Identifying and Remediating Student Misconceptions in Introductory Biology via Writing-to-Learn Assignments and Peer Review

Student Experiential Activities: A Novel Strategy to Teach Neuroanatomy in Lectures

Introduction Activity-based teaching is a widely used pedagogical tool for enhancing anatomy learning. However, involving the learner in experiential activities in lectures is an unexplored area in medical research. The present study aims to determine whether incorporating student experiential activities into lectures impacts student's learning of neuroanatomy. Materials and methods We used a pre-test/post-test experimental study design to compare the learning outcome between the experiential activity based lecture and traditional lectures. We divided 150 students into control (75 students) and intervention groups (75 students). To assess the baseline knowledge on the subject, the students attended 20 clinical scenario-based multiple-choice questions two weeks before the lectures. Then, both groups attended two lecture sessions on the functional areas of the brain. In the control group, the students drew the boundaries of a particular cerebral area and labeled its function and clinical symptoms. In the intervention group, the learners participated in experiential activities while following the instructions. The lecturer used their response as a scaffold to explain the function and clinical correlation of a specific part of the cerebral cortex. The same test questions were given to the students one week after the final lecture session to evaluate their level of understanding. We analyzed the scores of 111 students (57 students in the control group and 54 students in the interventional group) who attended the two lectures and pre- and post-test sessions. Students also completed a validated 10-item feedback questionnaire regarding their perception of the teaching sessions. Results The mean score improvement for the control and intervention groups was 4.86 ± 1.53 and 6.39 ± 2.93, respectively. The score improvement of the activity group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p = 0.006; d = 0.65). The perception scores of interest, knowledge attainment, and satisfaction were significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the control group. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that experiential activities facilitate better comprehension of abstract neuroanatomical concepts as compared to traditional didactic teaching.

Insights from coherence in students' scientific reasoning skills

Improving scientific reasoning enables students to navigate the challenges of learning science. Teachers use Lawson's classroom test of scientific reasoning (LCTSR) to measure scientific reasoning. The LCTSR is a two-tiered assessment that uses content-based questions and explanation statements. Researchers have found that if a student answers a knowledge-based question correctly but selects an incorrect explanation statement, there may be an element of guessing or an established misconception. Misconceptions are beliefs that students hold that are not based on scientific evidence. The present study added a confidence variable to the LCTSR, which measures how confident students regarded their responses in both tiers. Selecting a correct response to a knowledge-based question while providing an incorrect explanation and having a high confidence rating indicates an established misconception. The confidence variable is, therefore, a measure of an established scientific misconception and is the basis of the present study. The present study analyzed the responses of 71 first-year university students enrolled in an introductory physics course. The LCTSR results indicate that students performed the best in the conservation reasoning dimension and the worst in the proportional reasoning dimension. In all scientific reasoning dimensions, more than half the students chose the incorrect explanation for each context question. Students' confidence responses surpassed their performance in three of the 14 LCTSR items. The low frequency of correct answers and the statistically significant correlation between LCTSR items and confidence suggest possible misconceptions in students' scientific reasoning skills.

The usefulness of optics-based courses for optometry and vision science alumni: a cross-sectional online survey

OBJECTIVES

A well-balanced curriculum is critical for ensuring that students graduate with the necessary skills. There is growing interest in evaluating the functional value of non-clinical courses compared to clinical courses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the views of optometry and vision science professionals on the utility and relevance of optics-based courses.

METHODS

A web-based survey was designed to assess the perceived significance of the optics-based courses. All respondents were alumni of two universities in Jordan that offer an undergraduate degree in optometry. The survey included questions about the professional relevance of optics courses. Respondents were asked to rate several statements related to the relevance and importance of optics courses in current optometry practice on a 5-point Likert scale.

RESULTS

In total, 205 respondents completed the online survey. There were 161 (78.5%) women and 44 (21.5%) men, with an average age of 28.76 (± 4.86) years. Overall, respondents rated the perceived usefulness of optics courses for their careers with a mean collective value of 20.78 out of a possible 30 points. Female alumni perceived the courses as significantly more useful in their workplace than male alumni did (p = .020). Optometrists in different age groups perceived usefulness differently (p = .001). Alumni who preferred to learn these courses on-site and by hybrid methods perceived optics courses as significantly more useful than those who preferred to learn online (p = .006 and p < .001, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The perceived importance of optics-based courses varied according to several factors. However, in general, these courses were deemed helpful in terms of curricular content and practical relevance to practice, regardless of specialisation or the workplace.Key messagesIn terms of the value offered to the professional competencies that an optometrist needs, the practical utility of optics courses in optometry curriculums is contested.Optometrists' perceptions of optics courses were examined using a cross-sectional survey.Respondents rated the perceived usefulness of optics courses for their career, with a mean collective value of 20.78 out 30 points.The highest percentage of respondents in this study expressed their preference for the face-to-face learning method rather than the hybrid method.Male optometrists perceived learning optics courses as significantly less helpful than female optometrists.

