Two-Year Community: Exploring Student Engagement in an Introductory Biology Course

Lysne, Steven J.; Miller, Brant G.; Eitel, Karla Bradley

doi:10.2505/4/jcst13_043_02_14

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The legal studies and human resources management disciplines are competencybased, and students benefit when they can practice the skills they learn in real-world, low-stakes environments. For this reason, a community engagement assignment was well-suited for these courses and took advantage of what Gruenwald (2005) and Lysne et al (2013) noted as critical for 21st-century students-that is, understanding the notion of place. Rather than learning being relegated to inside the four walls of an institution, learning can happen everywhere, and different places teach us about how the world works and how our lives fit into the spaces we occupy.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting Theory into Practice: Incorporating a Community Engagement Model into Online Pre-professional Courses in Legal Studies and Human Resources Management

France-Harris

Burton

Mooney

2019

OLJ

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As part of community-engaged educational partnerships, students are paired with community members in instructor-focused activities linked to an academic curriculum. Scholars widely agree that this type of approach can significantly improve the learning experience for students while simultaneously having a positive impact on the community. As faculty in higher education implement this pedagogical tool, it is a natural progression for it to expand into online classrooms. In particular, while there is a growing body of research related to community engagement in online healthcare and science-related fields, less research exists on the incorporation of community engagement in other types of online pre-professional courses. This paper explores student perceptions in online pre-professional undergraduate courses in the legal studies and human resources fields in which community engagement projects were utilized. These experiences should lead to a deeper understanding of the benefits and challenges of community-engaged online classrooms and give guidance for developing future projects.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting Theory into Practice: Incorporating a Community Engagement Model into Online Pre-professional Courses in Legal Studies and Human Resources Management

France-Harris

Burton

Mooney

2019

OLJ

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“…Active learning has been shown to increase grades on average by 6% and decrease failing rates in STEM disciplines (Freeman et al , 2014). Furthermore, students learn substantially more from active inquiry-based activities and problem-solving than from listening to lectures (Miller and Eitel, 2013), and even a partial shift toward more interactive and collaborative course format can lead to significant increases in student learning gains (Knight and Wood, 2005). Importantly, when considering demographics, active learning in STEM courses offers more benefits for individuals from underrepresented groups (Theobald et al , 2020).…”

Section: Background and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effectiveness of interactive online tutorials in first-year large biology course

Rissanen¹,

Costello

2021

JARHE

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PurposeOnline resources can be helpful for students and can augment the content presented in learning environments. A team consisting of four biologists, a graduate student, instructional designer and media developers collaborated on the design, development and evaluation of first-year biology online tutorials in a Canadian University. The tutorials were designed to address knowledge gaps resulting in low success rates and attrition of first-year students in biology. The decrease in the number of students in STEM has alarmed educators, prompting a call for efforts to increase STEM majors in universities. Large class sizes, such as first year biology with ∼900 registrants annually, with detail-oriented, content-heavy loads, can result in low success rates and attrition.Design/methodology/approachActive learning methods, including online formative assessments, which encourage student engagement in course material, can be effective in large introductory science classes, and thus, the authors provided engagement with tutorial online resources. The authors identified the tutorial topics by analyzing previous years' tests, student feedback and pedagogical research in undergraduate biology. The top five topics identified as common misconceptions or troublesome concepts within the course were selected. Standard instructional design processes were used to produce high-quality online tutorials. Tutorials included learning materials, videos, animations, self-assessments, reflective questions and badges to facilitate deep learning of the topics. Effectiveness of the tutorials was evaluated using quantitative methods and quasi-experimental design to compare the student learning results between the control year (without tutorials) and the year when tutorials were offered. Pre- and posttests measuring conceptual understanding were administered to assess gains in student learning. Additionally, student engagement was measured using the Classroom Survey of Student Engagement (CLASSE), and data from learning management system was collected.FindingsResults of the study show that the tutorials were an effective means of providing supplementary assistance to students as well as fostering a gain in students' levels of engagement with the course. Data analysis indicates that there was a significant increased gain in learning of core concepts in biology. Specifically, using formative online assessments resulted in measurable learning gains in students who participated voluntarily, in comparison to students who chose not to engage in self-paced quiz testing.Originality/valueAs seen from the description earlier, the tutorials, and this project, provide suitable university-level complexity to address specific learning gaps in the first year course. They provide a valuable service to students in terms of representing content in an alternate format and motivating students as they engaged with videos and self-assessment most frequently. The project adds to the teaching and learning environment with respect to program design, mode of delivery and scheduling by providing self-paced tutorials that focus on specific concepts in biology. Students may review these resources whenever and as often as they feel necessary to better master the concepts. This makes the content applicable for the various preferences for approaches to learning and accommodation requirements found in students. Importantly, using formative online assessments resulted in measurable learning gains in students who participated voluntarily, in comparison to students who chose not to engage in self-paced quiz testing.

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“…Lysne et al (2013) are of the view that student engagement is crucial in capturing student interest to ensure that learning occurs. Hu & McCormick (2012) suggest that the quality of education that students obtain is of prime concern to national discourse on higher education reform.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Christenson, Stout and Pohl (2012) argue that students should actively participate in academic activities in order to achieve learning outcomes. Lysne, Miller and Eitel (2013) explain that student engagement is a term that refers to time, energy and resources students spend on activities designed to enhance learning. Hu and McComick (2012) explain that the concept of student engagement originates from Astin's theory of involvement and the quality of effort exerted by students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interrogating Students’ Engagement in Academic Work in a Selected University in Zimbabwe

Madzanire¹,

Maphosa

Zikhali³

et al. 2014

MJSS

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The extent to which students' attain learning outcomes and the overall quality of a qualification is dependent on the extent to which the student is engaged in academic work inside and outside the lecture room. The study sought to establish the extent to which students were engaged in academic work in a Zimbabwean university. The study followed a mixed methods approach, in which a case study design was utilized. Data

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Two-Year Community: Exploring Student Engagement in an Introductory Biology Course

Cited by 6 publications

References 22 publications

Putting Theory into Practice: Incorporating a Community Engagement Model into Online Pre-professional Courses in Legal Studies and Human Resources Management

Putting Theory into Practice: Incorporating a Community Engagement Model into Online Pre-professional Courses in Legal Studies and Human Resources Management

The effectiveness of interactive online tutorials in first-year large biology course

Interrogating Students’ Engagement in Academic Work in a Selected University in Zimbabwe

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