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My overall goals for the FLC experience:

1) Improve my Bio 2 course - I currently teach a lower division biology course for majors called Bio 2: Cells, Molecules and Genes. I am also the coordinator for this course, which typically runs about 5 sections/semesters. It is a 5 unit course that has a lecture, lab and activity session. I've spent the past 3 semesters designing this course to include active learning exercises, group work/peer instruction, formative assessment - attempting to make it a truly learner-centered course. That said, I am always looking to improve my strategies and the learning experience for students, while keeping the grading and management "manageable." Another issue is the vast amount of content that has typically been included in this course. I am trying to provide some in-depth experiences for students, but as this is 1 of 2 core courses, it must provide a foundation for the upper division courses (particularly those in the Molecular and Cellular Concentration).

2) Begin to think about the design of a GE Pilot Interdisciplinary Course - this is still early in the works, and if I do take on this challenge, the course would not run until Fall 2012. This course would be quite different from the other courses I teach. It would be GE, so non-majors and interdisciplinary, with 2-3 different courses/instructors involved in the planning and instruction. As I'm not ready to delve into the details of this planning process (still trying to determine feasibility and assemble the team), I am looking for models in the literature of successful interdisciplinary courses. The GE pilot would also involve large enrollments - ~150 students/class. This is triple the size I am used to, so I am also looking for strategies to manage this size class while not sacrificing quality.

3) Improve my command of the literature related to my research. One of my research projects is focused on the problem of biology majors failing, dropping out or leaving the major early in their science curriculum (generally 1st or 2nd semester). There is evidence that certain teaching strategies or programmatic practices may improve the success and retention rate for a more diverse student population. I am also exploring this literature as the next phase of my research will involve designing and testing interventions in a lower division biology course (Bio 1) that appears to have a substantial dropout/failure rate (we are trying to determine the actual numbers and reasons in phase 1 of this project). The resource entitled, "High-Impact Educational Practices" under the Readings and Resources (Design Approaches) is relevant to my research and I plan to spend some time with these documents.

Books from Education Courses at UC Davis: Schubert, WH, (1986) "Curriculum: Perspective, Paradigm, and Possibility" Posner, GJ, (2004) "Analyzing the Curriculum"

__Project #2, Part 1__:

We are currently using a Backwards Design Method to redesign the Molecular and Cellular Concentration for Biological Science Majors. Here is one paper that describes this method which, in short, involves deciding on the course objectives, then designing the corresponding activities and assessments. We are designing a 3-tiered program in which students will build on the same concepts in 3 vertically aligned courses: Bio 2 - lower division foundational course Bio 121 - Cell Physiology (upper division intermediate course) Bio 180 - Advanced Molecular Biology (upper division advanced course) Our team spent a significant amount of time agreeing on 8 Key Concepts (which represent overarching themes) for Bio 2 and defined several additional skill sets that students need to develop at this level (lab techniques, communication skills, data analysis skills). These key concepts are being used to design the new Intermediate Cell Physiology and the new Advanced Molecular Biology courses. While the key concepts are the same (or at least overlap, as not all of the Bio 2 Concepts are revisited in both 121 and 180), students will study the concepts in more depth and will be expected to apply higher order thinking and analysis skills at each successive level. For Bio 2, we revised the sequence of chapters covered after developing the Key Concepts, and then mapped the chapters and specific learning objectives to each of the key concepts. I've developed the lectures, active learning exercises and formative and summative assessments to address the Key Concepts and specific student learning objectives.

__Project #2, Part 2__: Two more papers/articles by L. Dee Fink:

I read "Creating Significant Learning," by L. Dee Fink (and several related papers/articles by Fink). The design model he describes is the "Integrated Course Design." This approach is learner-centered and begins with the instructor "identifying important situational factors." These factors, which include the format of the course, population of students, expectations the course must meet, and other non-negotiable factors that are intrinsic to the course, are central to decisions made about the course's 1) learning goals, 2) feedback and assessment, and 3) teaching/learning activities. Fink emphasizes the importance of these 3 components for a "significant learning experience." He further stresses the importance of integrating the goals with the instructional methods and assessment strategies. Fink also emphasizes the need for learning goals to include more than just the typical "content/factual knowledge." He defines 6 categories of learning goals in his "Taxonomy of Significant Learning." These include "Foundational Knowledge, but also consist of Application, Integration, Human Dimension (learning about oneself and others), Caring, and Learning how to Learn." Also central to the model is the necessity for 'educative assessment" and Fink uses the acronym FIDeLITY, which stands for frequent, immediate, discriminating and loving, to describe key characteristics of good assessment.

