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The Use of Group Activities in Introductory Biology Supports Learning Gains and Uniquely Benefits High-Achieving Students

This study describes the implementation and effectiveness of small-group active engagement (GAE) exercises in an introductory biology course (BSCI207) taught in a large auditorium setting. BSCI207 (Principles of Biology III—Organismal Biology) is the third introductory core course for Biological Sci...

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Autores principales: Marbach-Ad, Gili, Rietschel, Carly H., Saluja, Neeti, Carleton, Karen L., Haag, Eric S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Society of Microbiology 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5134939/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28101262
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v17i3.1071
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author Marbach-Ad, Gili
Rietschel, Carly H.
Saluja, Neeti
Carleton, Karen L.
Haag, Eric S.
author_facet Marbach-Ad, Gili
Rietschel, Carly H.
Saluja, Neeti
Carleton, Karen L.
Haag, Eric S.
author_sort Marbach-Ad, Gili
collection PubMed
description This study describes the implementation and effectiveness of small-group active engagement (GAE) exercises in an introductory biology course (BSCI207) taught in a large auditorium setting. BSCI207 (Principles of Biology III—Organismal Biology) is the third introductory core course for Biological Sciences majors. In fall 2014, the instructors redesigned one section to include GAE activities to supplement lecture content. One section (n = 198) employed three lectures per week. The other section (n = 136) replaced one lecture per week with a GAE class. We explored the benefits and challenges associated with implementing GAE exercises and their relative effectiveness for unique student groups (e.g., minority students, high- and low-grade point average [GPA] students). Our findings show that undergraduates in the GAE class exhibited greater improvement in learning outcomes than undergraduates in the traditional class. Findings also indicate that high-achieving students experienced the greatest benefit from GAE activities. Some at-risk student groups (e.g., two-year transfer students) showed comparably low learning gains in the course, despite the additional support that may have been afforded by active learning. Collectively, these findings provide valuable feedback that may assist other instructors who wish to revise their courses and recommendations for institutions regarding prerequisite coursework approval policies.
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spelling pubmed-51349392017-01-18 The Use of Group Activities in Introductory Biology Supports Learning Gains and Uniquely Benefits High-Achieving Students Marbach-Ad, Gili Rietschel, Carly H. Saluja, Neeti Carleton, Karen L. Haag, Eric S. J Microbiol Biol Educ Research This study describes the implementation and effectiveness of small-group active engagement (GAE) exercises in an introductory biology course (BSCI207) taught in a large auditorium setting. BSCI207 (Principles of Biology III—Organismal Biology) is the third introductory core course for Biological Sciences majors. In fall 2014, the instructors redesigned one section to include GAE activities to supplement lecture content. One section (n = 198) employed three lectures per week. The other section (n = 136) replaced one lecture per week with a GAE class. We explored the benefits and challenges associated with implementing GAE exercises and their relative effectiveness for unique student groups (e.g., minority students, high- and low-grade point average [GPA] students). Our findings show that undergraduates in the GAE class exhibited greater improvement in learning outcomes than undergraduates in the traditional class. Findings also indicate that high-achieving students experienced the greatest benefit from GAE activities. Some at-risk student groups (e.g., two-year transfer students) showed comparably low learning gains in the course, despite the additional support that may have been afforded by active learning. Collectively, these findings provide valuable feedback that may assist other instructors who wish to revise their courses and recommendations for institutions regarding prerequisite coursework approval policies. American Society of Microbiology 2016-12-02 /pmc/articles/PMC5134939/ /pubmed/28101262 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v17i3.1071 Text en ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
spellingShingle Research
Marbach-Ad, Gili
Rietschel, Carly H.
Saluja, Neeti
Carleton, Karen L.
Haag, Eric S.
The Use of Group Activities in Introductory Biology Supports Learning Gains and Uniquely Benefits High-Achieving Students
title The Use of Group Activities in Introductory Biology Supports Learning Gains and Uniquely Benefits High-Achieving Students
title_full The Use of Group Activities in Introductory Biology Supports Learning Gains and Uniquely Benefits High-Achieving Students
title_fullStr The Use of Group Activities in Introductory Biology Supports Learning Gains and Uniquely Benefits High-Achieving Students
title_full_unstemmed The Use of Group Activities in Introductory Biology Supports Learning Gains and Uniquely Benefits High-Achieving Students
title_short The Use of Group Activities in Introductory Biology Supports Learning Gains and Uniquely Benefits High-Achieving Students
title_sort use of group activities in introductory biology supports learning gains and uniquely benefits high-achieving students
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5134939/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28101262
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v17i3.1071
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