Using stories in an introductory college biology course

Frisch, Jennifer Kreps; Saunders, Gerald W.

doi:10.1080/00219266.2008.9656135

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is also likely that students who participated in the bioethical discussion were more engaged (4) and/or took a more active role in the learning process (19,26), and that a heightened interest level translated into increased learning and retention over those students in the content-only section. The improved confidence noted in students from the bioethical discussion section also agrees with the findings of Frisch and Saunders (10), who found that students perceived an increase in content knowledge when they listened to stories. Taken together, these data suggest that placing biological content in a social context may help students create meaning and retain information long term.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Although many have suggested that teaching science in the context of "real world" situations may facilitate learning and retention (8,10,16,21), this study is one of the first to systematically examine the effectiveness of this approach. In the present study, students who discussed bioethical issues surrounding the use of emergency contraception and RU-486 demonstrated an increase in content knowledge from the presurvey to the postsurvey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Emergency contraception and RU-486 (mifepristone): do bioethical discussions improve learning and retention?

Bodensteiner

2012

Advances in Physiology Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To systematically investigate whether the inclusion of a bioethical discussion improves the learning and retention of biological content, students in two sections of an introductory zoology class were taught the biology behind emergency contraception and RU-486. Students in one section of the course participated in a bioethical discussion, whereas students in the other section participated in a content-only discussion. Pre- and postsurveys, response paragraphs, and a final exam were collected and used to examine the learning and retention of content knowledge. Results suggested that students who participated in a bioethical discussion of emergency contraception and RU-486 learned and retained information better than students who received content-only instruction. Interestingly, students who participated in the bioethical discussion also appeared to be more confident in their answers. The results of this study may inform the teaching practices and goals of science educators who would like to incorporate a discussion of bioethical issues into their curriculum but often feel that content coverage is paramount.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergency contraception and RU-486 (mifepristone): do bioethical discussions improve learning and retention?

Bodensteiner

2012

Advances in Physiology Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When I ask those same students which subjects they do like, either to learn or to teach, about two-thirds of them tell me they enjoy reading and writing (this is supported by the literature, e.g., El-Hindi, 2003;Hand & Prain, 2006). I tend to use stories in my teaching, and research shows that other history, science, and language arts instructors use stories as a teaching method in order to relate the subject to "real life" and make students feel more comfortable in the class (Egan, 2005;Frisch & Saunders, 2008;Hadzigeorgiou, 2006;Hamer, 1999;Rex, Murnen, Hobbs, & McEachen, 2002). Stories are one way that humans organize and contextualize knowledge (Schank & Abelson, 1995) and so it makes sense to help novice learners assimilate new information by making connections using stories.…”

Section: The Stories They'd Tell: Preservice Elementary Teachers Writmentioning

confidence: 75%

The Stories They’d Tell: Pre-Service Elementary Teachers Writing Stories to Demonstrate Physical Science Concepts

Frisch

2010

Journal of Science Teacher Education

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Preservice teachers enrolled in a science content-based course wrote stories that could help their future students understand a science concept. First, participants chose their topic and wrote the story with few guidelines to establish a baseline. In the next part, a different set of students were given a choice of three topics (based on force, electricity, and heat misconceptions), and collaborated to write stories with guidance from the instructor. Stories were analyzed for narrative and science units, and test scores examined. Without guidance, many students struggled to find ways to integrate science within a story. With guidance, participants wrote stories that included more narrative elements overall, and participants felt the stories helped them understand the concepts.

show abstract

“…Storytelling is a means of engaging people, whether in their workplace (Drake & Lanahan, 2007;Durrance, 1997;James & Minnis, 2004) or at an institution of learning (Frisch & Saunders, 2008;Higgins, 2008;Zerba, 2008). I wanted my students to engage with accounting as deep learners (Biggs, 1999a(Biggs, , 1999b who examined the discipline critically and tried to link new ideas to existing cognitive structures, although even mild interest from my students would have been an improvement.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 96%

The storytelling project: innovating to engage students in their learning

Miley

2009

Higher Education Research & Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This research explores the development of issues surrounding and reactions to the use of non-accounting stories in accounting to engage and motivate first-year students. The stories were drawn from the students' main areas of study. Students were challenged to draw analogies between a story and accounting. This process allowed them to create common meanings and understandings as they participated in a group dialogue about the relevance of each story. By using stories in areas with which the students were familiar, they were able to appreciate links between accounting and other disciplines. Initially the lecturer told the stories but in response to student feedback, students were encouraged to find or develop stories to share. Students found both the factual and fictitious stories enhanced their learning. When the students became storytellers, they took ownership of their learning and a more critical approach consistent with a deep approach to learning. Despite some initial concerns expressed by the lecturer, the storytelling project has led to increased motivation among non-accounting first year students who are undertaking some limited study of accounting.

show abstract

Using stories in an introductory college biology course

Cited by 22 publications

References 11 publications

Emergency contraception and RU-486 (mifepristone): do bioethical discussions improve learning and retention?

Emergency contraception and RU-486 (mifepristone): do bioethical discussions improve learning and retention?

The Stories They’d Tell: Pre-Service Elementary Teachers Writing Stories to Demonstrate Physical Science Concepts

The storytelling project: innovating to engage students in their learning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About