The Integrated Course Design, at first glance, looked identical to the backwards design method that I have used in the development of Bio 2, but it seems that the "backward design" is the __method__ used in constructing an "integrated course design," which is the __model.__ We started by defining 8 Key Concepts, which described big overarching concepts. We further defined more detailed learning objectives under each Key Concept. As an example, part of Key Concept 2 states, "The structure of cellular membranes provides a selectively permeable barrier in the aqueous environment." To teach this this concept, students act out "transport" across the plasma membrane. Some are assigned structural components of the membrane or cell, while others are assigned the role of molecules trying to get across. They are given multiple scenarios and have to work together to figure out what would happen at the cellular level. The assessment is oral as each person has a role that they have to play, and they have to justify the decisions that they are making along the way. This activity always leads to a lot of interaction, discussion and questions that don't arise from lecturing on the same topic. Plus, students always identify it as one of their favorite activities. While this activity is focused on teaching foundational knowledge, students must apply this knowledge to multiple scenarios and they must integrate concepts they've learned in multiple chapters to accurately represent an active membrane. Further, they must work together, so it addresses multiple types of learning goals.

I believe that this approach has many strengths. Defining what you want students to know first can lead to a more thoughtful, cohesive teaching/learning experience, and incorporating goals that address different skill sets will make for a more well-rounded learning experience. The benefits of immediate and formative assessment is well-documented in the literature, and the alignment or integration of the goals, assessment and learning activities is obviously better than the alternative - when these components are disjointed. Fink mentions one of the disadvantageous, which is simply the fact that it is a more time-consuming method of course design. It takes time and thought and multiple revisions to design a course that integrates all of the components of this method. That said, it can be done in stages, by starting to design short activities with corresponding assessments that map to learning goals. In my opinion, it is the specific "foundational knowledge" goals which still take the longest to articulate, as many of the other types of learning goals are general and can be applied to the foundational goals. Also, it takes some time to learn how to develop good educative assessments that can be efficiently used to evaluate and provide feedback to all students, especially in large classroom settings (a situational factor that must be considered). Other than the learning curve and the time-intensiveness, I don't have any criticisms of this course design methodology.

**Lesson Plan for Chapter 6 - Tour of the Cell: Objectives, Active learning exercises, and Assessments**
===The problem is the large amount of information in this chapter and the fact that students must memorize a reasonable amount in order to have a solid foundation. Memorization can be boring and tedious, so finding a fun way to encourage it is the challenge for me.===

**Objectives for Chapter 6:**
KEY CONCEPT 2: The structure of cellular membranes provides a selectively permeable barrier in the aqueous environment. Large eukaryotic cells have adapted this function into a complex endomembrane system and also require a complex cytoskeleton. (the extracellular matrix of multicellular organisms.) (Campbell Ch. 6 and 7)

** Students should recognize the fundamental differences in the size and morphology of prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells and be able to distinguish the morphological differences between plant and animal cells. (Ch. 6) ** 1. Distinguish between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Be able to draw and/or label both. 2. Explain the advantages of compartmentalization in eukaryotic cells. 3. Compare and contrast plant and animal cells.

** Students should recognize the various functions that membranes compartmentalize in the endomembrane system of eukaryotic cells (Ch. 6) ** 1. Describe the structure and function of the nucleus (including the nuclear envelope, pore complexes, nucleolus, and nuclear lamella). 2. Briefly explain how the nucleus controls RNA synthesis, which ultimately leads to protein synthesis in the cytoplasm. 3. Describe the location and function of ribosomes. 4. List the components of the endomembrane system, and describe the structure and function of each component. 5. Describe the path that a protein destined for the organelles of the endomembrane system, the plasma membrane or the outside of cell would follow. 6. Compare the structure and functions of smooth and rough ER. 7. Explain the significance of the //cis// and //trans// sides of the Golgi apparatus. 8. Describe the structure and function of lysosomes in eukaryotic cells. 9. Describe two examples of intracellular digestion by lysosomes. 10. Name three different kinds of vacuoles, giving the function of each. 11. Describe the structure and function of mitochondria and chloroplasts. <span style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">12. Briefly describe the endosymbiotic hypothesis and evidence that supports it. <span style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">13. Describe the structure and function of peroxisomes in eukaryotic cells.

