2014 NABT Biology Education Research Symposium

Thursday, November 13, 2014
Cleveland, Ohio

The 6th Annual Biology Education Research Symposium was held on Thursday, November 12, 2014 at the NABT Professional Development Committee held in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Presentations were accepted through a double blind peer review process that was open to biology educators and researchers at all levels. The NABT Research Committee Chair was Kristy Halverson for the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS.

We extend a special thank you to our reviewers for their time and detailed feedback.

2014 Presentations

Preservice Teachers’ Use of Content Knowledge to Inform Formative Assessment Strategies in an Integrated Life Sciences Methods Course 

Jaime Sabel, Cory Forbes & Laura Zangori, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE

ABSTRACT: Undergraduate students who are preservice elementary teachers need to learn essential science concepts as well as how to apply those concepts to elementary science learning environments. In order to effectively engage students in scientific practices and connect students’ ideas about science to appropriate instructional strategies, teachers should learn and engage in high-leverage instructional practices such as formative assessment. However, teachers may not understand formative assessment or have enough science content knowledge to effectively engage in the practice. To address this concern, we developed an innovative course for elementary preservice teachers built upon two pillars – life science content and formative assessment. Students learned essential biological science content and learned to connect that content knowledge to essential concepts in the biological sciences as defined in the K-12 science standards. In addition, the focus on formative assessment allowed preservice teachers to engage in identifying and responding to students’ ideas. Here, we will present results of an embedded mixed methods study designed to evaluate the effect of this intervention on preservice teachers’ content knowledge and ability to engage in formative assessment for science. 

Producing Learner-Centered Future Faculty: FiRST IV – A Uniquely Effective Program of Professional Development 

T.l. Derting, Murray State University, Murray, KY; J. Middlemis Maher, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI; H.A Passmore, Murray State University, Murray, KY; T. Henkel, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA; B. Arnold, Illinois College, Jacksonville, IL; J.l. Momsen, North Dakota University, Grand Forks, ND; & D. Ebert-May, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

ABSTRACT: Challenges in training faculty in inquiry-based, learner-centered instruction include empirically evaluating the efficacy of training in teaching and sustaining long-term support for change. Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST IV) provided new approaches to professional development in biology instruction for postdoctoral scholars. The goal was to develop early-career faculty who value and implement evidence-based pedagogies that facilitate learning. We report the activities and outcomes of FIRST IV, using comprehensive evidence derived from expert reviews of participants’ teaching, self-reported data from participants and students, and comparisons with non-project faculty. Participants completed a workshop twice in two years, followed by teaching an entire or partial course at their institution and sustained mentoring by STEM education experts. Postdocs showed belief in learner- centered teaching, and 74% taught using primarily learner-centered practices. We followed a subset of participants into their first faculty positions and quantified how their instructional design and student assessments differed from a colleague at the same institution. External review of teaching indicated that FIRST IV faculty practiced significantly more learner-centered instruction and used more collaborative learning than their colleagues. We conclude that the FIRST IV model offers significant and unique contributions to current challenges in professional development in STEM education. 

To What Extent is the Established Conceptual Framework of Animal Behavior used in Textbooks and the Primary Literature?

Andrea M.-K. Bierema, Baker College, Flint, MI & Renee’ S. Schwartz, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 

ABSTRACT: In 1963, Tinbergen revolutionized the study of animal behavior in his paper On Aims and Methods of Ethology (Zeitschrift Tierpsycholgie, 20, p.410) by revamping the conceptual framework of the discipline. His framework suggests an integration of four questions: causation, ontogeny, survival value, and evolution. AAAS (2010) stated in their Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education report that alignment between biological undergraduate education and current research should exist. Unfortunately, alignment has been rarely studied in college biology. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to determine if the conceptual framework used by animal behavior scientists, as presented in current primary literature, aligns with what students are exposed to in undergraduate biology education. Four popular textbooks and primary literature articles underwent content analysis in order to determine the extent that each of Tinbergen’s four questions. It was discovered that both textbooks and articles covered primarily only two of Tinbergen’s questions (survival value and causation). Therefore, neither textbooks nor current primary literature uses the conceptual framework as intended. Utilizing an integrated framework within textbooks and teaching this framework is recommended in order to increase the number of scientists in the next generation that study evolution and ontogeny of behavior.

Using Concept Maps to Measure Undergraduates’ Nature of Science Conceptions During a Biology Course

Leah J. Cook, Renee Schwartz, Andrea Bierema & Sarah Krajewski, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

ABSTRACT: This study explored changes in undergraduates’ cognitive structures of nature of science, as represented through concept maps, during a non-majors biology course. Understanding nature of science is part of being scientifically literate. We target the following aspects of nature of science: tentative, creative, subjective, empirical, observations and inferences, theories and laws, socio/cultural influences. Also targeted is the notion that there are multiple methods of scientific investigations. These aspects are related to each other, yet students often struggle to see and describe such connections. Explicit/reflective nature of science instruction was taught within an undergraduate biology course focused on cells, genetics, and molecular processes. A series of four concept-mapping tasks was used through the semester to determine what concepts were integrated into students’ cognitive structure about nature of science. The concepts maps allowed the researchers to identify the progression of how participants represented nature of science and relationships among aspects throughout the course. Students increased the nature of science concepts they included in their maps, but the overall structures did not change significantly. By tracking the progression of student understanding from this study, the nature of science conceptual understanding of undergraduate, non-majors may impact future classrooms and future curriculum needs. 
Effects on Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulated Learning 

Michele J. Mann & Christopher Golubski, University of Texas, Austin, TX

ABSTRACT: Using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), scores were evaluated at the beginning and end of the semester in an entry-level biology course for biology majors comparing if the students had taken the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology test. The students that scored a 2 or 4 on the AP Biology test had a statistically significant decrease in MSLQ pre and post test scores than the students that did not take the AP Biology test, even though there was a trend upward in MSLQ for increasing AP scores in general. Students that took AP test in biology, calculus and/or chemistry had a higher GPA and better performance in the first term biology course for majors. The higher the students scored on the AP tests the higher their self-efficacy and their overall MSLQ scores. Knowing which students will potentially have MSLQ scores that will decrease during a semester helps professors identify students needing more encouragement and support. Students that are capable and interested in biology should have access to the degree.
Faculty and Student Perceptions of Learning in an Inquiry-Based introductory Biology Course

Susann Yang, Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC & Tarren Shaw, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

ABSTRACT:The benefits of active learning and inquiry-based instruction are well documented, though adoption of these practices face opposition from both faculty and students. We recently implemented a multi-section inquiry introductory biology curriculum at a small liberal arts college. The course utilized common instructional and assessment tools, and was taught by multiple instructors of varying experience with active learning strategies. These changes were met with some resistance; in particular, major concerns among faculty were that common assessments would not be fair to all students, and that students perceive the increased difficulty of the course as undesirable. Faculty and student perceptions of the course were both positive and negative. We found that negative perceptions of the course during implementation do not fully match the learning gains and percep- tion of learning gains at the completion of the course. We did not find evidence that common assessments were unfair. Furthermore, we found that students did recognize progress in their abilities to think critically. We use our findings to propose interventions tailored to improve faculty and student experiences in the future.

Special Guest Presenter:

Ellen Goldey, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC
Recipient of the 2014 NABT Four-Year College & University Section Research in Biology Teaching Award