Transcript
NON-MAJORS ONLINE BIOLOGY: how to make
it work?(applicable for any online
science class)
Fall CUE 2013#fallcue
Ana Maria Barral & Denise TolbertNational University
Costa Mesa, CA
Sounds familiar?
You haven't faced students like mine. They have already lost the spark of curiosity, if they ever had it. They have already decided that biology is uninteresting and irrelevant. They have already learned that it is too hard for them to master. They would not even be here unless they had to meet their Gen Ed requirements.”
Spark curiosity, track curiosity, and quench curiosity (Ramsey Musallam)
We want students to LOVE biology!
• By 2018, STEM jobs = 5.3% of U.S.
jobs• Increase = 1 million jobs• 92% will require college
education/training• Retaining more STEM majors
is the lowest-cost, fastest policy option to meet the labor force needs
Report: Engage to Excel
Most students abandon STEM during the first 2 years of undergraduate studies. We NEED to engage them!
Vision and Change After extensive conversations with faculty,
administrators, students and policymakers, the AAAS and the NSF released in 2011 the Vision and Change Report for a 21st century view of biology education.
http://visionandchange.org/files/2011/03/Revised-Vision-and-Change-Final-Report.pdf
Core concepts and competencies were recommended.
Later, detailed rubrics for the adoption of the recommendations were developed.
“Effective power in action is the true end of education, rather than the storing up of information.”
Charles Eliot, president of Harvard, 1898
What is National University?
Second-largest private, nonprofit institution of higher education in California. Founded in 1971.
Includes: Schools of Business and Management; Education; Engineering, Technology and Media; Health and Human Services; and Professional Studies; and the College of Letters and Sciences.
Undergraduate and graduate programs.
Mainly non-traditional students, minorities, veterans, adult learners.
Strong online presence.
In each of the past 13 years, National University has prepared more credentialed teachers than any other single institution of higher education in the state, according to the Commission on Teaching Credentialing.
NU Bio100 Survey to Biosciences course
Part of the GE curriculum
Very high enrollment, mostly online
4 week curriculum
Open enrollment: variable level of previous science education
Sum of Total Enrolled Instruction Mode
Row Labels Onsite Online Grand Total
FY09 130 560 690
FY10 207 514 721
FY11 198 567 765
FY12 280 688 968
FY13 322 714 1036
Grand Total 1137 3043 4180
ProblemsCourse developed more than 5 years ago, no major
revisions
Students: high workload, especially in written assignments lack of recorded lectures difficulty finding answers to questions textbook cost high
Instructors: materials plagiarized difficulty to customize course textbook did not offer online/electronic supplements
Revamping the courseNew textbook:
Good quality Fresh, easy to read Extensive companion material, including animations,
videos, case studies, recommended readings (updated) Extensive assessment testbank, with a variety of
question types/choices, customizable. Dashboard for evaluation of student performance
Instructional design based on educational research & learning theories New course shell Assignments & assessments
Supporting learning theories
Cognitivism “knowledge acquisition =mental activity that entails internal coding and structuring by the learner. Emphasis is on the building blocks of knowledge (e.g. identifying prerequisite relationships of content) (Instructional Design Knowledge Base, 2013).
Constructivist theory => people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through experiencing the world and reflecting on those experiences” (Harasim, 2012, p. 60).
Assessments: interactive lessons and game-like quizzes
Formative
Scaffolded
Include multimedia and quizzes with feedbackLearningCurve (game-like quizzes)PrepU mastery-level quizzes Interactive study guides
Not graded
Allow instructors to identify weaknesses & misconceptions in the class and individuals
Interactive study guidesDeveloped with Softchalk
Contain quizzes, activities (drag/drop, ordering, labeling), videos, etc.
Assessment: “My topic”Authentic learning
Based on Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivation: students choose their own topic
Formative, plenty of feedback (peers & instructor)
Students analyze the topic from levels of increasing complexity
Require higher Bloom’s skills
Final presentation: poster Collaboration, communication, cooperation, creativity!
Real life student-instructor conversation
Good day, Professor. I am having a little bit of trouble choosing a topic for this class. I like to hunt deer, and I was wondering if would be a good topic if I discussed about how the formation of deer antlers are determined and how to identify a deer's age or class by the size and shape of antlers.
Hi J, wow those are all good topics! I really like the deer antler one, as on week 2 you could concentrate on the materials that make up the antlers (proteins probably with some kind of hardening component), then the week after you could look into the hormones or other factors involved, and at the end you could wrap it up nicely with animal behavior (the whole sexual selection thing).
Other course elementsSummative assessments: exams
Mainly multiple choice questions, but planning to add short answer/short essay in the future.
Practice quizzes provided in advance
Recorded lectures (audio)
Live chats via Elluminate 2x weekMaterial to review based on LearningCurve report &
student feedback
Weekly surveys via Google forms
Preliminary resultsPositive feedback about book and practice quizzes
I would have to say that the most interesting thing about this course is the Discussion Board because I think it's great that we can interact with and learn from each other.
I found that looking for a topic to discuss for the weeks to come was very interesting. I have never tried to break down a topic like that.
Still lots to do…We need data to compare student satisfaction
and learning
Optimize course design so the basics are the same for all courses but allowing academic freedom for individual instructors
Adapt the approach to onsite classes
Thank you!
abarral@nu.edu also @Bio_profdtolbert@nu.edu3390 Harbor Boulevard, Costa Mesa CA 92626
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