Development and Validation of a Four-Tier Test for the Assessment of Secondary School Students' Conceptual Understanding of Amino Acids, Proteins, and Enzymes

Previous studies noted the scantiness of diagnostic instruments for the assessment of students' understanding of fundamental biochemistry concepts. Consequently, within this study, a four-tier test for the examination of secondary school students' conceptual understanding of amino acids, proteins, and enzymes has been developed. Items in the test consist of the answer tier, the reason tier, and a confidence rating for each of these tiers. Following the three-phase development process, the final version of the test, comprising eight items, was administered to 123 students in the main study. The internal consistency of both cognitive scores and confidence ratings proved to be adequate (Cronbach's alpha values were 0.76 and 0.87, respectively) and the test-retest reliability was also satisfactory (Pearson's r value was 0.74 for the cognitive scores and 0.88 for the confidence ratings). If the correct responses to both the answer and the reason tier of items are considered, the mean score on the test was 3 out of 8 (38%). The students were more confident when producing the correct compared to the wrong answers but, overall, their confidence was not high (3.65 out of 6). Furthermore, the confidence in the incorrect answers that were provided (3.52 out of 6) indicates the presence of alternative conceptions. Such results show that the content regarding amino acids, proteins, and enzymes is conceptually challenging for the students. Therefore, the test can help secondary school teachers to uncover the students' conceptual difficulties related to this content and develop effective strategies for their remediation and prevention.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11165-022-10075-5.

Postsecondary Faculty Attitudes and Beliefs about Writing-Based Pedagogies in the STEM Classroom

Writing is an important skill for communicating knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and an aid to developing students' communication skills, content knowledge, and disciplinary thinking. Despite the importance of writing, its incorporation into the undergraduate STEM curriculum is uneven. Research indicates that understanding faculty beliefs is important when trying to propagate evidence-based instructional practices, yet faculty beliefs about writing pedagogies are not yet broadly characterized for STEM teaching at the undergraduate level. Based on a nationwide cross-disciplinary survey at research-intensive institutions, this work aims to understand the extent to which writing is assigned in undergraduate STEM courses and the factors that influence faculty members' beliefs about, and reported use of, writing-based pedagogies. Faculty attitudes about the effectiveness of writing practices did not differ between faculty who assign and do not assign writing; rather, beliefs about the influence of social factors and contextually imposed instructional constraints informed their decisions to use or not use writing. Our findings indicate that strategies to increase the use of writing need to specifically target the factors that influence faculty decisions to assign or not assign writing. It is not faculty beliefs about effectiveness, but rather faculty beliefs about behavioral control and constraints at the departmental level that need to be targeted.

Storytelling as a Tool to Enhance Conceptual Knowledge in Cell Biology

Research in a range of disciplines shows that many undergraduate students struggle with aggregating complex knowledge components into a complete picture and incorporating research literature into the learning process. To build and improve on the practice of project-based approaches to teaching cell biology, we transformed an undergraduate cell biology class by introducing the concept of storylines that are selected by groups of students for development throughout the semester. Each storyline integrates molecular and organellar concepts discussed during the semester into the cell- and tissue-level functions, conditions, or diseases shared and discussed during online poster sessions. Three semester-long studies conducted with an undergraduate cell biology class utilized pre- and postassignment assessments of self-efficacy and content knowledge (administered three times during the semester), and these studies showed that both parameters were significantly improved following each assignment. Specifically, student self-efficacy showed large gains, preassignment to postassignment (pre-post) [F _(1,13) = 47.8, P < .001], and content knowledge showed moderate pre-post gains [F _(1,12) = 14.5, P < 0.002]. Attitude surveys administered at the end of the semester suggest that the approach is seen as beneficial and enriching. We conclude that it is possible to integrate multiple levels of material in a complicated class by using storytelling and that such integration is positive and useful.

The Integration of Prelaboratory Assignments within Neuroanatomy Augment Academic Performance, Increase Engagement, and Enhance Intrinsic Motivation in Students

The study of neuroanatomy imposes a significant cognitive load on students since it includes huge factual information and therefore demands diverse learning strategies. In addition, a significant amount of teaching is carried out through human brain demonstrations, due to limited opportunities for cadaveric dissection. However, reports suggest that students often attend these demonstrations with limited preparation, which detrimentally impacts their learning. In the context of student learning, greater levels of engagement and intrinsic motivation (IM) are associated with better academic performance. However, the maintenance of engagement and the IM of students in neuroanatomy is often challenging for educators. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the role of prelaboratory assignments (PLAs) in the improvement of academic performance, augmentation of engagement, and enhancement of IM in occupational therapy students enrolled in a human neuroanatomy course. One cohort of students in the course was expected to complete PLAs prior to each brain demonstration session. The PLAs contained a list of structures, and students were expected to write a brief anatomical description of each structure. Another cohort of students who were not provided with similar PLAs constituted the control group. Students who completed PLAs had a higher score on the final examinations as compared to students who were not required to complete PLAs. These students also demonstrated greater engagement and IM, and indicated that they perceived PLAs to be valuable in the learning of neuroanatomy. Therefore, PLAs represent a useful teaching tool in the neuroanatomy curriculum.

