Biology 1B and 1BL

Engaging Biol1BL Students Through Inquiry-Based Hybrid Labs

Madhusudan Katti

(in collaboration with David Lent)

Department of Biology, CSU-Fresno

mkatti@csufresno.edu

Project Abstract

Complete Project Description
This document provides a more thorough description of the redesign project.

CSU Course Redesign Website
Review the description of the CSU systemwide initiative supporting faculty redesigning their courses to improve student success.

MERLOT Digital Library
A free and open online library of online teaching and learning materials across a wide variety of disciplines and education levels. MERLOT provides you the link to the material as well as peer reviews, member comments, lesson plans, and other quality assurance information.

Why did you redesign your course?

Biology students are having a difficult time learning and retaining information in their introductory biology classes. This may be partially attributed to our rapidly changing and growing field.  More than 500,000 new articles are added to the databases of biological knowledge every year.  Information is replaced or expanded with new theories and hypotheses.  How do we provide students with the best foundation for their future, whether they stay in the biological sciences or pursue a career elsewhere?  To help build an informed and inquisitive populace, we need to develop new ways of instruction.

What did you change through the redesign?

Traditional labs have focused on learning classifications, structure and function of organisms, a progression through phylogenies.  The new labs will focus more on inquiry based learning, data collection and analysis, simulation and problems solving.  This will be accomplished through hybrid labs using of on-line laboratory modules and active learning lab modules that involve solving problems using applied knowledge.  The reason for moving in this direction is to reduce the overall number of labs in the Biology 1B series.  Currently, students meet in lab twice a week for a total of 6 hours.  We want to cut the time in half.  By redesigning the 5 labs at this stage, we will have 1/3 of the new format ready, with the hope of launching the full 1BL redesign in one year.

Why will the "redesign" lead to better learning?

The redesign of the Biology 1B labs is just the beginning of a larger redesign effort for the introductory biology series at CSU Fresno.  We are first stream lining the labs and introducing new research focused labs using hybrid formats.  The redesign will provide students with the foundation and curriculum that challenges them to make independent determinations using data and facts and will imbue them with the confidence they need in meeting the challenges of novel situations.  The future education of young scientists requres them to build a broad foundation in multiple disciplines.  By using biology, maths, and computers to solve biological questions, they can begin to breakdown their narrow focus and this will strengthen their learning across the coursework.

Syllabus BEFORE Redesign

Syllabus AFTER Redesign

Course and Student Background

Biology 1BL: Introductory Biology Laboratory

This course is required by all biology majors.  It is a continuation of thematic introduction to the unifying concepts of life science. The class is a majority biology majors, but also includes other majors that are pre-health professionals.

The laboratory part of 1B (Biol 1BL) is absolutely essential to the course objectives.  Many of the concepts and principles of biology can be presented and understood in lecture; but it is impossible to deal with the diversity of life without looking at real organisms and their structures and function.  That is what the majority of the laboratory exercises are designed to do

Who are your students?

Students are 34.4% Underrepresented minorities.  The percentage of First generation students is 49.5%.  47.4% of students have English and Math remediations and 10% come with a High School GPA of less than 3.0. The percentage of students meeting at least one risk factor is 73.6%.  These issues combined result in a high DFW rate.

DFW Rate: 34.2% for Biology 1B

Accessibility, Affordability, and Diversity

Teaching Tips

Virtual labs and games are great to engage student thinking and get at their conceptual understanding, but it is not a subsitute for hands-on lab activities.  I recommend that these types of labs be used to support existing content in the labs and reinforce concepts introduced in lecture.

Make sure all those involved are intimately familiar with the material and the technology needed to implement the labs.  Nothing is worse than trying to troubleshoot software for an hour in lab.

What's Special About Teaching with the Redesigned Activity?

It was satisfying to see students really engage in these activities.  The ecological niche game stands out as one of the most enjoyable addition to Biol1B.  The students really got into the topic of invasive species and better understood the concept of ecological niches.  This allowed them to better engage in their field biology project at the end of the semester.  Doing something different with the students and employing new technologies benefits the students by increasing engagement.

MERLOT Pedagogy Portal
MERLOT's Pedagogy Portal has a collection of online resources on over 25 types of pedagogical strategies. Explore what other faculty and higher ed institutions are doing and recommending for student engagement strategies.

