and they were sensitive to functional indications embedded in realistic images.     

Assessment of Student Learning Associated with Tree Thinking in an Undergraduate Introductory Organismal Biology Course

Phylogenetic trees provide visual representations of ancestor–descendant relationships, a core concept of evolutionary theory. We introduced “tree thinking” into our introductory organismal biology course (freshman/sophomore majors) to help teach organismal diversity within an evolutionary framework. Our instructional strategy consisted of designing and implementing a set of experiences to help students learn to read, interpret, and manipulate phylogenetic trees, with a particular emphasis on using data to evaluate alternative phylogenetic hypotheses (trees). To assess the outcomes of these learning experiences, we designed and implemented a Phylogeny Assessment Tool (PhAT), an open-ended response instrument that asked students to: 1) map characters on phylogenetic trees; 2) apply an objective criterion to decide which of two trees (alternative hypotheses) is “better”; and 3) demonstrate understanding of phylogenetic trees as depictions of ancestor–descendant relationships. A pre–post test design was used with the PhAT to collect data from students in two consecutive Fall semesters. Students in both semesters made significant gains in their abilities to map characters onto phylogenetic trees and to choose between two alternative hypotheses of relationship (trees) by applying the principle of parsimony (Occam''s razor). However, learning gains were much lower in the area of student interpretation of phylogenetic trees as representations of ancestor–descendant relationships.     

Identifying the Learning Styles and Instructional Tool Preferences of Beginning Food Science and Human Nutrition Majors

ABSTRACT: :
Learning styles vary among individuals, and understanding which instructional tools certain learning styles prefer can be utilized to enhance student learning. Students in the introductory Food Science and Human Nutrition course (FSHN 101), taught at the Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, were asked to complete Gregorc's Learning Style Delineator^TM, which identifies dominant learning style(s). In addition, students were asked to complete a survey that asked them to identify which instructional tools used in FSHN 101 they preferred and which they did not. All students, regardless of learning style, preferred the in-class lecture, outlined lecture notes, the WebCT site as a whole, lecture study guide questions, and example exam questions.     

Writing Assignments with a Metacognitive Component Enhance Learning in a Large Introductory Biology Course

Writing assignments, including note taking and written recall, should enhance retention of knowledge, whereas analytical writing tasks with metacognitive aspects should enhance higher-order thinking. In this study, we assessed how certain writing-intensive “interventions,” such as written exam corrections and peer-reviewed writing assignments using Calibrated Peer Review and including a metacognitive component, improve student learning. We designed and tested the possible benefits of these approaches using control and experimental variables across and between our three-section introductory biology course. Based on assessment, students who corrected exam questions showed significant improvement on postexam assessment compared with their nonparticipating peers. Differences were also observed between students participating in written and discussion-based exercises. Students with low ACT scores benefited equally from written and discussion-based exam corrections, whereas students with midrange to high ACT scores benefited more from written than discussion-based exam corrections. Students scored higher on topics learned via peer-reviewed writing assignments relative to learning in an active classroom discussion or traditional lecture. However, students with low ACT scores (17–23) did not show the same benefit from peer-reviewed written essays as the other students. These changes offer significant student learning benefits with minimal additional effort by the instructors.     

Teaching engineering dynamics by use of peer instruction supported by an audience response system

The use of electronic audience response systems in university teaching is currently increasing rapidly. This paper describes how a consistent use of peer instruction facilitated by an audience response system has been introduced in an introductory engineering dynamics course. Data are presented that reveal that this teaching style leads to an increased learning outcome, especially regarding the students’ conceptual understanding of the subject. Further results show that the students are very satisfied with the teaching style and they give high rankings on several parameters, which is important to the learning process. Finally, this study indicates that the use of clickers provides the students with a more critical and hence maybe a more realistic self-assessment of their academic outcome.     

The effects of realism in learning with dynamic visualizations

Two experiments are reported that investigated the relative effectiveness of a realistic dynamic visualization as opposed to a schematic visualization for learning about cell replication (mitosis). In Experiment 1, 37 university students watched either realistic or schematic visualizations. Students' subjective task demands ratings as well as their performance in a multiple-choice test and a pictorial test clearly demonstrated the superiority of the schematic dynamic visualization. In Experiment 2, 83 students were given the two visualizations in four different orders of presentation. Students showed the same performance irrespective of whether they watched the schematic visualization twice, first saw the schematic and then the realistic visualization or vice versa. Only students, who watched the realistic visualization twice, had far lower learning outcomes. Contrary to our expectations, for both experiments, students' prior knowledge did not moderate the results.     

