Development and Validation of a Rubric for Diagnosing Students’ Experimental Design Knowledge and Difficulties

Dasgupta, Annwesa; Anderson, Trevor R.; Pelaez, Nancy

doi:10.1187/cbe.13-09-0192

Cited by 90 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…While there are a number of previously validated instruments to generally measure experimental design abilities, including the Experimental Design Ability Tool (Sirum and Humburg 2011), the Expanded-Experimental Design Ability Tool (Brownell et al 2014), the Rubric for Experimental Design (Dasgupta, Anderson, and Pelaez 2014), and a biological experimental design concept inventory (Deane et al 2014), they provide scenarios and contexts that are far removed from the context of the lab course. As expert thinking is tied to deep content knowledge, we advocate that measurements of scientific thinking should present students with transfer tasks within the existing scientific domain (e.g.…”

Section: Aligning Assessments and The Critical Components Of Curesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a conceptual framework for measuring the effectiveness of course-based undergraduate research experiences in undergraduate biology

Brownell

Kloser

2015

Studies in Higher Education

180

210

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Recent calls for reform have advocated for extensive changes to undergraduate science lab experiences, namely providing more authentic research experiences for students. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have attempted to eschew the limitations of traditional 'cookbook' laboratory exercises and have received increasing visibility in the literature. However, evaluating the outcomes of these experiences remains inconsistent and incomplete partly because of differing goals and conceptual frameworks on the part of those both teaching and assessing the courses. This paper synthesizes existing literature on CUREs and assessment practices to propose a framework for how researchers and practitioners may better align the goals and evaluation practices of CUREs in order to provide a more consistent view of these reformed laboratory courses for the field.

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Section: Aligning Assessments and The Critical Components Of Curesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a conceptual framework for measuring the effectiveness of course-based undergraduate research experiences in undergraduate biology

Brownell

Kloser

2015

Studies in Higher Education

180

210

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“…Another pre-post assessment instrument, the Rubric for Experimental Design (RED), is a way to measure changes in student conceptions about experimental design (20). The RED is a rubric that can be used to evaluate student writing samples on experimental design, but is not associated with specific predetermined questions (20).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The RED is a rubric that can be used to evaluate student writing samples on experimental design, but is not associated with specific predetermined questions (20). Since many CUREs adopt a model where students write a final paper taking the form of a grant proposal or journal article, and the RED requires the instructor to have some sort of student writing sample already in place, the RED may be appropriate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Assess Your CURE: A Practical Guide for Instructors of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences

Shortlidge

Brownell

2016

J Microbiol Biol Educ.

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Integrating research experiences into undergraduate life sciences curricula in the form of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) can meet national calls for education reform by giving students the chance to “do science.” In this article, we provide a step-by-step practical guide to help instructors assess their CUREs using best practices in assessment. We recommend that instructors first identify their anticipated CURE learning outcomes, then work to identify an assessment instrument that aligns to those learning outcomes and critically evaluate the results from their course assessment. To aid instructors in becoming aware of what instruments have been developed, we have also synthesized a table of “off-the-shelf” assessment instruments that instructors could use to assess their own CUREs. However, we acknowledge that each CURE is unique and instructors may expect specific learning outcomes that cannot be assessed using existing assessment instruments, so we recommend that instructors consider developing their own assessments that are tightly aligned to the context of their CURE.

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“…Fewer than 10% of the studies validate self-reports with analysis of research products (such as presentations or culminating reports), direct measures of content gains, longitudinal evidence of persistence, or observations of student activities. Although researchers often call for better assessments, valid measures have yet to be designed (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). In addition, undergraduate research programs often select students who already intend to persist in science and primarily document that they continue to major in science.…”

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confidence: 99%

Undergraduate research experiences: Impacts and opportunities

Linn

Palmer

Baranger

et al. 2015

Science

604

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Most undergraduates give high ratings to research experiences. Studies report that these experiences improve participation and persistence, often by strengthening students' views of themselves as scientists. Yet, the evidence for these claims is weak. More than half the 60 studies reviewed rely on self-report surveys or interviews. Rather than introducing new images of science, research experiences may reinforce flawed images especially of research practices and conceptual understanding. The most convincing studies show benefits for mentoring and for communicating the nature of science, but the ideas that students learn are often isolated or fragmented rather than integrated and coherent. Rigorous research is needed to identify ways to design research experiences so that they promote integrated understanding. These studies need powerful and generalizable assessments that can document student progress, help distinguish effective and ineffective aspects of the experiences, and illustrate how students interpret the research experiences they encounter. To create research experiences that meet the needs of interested students and make effective use of scarce resources, we encourage systematic, iterative studies with multiple indicators of success.

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Development and Validation of a Rubric for Diagnosing Students’ Experimental Design Knowledge and Difficulties

Abstract: A rubric for experimental design (RED) was developed to measure undergraduate biology students' knowledge of and diagnose their difficulties with experimental design.

Cited by 90 publications

References 46 publications

Toward a conceptual framework for measuring the effectiveness of course-based undergraduate research experiences in undergraduate biology

Toward a conceptual framework for measuring the effectiveness of course-based undergraduate research experiences in undergraduate biology

How to Assess Your CURE: A Practical Guide for Instructors of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences

Undergraduate research experiences: Impacts and opportunities

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