Learning Outcomes and Redesign Activities

 Biol 1B and Biol 1BL. Biol 1B is taught currently taught as three one-hour lectures (Biol 1B) and two three-hour labs (Biol 1BL) per week.  Lecture is taught by a single instructor and enrollment is typically 120-160 students.  Lab is taught in 5 to 7 sections of 24 students, instructed by graduate TAs, faculty or lecturers.  The lecture instructor coordinates the 1 to 7 TAs teaching the labs, with lab set-up duties shared among all instructors. All new students are required to take lecture and lab concurrently, but students retaking the course may take either independently. Historically Biol 1B and 1BL have been an introduction to all of biology at the organismal level, principally the areas of evolution, biological diversity, basic animal and plant physiology, and ecology. The Biology Department agreed that the 1BL lab needs a complete overhaul more urgently, and therefore the redesign efforts have focused on 1BL

(1)   Changes in course pedagogy.  

• Inquiry-based labs.
  • Card game.   
  • Virtual labs.  
  • Phenology field exercise. ·     
• Focus on relevant issues and core concepts.
  • Natural selection and adaptation
  • Species diversity
  • Invasive species

(2)  Assessment. Developed new pre-test/post-test metric to assess students’ attitudes towards biology and science and assessed their ability to read and interpret scientific tables and graphs.    

 Redesign Activities 

• Two virtual lab modules on natural selection and evolution introduced in Fall 2014.
• In the second week of the course, the students used a SimBio (http://www.simbio.com/) virtual lab, Darwinian Snails previously used in another Biology majors’ course, to study natural selection. This module replaced a previous board game lab that explored natural selection in a predator-prey system. The department paid the minimal cost of the lab ($5 per student), and students were awarded points towards their grade for completing the activity. The module allows for a deeper exploration of natural history through interactive simulations which the students undertake in groups during lab, and can continue on their own at home, since they are able to install the software on their personal computers. The module includes exercises that develop numerical data gathering, graphing, and quantitative reasoning, as well as the biological principle of natural selection. It is also bundled with an advanced module which allows for extended deeper study by the more advanced students. 
• The second virtual lab was conducted in one of the final labs of the semester, after the students had explored biological diversity.  This lab was available free via the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and involved each student conducting evaluations of evolution in sticklebacks via assessment of morphological traits. Data collection, analysis and reporting of results were required of each student, who were awarded scores applied to their performance in the class. 
• Lab module ‘Invasive Species Card Game’. Students explore the concept by playing a card game in which two student teams are designated as the native and the invasive species; each team picks a set of traits which they hypothesize will enable them to be competitive in a given habitat against the other species; students are then confronted with an event (drought, late spring …) and have to convince each other that their species’ traits makes them outcompete the other species.  The game allows students to explore the effect of different biological traits (e.g. drought resistance, year-round reproducer…) on their ability to outcompete a native or invasive species. The lab was piloted in Fall 2014. Both the lecture instructor and the TAs played the game prior to implementation with the students.  TAs suggested several ways to modify the game to enhance learning. No points were awarded towards the students’ grades. This game will also be used during Spring 2015. 
• A fourth lab module on plant phenology was piloted in Spring 2015. This exercise built upon a previous outdoor activity which had students learning about plant identification, adaptations, and evolution during a guided tour of the Campus Arboretum, led by the TA. This campus walk was augmented with an exercise where students learned about plant responses to seasonal changes and how this is documented through phenology. The protocol for this exercise is derived from Project BudBurst (http://www.budburst.org/) a citizen science project from the NSF-funded National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). Students work in groups to document the current phenophase of select plant species on campus, and are expected to monitor changes in phenology in those individual plants several more times through the semester. For the pilot, most sections conducted this exercise as a one-time effort, and students were offered extra-credit points for completing the exercise. Collated data were entered into the Project BudBurst database. This has not been used in any other course before. This particular module is not part of the Biol 101 Simbio package. 