Visual‐Spatial Representation,Mathematical Problem Solving,and Students of Varying Abilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' use of visual imagery while solving mathematical problems. Students with learning disabilities (LD), average achievers, and gifted students in sixth grade (N= 66) participated in this study. Students were assessed on measures of mathematical problem solving and visual‐spatial representation. Visual‐spatial representations were coded as either primarily schematic representations that encode the spatial relations described in the problem or primarily pictorial representations that encode persons, places, or things described in the problem. Results indicated that gifted students used significantly more visual‐spatial representations than the other two groups. Students with LD used significantly more pictorial representations than their peers. Successful mathematical problem solving was positively correlated with use of schematic representations; conversely, it was negatively correlated with use of pictorial representations.     

Peer Learning and Support of Technology in an Undergraduate Biology Course to Enhance Deep Learning

This study offers an innovative and sustainable instructional model for an introductory undergraduate course. The model was gradually implemented during 3 yr in a research university in a large-lecture biology course that enrolled biology majors and nonmajors. It gives priority to sources not used enough to enhance active learning in higher education: technology and the students themselves. Most of the lectures were replaced with continuous individual learning and 1-mo group learning of one topic, both supported by an interactive online tutorial. Assessment included open-ended complex questions requiring higher-order thinking skills that were added to the traditional multiple-choice (MC) exam. Analysis of students’ outcomes indicates no significant difference among the three intervention versions in the MC questions of the exam, while students who took part in active-learning groups at the advanced version of the model had significantly higher scores in the more demanding open-ended questions compared with their counterparts. We believe that social-constructivist learning of one topic during 1 mo has significantly contributed to student deep learning across topics. It developed a biological discourse, which is more typical to advanced stages of learning biology, and changed the image of instructors from “knowledge transmitters” to “role model scientists.”     

Using the web to encourage student-generated questions in large-format introductory biology classes

Students rarely ask questions related to course content in large-format introductory classes. The use of a Web-based forum devoted to student-generated questions was explored in a second-semester introductory biology course. Approximately 80% of the enrolled students asked at least one question about course content during each of three semesters during which this approach was implemented. About 95% of the students who posted questions reported reading the instructor's response to their questions. Although doing so did not contribute to their grade in the course, approximately 75% of the students reported reading questions posted by other students in the class. Approximately 60% of the students reported that the Web-based question-asking activity contributed to their learning of biology.     

An Investigation of the New York State Regents Examinations in Science

This study examined the effects of realism on subjects’ recognition memory for computergraphics. Children and adults in six age groups (N = 189) were presented with pictorial computergraphic materials at three levels of realism: low (abstract or schematic—images reduced to simple flat shapes), medium (linear—simple line drawings), and high (realistic—photographic images and detailed drawings). Pictorial content was sampled widely from existing computer materials with each image containing only one pictorial element: person, animal, or object. Recognition memory was tested at immediate and a week’s delay. Recognition of the three kinds of image showed an unusual pattern of decline over time with the initial advantage for realistic and abstract computergraphics disappearing at a week’s delay, while recognition for linear images was superior to that of realistic and abstract. Although recognition memory increased with age, no interaction between age and realism was found. That is, all age groups, 6 years through middle age, retained the linear computergraphics best. Discussion includes interpretations of these findings and their instructional implications.     

Knowledge organization through multiple representations in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments provide learners with multiple representational tools for storing, sharing, and constructing knowledge. However, little is known about how learners organize knowledge through multiple representations about complex socioscientific issues. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate learners’ knowledge organization (KO) through multiple representations in a CSCL environment. We designed a learning unit on nuclear energy and implemented it with a group of 20 college students. The participants used a web-based hypertext KO platform that incorporated three representational modes: textual, pictorial, and concept map. The platform interlinked learners’ knowledge entries based on similar keywords. Utilizing mixed methods research we analyzed the individual entries and the knowledge base to determine KO both at the individual and the collective levels. We found that the density of the knowledge base was high; the learners mostly benefited from their text- and concept map-based entries, though the picture-based entries were also an important means for connecting entries with similar content and hence creating a dense knowledge base. Our results suggest that KO with multiple representations can create a more comprehensive knowledge base. Using distinct analytical approaches will allow CSCL researchers to better identify KO both at the individual and collective levels.     

