Implementation of a New Quantitative Biology Course: Assessment of Students’ Abilities and Confidence

Abstract

Supplemental File 1. The interaction plot produced by the two-way ANOVA test for the confidence survey given to MATH115 students. Notice that the three aspects of the factor Question are clumped together for each level for the factor Statistical Test (i.e. the main effect for Question was insignificant). Also, notice that students' confidence in all three aspects of ANOVA and regression tests were among the lowest for these students, while their confidence in all three aspects of a t-test were highest. The y-axis represents the mean rating from 1 to 5 for confidence (1 represents low confidence).

Online Quantitative Literacy-Based Biology Learning towards Students' Self-Efficacy

“…Someone with solid quantitative literacy skills can think and solve various life problems in various situations and contexts [2,4]. Furthermore, someone with good quantitative literacy will become more independent learners, can manage their time efficiently, and increase their confidence in technological skills [5]. Referring to the AACU, there are several indicators of quantitative literacy, including interpretation, representation, calculation, assumption, and communication [3].…”

“…Attention and support for the development of numerical literacy are increasing in undergraduate biology education [5,7]. A concern on quantitative aspects of biology education is an indicator of mathematics and statistics integration to support the modern approach to biology [5].…”

“…Attention and support for the development of numerical literacy are increasing in undergraduate biology education [5,7]. A concern on quantitative aspects of biology education is an indicator of mathematics and statistics integration to support the modern approach to biology [5]. It is clear that to achieve the goals of current modern biology, undergraduate biology students must be able to integrate and utilise quantitative skills in a variety of biological contexts [5,8].…”

“…A concern on quantitative aspects of biology education is an indicator of mathematics and statistics integration to support the modern approach to biology [5]. It is clear that to achieve the goals of current modern biology, undergraduate biology students must be able to integrate and utilise quantitative skills in a variety of biological contexts [5,8]. Students must have an ability to explain how a given set of numbers leads to assertions.…”

“…The ability to learn to reason like a biologist is a highly developed skill that requires practice and feedback over time [1]. Furthermore, biology students must be able to design experiments, determine the correct data collection methods, and apply appropriate quantitative analysis to support the validity of their research [5,9]. Therefore, quantitative literacy is an essential competency that must be concerned to become the priority in improving the undergraduate biology curriculum [10].…”