核心重新设计
Summary of Biology Core Redesign Project
The 菠菜网lol正规平台 生物科学 Department is in 的 process of redesigning 的 core introductory biology sequence to align with 的 best practices in biology pedagogy 如《 Vision and Change in 本科 Biology 教育 report. Introductory Biology is a two semester series with a high failure rate (20-30%). Our goal is to improve student performance in 的 course and student 准备 for 专业上的成功. We are supported by a California State University Program in 教育 and 研究 in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) Curriculum Grant.
We have reorganized 的 lecture topics to focus on 的 core competencies and concepts identified in 的 report and are making an effort to emphasize depth and not breadth 的信息. We have adopted a low-cost digital textbook, Integrating Concepts in Biology 坎贝尔，海尔， & Paradise, which emphasizes experimental data 和 core concepts. We are also developing active learning activities for 的 lecture, including 阅读预测[pdf] and in-class case studies and 点击题[pdf]. We are also incorporating more inquiry based laboratory activities [pdf]. Finally, we are also taking advantage of university resources to offer peer mentor facilitated homework session (supported by 的 项目成功 格兰特).
To assess 的 success of our redesign and aid in our understanding of 的 student population that takes 的se courses, we are administering two validated concept inventories, 的 Biology Concept Inventory (BCI) 和 Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS), and a demographic survey at 的 beginning of 的 first course 和 end of 的 第二个课程. Pre-test scores from 的 previous version of 的 courses (BIOL 1A and 1B) indicate that first generation college students (1st 创) had lower scores on average than students who are not 1st 创 on 的 TOSLS, but not BCI. Under-represented minority students (URM), which comprise African American, Alaskan or American Indian, and Hispanic/Latino students, had similar scores as non-URM students on both 的 TOSLS and BCI. 这表明我st 创 students, but not URM students, are entering Introductory Biology with poorer 准备. Overall pass rate in BIOL 1A was 80%, however, both 1st 创 and URM students were less likely to pass BIOL 1A (1st 创 = 71%， URM = 69%， 1st 创 & Urm = 64%). We will be assessing 的 effect of our redesign on overall student performance in 的 core sequence as well as its effect on 的 achievement gap.
额外的资源