Materials & Assessment Tools

See links below for:

(1) Pre-test/post-test

(2) Darwinian Snails (http://simbio.com/content/darwinian-snails)

(3) Virtual stickleback lab

(4) Invasive species card game

(5) Plant Phenology (http://www.budburst.org/)

How To Make Redesigned Activities Work

(1)  Explore ways to collaborate on course redesign

(2)  Initiate development activities that involve TAs

(3)  Develop vision for course and curriculum redesign

(4)  Don't be afraid to fail

(5)  Refine your activities based on feedback

(6)  Involve the students in the activities 

Ecological Niche Game Rules

Ecological Niche Game Summative Assessment

Ecological Niche Game Overview

Virtual Stickleback Lab - Teacher Material

Virtual Stickleback Lab - Student Material

Virtual Stickleback Lab - Pre Test

Pre-test/post-test

Student Reactions to Learning with the Redesigned Activities

1) The lecture instructor solicited feedback from several TAs who implemented this lab module. TAs reported good engagement and feedback from students using this module, and generally agreed that it was a superior replacement for the earlier board game. This module has been used again during the Spring 2015 semester.

2) Feedback from the TA’s was solicited as before, with largely favorable opinions expressed. They did report that some students were annoyed at the length of the activity (2.5-3 hours), which is invalid as each lab is scheduled for that period of time. The Stickleback lab will be deployed again during the latter half of Spring 2015.

3) The lecture instructor (Dr. Crosbie) solicited anecdotal feedback from the 7 TAs, whose opinion of the activity was largely favorable.  Of those TA’s, 3 had previously taught the course, and they considered the exercise a positive addition to laboratory activities. All TA’s reported largely enthusiastic participation and interest by the students. 

4) Feedback collection in progress.

Impact on Teaching and Learning

The Biol 1B pre- and post-tests are composed of six questions  (1 point each) that evaluate the students’ ability to interpret tabular data from a study on cavity nesting birds, and a single 4 point question that asks each student to draw and label a phylogenetic tree. In addition the students are asked to respond to a series of attitudinal and demographic questions. The pre-test was administered in the second class lecture period of Fall 2014, the post-test at the conclusion of the final exam.  

Pre-test: n = 129, mean = 4.05, SD = 1.63  

Post-test: n = 81, mean = 3.53, SD = 1.81  

Significance tests showed that these results are significant at both 95% and 99% confidence.   Analysis of the remaining questions is pending. As in the case of Biol 1A, the 1B pre-/post-test may need to be redesigned to better align with the level of incoming students and more accurately assess student success (or lack thereof) by the end of the semester.

The pre-test/post-test was interested in assessing the students ability to read and interpret data, analyzing, generalizing and understanding.  The lack of improvement from pre- to post- suggests that student are lacking basic reading and quantitative skills.  These need to be addressed better in lecture and lab.

Did The Redesign Strategy Make A Difference?

The redesign laid the groundwork for the curricular overall currently being done by the Department of Biology.  In the short term the redesign's impact has been minimal, but the information it has given us about how to address student DFW rates, the challenges students encounter and strategies to employ has been invaluable.

About Me

I am an Associate Professor of Vertebrate Ecology in the Dept of Biology at California State University, Fresno. I am an evolutionary ecologist who discovered birds as an undergrad after growing up a nature-oblivious urban kid near Bombay, went chasing after vanishing wildernesses in the Himalaya and Western Ghats as a graduate student, and returned to study cities grown up as a reconciliation ecologist. I study ecological and evolutionary processes in more or less human dominated ecosystems with the goal of applying our understanding of these processes towards reconciling biodiversity conservation with human development. I am Project Leader of the multidisciplinary Urban Long-Term Research Area - Fresno And Clovis Ecosocial Study (ULTRA-FACES) project, where we study the interactions between water policy, human water use, and urban biodiversity, and Co-Principal Investigator of an NCEAS (National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis) Working Group on the comparative ecology of urban biodiversity worldwide. Other research in my laboratory addresses the behavioral consequences of human activities on other species, such as the effects of urban noise on bird song, and the foraging ecology of mammals and birds in cities. I serve on the Board of Directors of Fresno Audubon Society, the Science Advisory Board of Desert Biodiversity, the Advisory Board of Current Conservation and the Editorial Board of Indian Birds. I try to make science part of our culture through the Central Valley Café Scientique. I write for the Coyot.es Network. I founded and coordinate events for the Central Valley Café Scientifique. I also host an affiliated radio show, "Science: A Candle In The Dark" which airs on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 3:30PM (Pacific Time), and is also available as a podcast.

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