Preprint articles as a tool for teaching data analysis and scientific communication

The skill of analyzing and interpreting research data is central to the scientific process, yet it is one of the hardest skills for students to master. While instructors can coach students through the analysis of data that they have either generated themselves or obtained from published articles, the burgeoning availability of preprint articles provides a new potential pedagogical tool. We developed a new method in which students use a cognitive apprenticeship model to uncover how experts analyzed a paper and compare the professional’s cognitive approach to their own. Specifically, students first critique research data themselves and then identify changes between the preprint and final versions of the paper that were likely the results of peer review. From this activity, students reported diverse insights into the processes of data presentation, peer review, and scientific publishing. Analysis of preprint articles is therefore a valuable new tool to strengthen students’ information literacy and understanding of the process of science.

Lessons learned through listening to biology students during a transition to online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

During the Spring Semester of 2020, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the illnesses it caused (COVID-19) led to widespread cancelling of on-campus instruction at colleges and universities in the United States and other countries around the world. Response to the pandemic in university settings included a rapid and unexpected shift to online learning for faculty and students. The transition to teaching and learning online posed many challenges, and the experiences of students during this crisis may inform future planning for distance learning experiences during the ongoing pandemic and beyond. Herein, we discuss the experiences of first- and second-year university students enrolled in a biology seminar course as their classes migrated to online environments. Drawing on reported student experiences and prior research and resources, we discuss the ways we will adjust our own teaching for future iterations of the course while offering recommendations for instructors tasked with teaching in online environments.

Teaching during a pandemic: Using high-impact writing assignments to balance rigor, engagement, flexibility, and workload

The COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for instructors who seek high-impact educational practices that can be facilitated online without creating excessive burdens with technology, grading, or enforcement of honor codes. These practices must also account for the possibility that some students may need to join courses asynchronously and have limited or unreliable connectivity. Of the American Association of Colleges and University's list of 11 high-impact educational practices, writing-intensive courses may be the easiest for science faculty to adopt during these difficult times. Not only can writing assignments promote conceptual learning, they can also deepen student engagement with the subject matter and with each other. Furthermore, writing assignments can be incredibly flexible in terms of how they are implemented online and can be designed to reduce the possibility of cheating and plagiarism. To accelerate the adoption of writing pedagogies, we summarize evidence-based characteristics of effective writing assignments and offer a sample writing assignment from an introductory ecology course. We then suggest five strategies to help instructors manage their workload. Although the details of the sample assignment may be particular to our course, this framework is general enough to be adapted to most science courses, including those taught in-person, those taught online, and those that must be able to switch quickly between the two.

Mini-Review - Teaching Writing in the Undergraduate Neuroscience Curriculum: Its Importance and Best Practices

In neuroscience and other scientific disciplines, instructors increasingly appreciate the value of writing. Teaching students to write well helps them succeed in school, not only because they perform better on assessments but also because well-structured writing assignments improve learning. Moreover, the ability to write well is an essential professional skill, because good clear writing in conjunction with good clear thinking results in increased success in fellowship applications, grant proposals, and publications. However, teaching writing in neuroscience classrooms is challenging for several reasons. Students may not initially recognize the importance of writing, teachers may lack training in the pedagogy of writing instruction, and both teachers and students must commit substantial time and effort to writing if progress is to be made. Here, we detail effective strategies for teaching writing to undergraduates, including scaffolding of teaching assignments, both within a class and across a curriculum; use of different types of writing assignments; early integration of writing into courses; peer review and revision of assignments; mentoring by student tutors; and use of defined rubrics. We also discuss how these strategies can be utilized effectively in the context of multicultural classrooms and labs.

Fear and Foxes: An Educational Primer for Use with "Anterior Pituitary Transcriptome Suggests Differences in ACTH Release in Tame and Aggressive Foxes"

The way genes contribute to behavior is complicated. Although there are some single genes with large contributions, most behavioral differences are due to small effects from many interacting genes. This makes it hard to identify the genes that cause behavioral differences. Mutagenesis screens in model organisms, selective breeding experiments in animals, comparisons between related populations with different behaviors, and genome-wide association studies in humans are promising and complementary approaches to understanding the heritable aspects of complex behaviors. To connect genes to behaviors requires measuring behavioral differences, locating correlated genetic changes, determining when, where, and how these candidate genes act, and designing causative confirmatory experiments. This area of research has implications from basic discovery science to human mental health.