Why Students Struggle in Undergraduate Biology: Sources and Solutions

Tracy, Claire B; Driessen, Emily P.; Beatty, Abby E.; Lamb, Todd; Pruett, Jenna E.; Botello, Jake D; Brittain, Cara; Ford, Ísada Claudio; Josefson, Chloe C; Klabacka, Randy L.; Smith, Tyler; Steele, Ariel; Zhong, Min; Bowling, Scott; Dixon, Lucinda; Ballen, Cissy J.

doi:10.1187/cbe.21-09-0289

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Many students struggle at the outset of introductory science courses, because they have not yet adopted the learning strategies required to master the concepts ( Tracy et al. , 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer-Modeled Mindsets: An Approach to Customizing Life Sciences Studying Interventions

Hecht

Latham

Buskirk

et al. 2022

LSE

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Mindset interventions can promote diversity in STEM but require customization. A customization protocol was developed and used to create a “peer-modeled” mindset intervention for introductory biology. Underrepresented students randomly assigned to receive the intervention reported better psychological experiences and earned more “A’s” in the class than those assigned to a control condition.

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“…Many students struggle at the outset of introductory science courses, because they have not yet adopted the learning strategies required to master the concepts ( Tracy et al. , 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer-Modeled Mindsets: An Approach to Customizing Life Sciences Studying Interventions

Hecht

Latham

Buskirk

et al. 2022

LSE

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show abstract

“…Classroom pedagogy and instructor language are well documented as recommended approaches for promoting inclusive classrooms (Butler et al, 2021;Cooper et al, 2020;Tracy et al, 2022). However, there is a notable gap in the literature about how students, in particular historically excluded students, learn about and use knowledge to seek campus resources in order to persist in higher education.…”

Section: Instructors As a Source Of Capital For Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Have you heard about this? An exploration of instructor communication about campus resources to students in biology courses

Vega

Meaders

2023

Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education

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Campus resources provide valuable support for students navigating university, in particular historically excluded students. However, not all students may be aware of these resources or be actively encouraged to use them. As students regularly interface with their instructors for consecutive periods of time, instructor communication about campus resources regarding academic, community, wellness, and career and professional support may have positive motivational and psycho-social impacts for all students, especially historically excluded students. Therefore, we explored the types of campus resources that biology instructors communicate with students and whether they are positively correlated with students’ sense of belonging, motivation to use resources, and course performance in biology courses. We found that, all else equal, student sense of belonging derived from faculty and staff was positively correlated with the number of types of resources that instructors communicated about in their courses. From the students who reported that their instructors promoted campus resources, most students somewhat or strongly agreed that they were motivated to use career and professional development types of resources. Our results support that instructors have the capability to increase student’s cultural wealth by actively communicating various types of campus resources to their students. These results could provide guidance for biology faculty seeking to support students in the classroom and on campus as students are navigating institutions.

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“…1,2 A student's preparation upon entering a class has been described as an external factor, beyond their control, that may reflect an opportunity gap in primary and secondary education related to precollege educational resource availability 3 and should not be attributed to some sort of deficiency in an oppressed demographic group. 4 A student's prior knowledge is often an important factor influencing their learning, 5 and so the reported significant correlation of students' incoming preparation with their encountering and overcoming struggles in courses 3 is not surprising. However, studies also indicate that while accounting for incoming preparation may narrow achievement gaps, it often does not eliminate them.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Underrepresentation of some populations in STEM fields occurs because these students experience achievement gaps with performance lower on average then their overrepresented peers . Incoming preparation strongly influences student success in general chemistry, with some researchers optimistically suggesting course designs and teaching methods better matched to the incoming student preparation will likely eliminate performance gaps across demographic groups in introductory STEM courses. , A student’s preparation upon entering a class has been described as an external factor, beyond their control, that may reflect an opportunity gap in primary and secondary education related to precollege educational resource availability and should not be attributed to some sort of deficiency in an oppressed demographic group . A student’s prior knowledge is often an important factor influencing their learning, and so the reported significant correlation of students’ incoming preparation with their encountering and overcoming struggles in courses is not surprising.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narrowing Achievement Gaps in General Chemistry Courses with and without In-Class Active Learning

Clark

2023

J. Chem. Educ.

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Underrepresentation of some populations in STEM fields occurs because these students experience achievement gaps with performance lower on average than their overrepresented peers. Interventions to reduce achievement gaps and increase the retention of underrepresented students in STEM courses include approaches found both inside and outside of class-time, with active learning being a leading example of an in-class intervention in which didactic instruction is replaced by student-centered activities. In this investigation, student performance was examined in reformed general chemistry classes that employed student-centered active learning strategies when taught in person but employed more didactic instruction when taught online during emergency remote teaching, along with classes using traditional instruction in both modalities. In both settings, achievement gaps for underrepresented minority students in reformed courses were significantly narrowed compared to students in classes with traditional instruction, suggesting that the course structure and teaching practices beyond in-class active learning in reformed courses are significant contributors to student success.

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Why Students Struggle in Undergraduate Biology: Sources and Solutions

Cited by 6 publications

References 73 publications

Peer-Modeled Mindsets: An Approach to Customizing Life Sciences Studying Interventions

Peer-Modeled Mindsets: An Approach to Customizing Life Sciences Studying Interventions

Have you heard about this? An exploration of instructor communication about campus resources to students in biology courses

Narrowing Achievement Gaps in General Chemistry Courses with and without In-Class Active Learning

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