College students' perceptions of notetaking and their relationship to selected learner characteristics and course achievement

Notetaking is a universal activity in college lecture courses, but little research has been done to examine students' perceptions of this study strategy as it relates to their overall study routine. In the current study, students in a large lecture course in introductory macroeconomics were asked to complete the Notetaking Perceptions Survey (NPS), an instrument that assesses students' perceptions of the worth or value of notetaking, their perceived level of notetaking activity, and their degree of confidence about their own notetaking skill. Additionally, students' learning style, as assessed by the Learning Style Inventory (Smith and Kolb, 1986), gender, high school rank, and year of high school graduation were included as predictor variables within a multiple regression analysis to predict scores on the there notetaking perception factors. Notetaking perceptions were predicted by one of the learning style dimensions and by gender. The relationships of final course grades with the three notetaking factors from the NPS and the other learner characteristics were also determined. Grades were predicted by one of the notetaking perception factors and by high school rank.     

Students' Studying and Approaches to Learning in Introductory Biology

This exploratory study was conducted in an introductory biology course to determine 1) how students used the large lecture environment to create their own learning tasks during studying and 2) whether meaningful learning resulted from the students' efforts. Academic task research from the K–12 education literature and student approaches to learning research from the postsecondary education literature provided the theoretical framework for the mixed methods study. The subject topic was cell division. Findings showed that students 1) valued lectures to develop what they believed to be their own understanding of the topic; 2) deliberately created and engaged in learning tasks for themselves only in preparation for the unit exam; 3) used course resources, cognitive operations, and study strategies that were compatible with surface and strategic, rather than deep, approaches to learning; 4) successfully demonstrated competence in answering familiar test questions aligned with their surface and strategic approaches to studying and learning; and 5) demonstrated limited meaningful understanding of the significance of cell division processes. Implications for introductory biology education are discussed.     

Schematic representations in arithmetical problem solving: Analysis of their impact on grade 4 students

While the value of ‘schematic representations’ in problem solving requires no further demonstration, the way in which students should be taught how to construct these representations invariably gives rise to various debates. This study, conducted on 146 grade 4 students in Luxembourg, analyzes the effect of two types of ‘schematic representation’ (diagrams vs. schematic drawings) on the solving of arithmetical problems. The results show that the presence of schematic representations has a clear positive effect on overall student performance and that a non negligible proportion of students manage to reuse the representations encountered in order to solve new problems. While showing an effect slightly in favor of diagrams as opposed to schematic drawings, our results do not really permit us to draw any conclusions about the form that these representations should take, in particular since a differential effect was observed depending on the type of problem.     

Learn before lecture: A strategy that improves learning outcomes in a large introductory biology class

Actively engaging students in lecture has been shown to increase learning gains. To create time for active learning without displacing content we used two strategies for introducing material before class in a large introductory biology course. Four to five slides from 2007/8 were removed from each of three lectures in 2009 and the information introduced in preclass worksheets or narrated PowerPoint videos. In class, time created by shifting lecture material to learn before lecture (LBL) assignments was used to engage students in application of their new knowledge. Learning was evaluated by comparing student performance in 2009 versus 2007/8 on LBL-related question pairs, matched by level and format. The percentage of students who correctly answered five of six LBL-related exam questions was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in 2009 versus 2007/8. The mean increase in performance was 21% across the six LBL-related questions compared with <3% on all non-LBL exam questions. The worksheet and video LBL formats were equally effective based on a cross-over experimental design. These results demonstrate that LBLs combined with interactive exercises can be implemented incrementally and result in significant increases in learning gains in large introductory biology classes.     

A model for teaching an introductory programming course using ADRI

High failure and drop-out rates from introductory programming courses continue to be of significant concern to computer science disciplines despite extensive research attempting to address the issue. In this study, we include the three entities of the didactic triangle, instructors, students and curriculum, to explore the learning difficulties that students encounter when studying introductory programming. We first explore students’ perceptions of the barriers and affordances to learning programming. A survey is conducted with introductory programming students to get their feedback on the topics and associated learning resources in the introductory programming course. The instructors’ perceptions are included by analyzing current teaching materials and assessment tools used in the course. As a result, an ADRI based approach is proposed to address the problems identified in the teaching and learning processes of an introductory programming course.     

Exploring the influence of course elements and emotional connection to content on students’ approaches to learning in an introductory food science and human nutrition course

Researchers have identified three approaches to learning—surface, strategic, and deep. These approaches are influenced by various contextual and student factors, including teaching methods, assessments, and relevance to future career. The global objective of this study was to explore the influence of course elements and students’ emotional connection to section content on students’ approaches to learning in an introductory Food Science and Human Nutrition course. Students completed two questionnaires for the Nutrition and Health (NH) and Composition and Chemistry (CC) course sections: (a) Entwistle's ASSIST Inventory and (b) a questionnaire developed to assess students’ perceived usefulness of assignments, learning resources, and emotional connection to section content. Students’ approaches to learning did not significantly differ between NH and CC sections, with the majority reporting use of strategic or deep approaches. Generally, positive correlations were obtained for learners who used the deep and strategic approaches and their perceived usefulness of assignments and learning resources. In stark contrast, negative correlations were identified for learners who used the surface approach and their perceived usefulness of learning resources and assignments. Regarding emotional connection to section content, compared to learners who used the deep and strategic approaches, learners who used the surface approach did not enjoy and felt anxious about learning the content in both sections. Furthermore, based on regression analysis, the surface learning approach was a predictor for low exam scores in both sections. Based on these findings, instructors should implement practices in course design, instructional methods, and assessment strategies that help students choose deep and strategic approaches to learning, while minimizing surface approaches.     

Impact of simulator-based instruction on diagramming in geometrical optics by introductory physics students

We examine the conceptual development resulting from an instructional experiment with an interactive learning environment in geometrical optics for introductory high school physics. How did teaching-learning processes come to change the ways in which students depicted various everyday optical situations in paper and pencil graphical representations? We view conceptual development as a process resulting in part from increasingly aligning one's practices to a target community by means of participating in a community of practice that uses the target concepts. For formal science learning, this participation requires changes in concepts, epistemological attitude, and in the development and use of representational tools, including diagrams and technical language, as a means of communication. Results of our instructional experiment indicated that students went through major conceptual developments as reflected in the diagrams they constructed and supported by other representational tools and as judged in terms of several perspectives: in identifying the formation of shadows and images, in recognizing the eye as a participating factpr in the optical system, and in changing the types of justifications they provided in their optical reasoning from presuppositional to causal.     

1, 2, 3, 4: Infusing Quantitative Literacy into Introductory Biology

Biology of the twenty-first century is an increasingly quantitative science. Undergraduate biology education therefore needs to provide opportunities for students to develop fluency in the tools and language of quantitative disciplines. Quantitative literacy (QL) is important for future scientists as well as for citizens, who need to interpret numeric information and data-based claims regarding nearly every aspect of daily life. To address the need for QL in biology education, we incorporated quantitative concepts throughout a semester-long introductory biology course at a large research university. Early in the course, we assessed the quantitative skills that students bring to the introductory biology classroom and found that students had difficulties in performing simple calculations, representing data graphically, and articulating data-driven arguments. In response to students'' learning needs, we infused the course with quantitative concepts aligned with the existing course content and learning objectives. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by significant improvement in the quality of students'' graphical representations of biological data. Infusing QL in introductory biology presents challenges. Our study, however, supports the conclusion that it is feasible in the context of an existing course, consistent with the goals of college biology education, and promotes students'' development of important quantitative skills.     

Teaching statistics in biology: using inquiry-based learning to strengthen understanding of statistical analysis in biology laboratory courses

There is an increasing need for students in the biological sciences to build a strong foundation in quantitative approaches to data analyses. Although most science, engineering, and math field majors are required to take at least one statistics course, statistical analysis is poorly integrated into undergraduate biology course work, particularly at the lower-division level. Elements of statistics were incorporated into an introductory biology course, including a review of statistics concepts and opportunity for students to perform statistical analysis in a biological context. Learning gains were measured with an 11-item statistics learning survey instrument developed for the course. Students showed a statistically significant 25% (p < 0.005) increase in statistics knowledge after completing introductory biology. Students improved their scores on the survey after completing introductory biology, even if they had previously completed an introductory statistics course (9%, improvement p < 0.005). Students retested 1 yr after completing introductory biology showed no loss of their statistics knowledge as measured by this instrument, suggesting that the use of statistics in biology course work may aid long-term retention of statistics knowledge. No statistically significant differences in learning were detected between male and female students in the study.