** Students should understand that large eukaryotic cells require an internal cytoskeleton for structural support and movement of material through spaces too large for diffusion. (Ch. 6) ** <span style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">1. Describe the general functions of the cytoskeleton. <span style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">2. Compare the structure (types of monomers, shape) and functions of microtubules, microfilaments, and intermediate filaments. Be able to discuss specific examples in which each type of cytoskeletal element is utilized for a cellular function. <span style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">3. Explain the structure and function of centrosomes, centrioles, and basal bodies.

**Activities to Address Key Concepts and Objectives:**
Chapter 6 is covered in one short week with two 1.15 hr lecture periods and one 1:50 hr activity period. There is a 3 hr. lab, but we don't address these concepts in lab.

1. In Lecture - Before the first lecture, students are divided into 10 groups. Each group gets one of ten organelles. They have to research their organelle and come to class (Lecture 1) prepared to work with their group to defend their organelle as THE most important organelle in the cell. Students present their organelle to the class (groups decide on the most important points and select a spokesperson to present their case). Students vote and a winner is named based on how convincing they are. This is fun and allows students to learn one organelle in depth. They take notes on the other organelles presented by peers).

2. In Activity - Concept mapping. Students get a list of (47) terms related to structures and functions of the cell. They work on large notepads with small sticky pads (for each term) in groups of 3-4 to develop their concept map over a 1:30 hr period. They hang their concept maps up and groups circulate to look at the work of others.

3. In Lecture - In the second lecture, students work a problem set where they must apply what they've learned from the other activities and their reading. These problems form the basis of the rest of lecture.

**Assessments related to Chapter 6:**
1. The Concept Map serves as one assessment. I give students time to work, then I start to circulate, asking them questions about their map and letting them ask me questions. At the end, they post the concept maps and I look at them, pointing out the positive aspects and places where they could improve. I keep the maps and can scan them for common misconceptions, but I generally learn of these as I am circulating.

2. Near the end of the activities, I have students use a blank paper to draw a eukaryotic, animal cell from memory. They have to compare/contrast this to a plant cell. This is a "pop quiz" in a sense, but I don't grade it. I skim them to find misconceptions/misunderstandings and I make a list. I then develop 5-6 questions that address these problems and students answer these in the following class (we used clickers so that both the students and I got immediate feedback).

Both of these assessments inform me of major and common misconceptions that I can focus on in lecture. Using the clickers gives me a good understanding of the % of students that are struggling with certain concepts.

**Presentation - Project #**5
1) Improve Bio 2 Course through re-design of certain lessons 2) Plan for possible design of GE Pilot course 3) Explore literature related to research
 * Review of Goals:**

A. Read Fink's articles on integrated design: Key to his strategy is the integration of 1) learning goals, 2) feedback and assessment, and 3) teaching/learning activities while considering the course's "situational factors." B. Designed an activity and assessment that met the learning goals for an important chapter (See Project 2 above) C. Implemented the activity/assessment D. Reflected on the success
 * Addressing Goal #1**: Improve existing course design

This project has not come to fruition so work was suspended; however, I did collect and read a number of articles related to General Education courses (which I do not routinely teach) and interdisciplinary courses. I also interviewed a colleague that teaches a large, GE Biology course to learn about some of the "situational factors" and challenges.
 * Addressing Goal #2:** Plan for possible new course

One of my research projects is focused on the problem of biology majors failing, dropping out or leaving the major early in their science curriculum (generally 1st or 2nd semester). There is evidence that certain teaching strategies or programmatic practices may improve the success and retention rate for a more diverse student population. I am exploring this literature as the next phase of my research (after attemping to identify factors that lead to success/retention) will involve designing and testing interventions in a lower division biology course (Bio 1) that appears to have a substantial dropout/failure rate (we are trying to determine the actual numbers and reasons in phase 1 of this project). The resources entitled, "High-Impact Educational Practices" under the Readings and Resources (Design Approaches) is relevant to my research and I have spent some time with these documents already.
 * Addressing Goal #3:** Explore literature related to research

Note: one of the factors that is believed to influence retention/success (from Kuh and many others) is Student-Faculty Interaction.

Analysis of our data to date (1 cohort from Fall 2010):
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Data has been collected from four different institutions: St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM, //n// = 129) and Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU, //n// = 39) are small liberal arts institutions; Lone Star College- North Harris (LSCNH, //n// = 101) is a community college; and California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, //n// = 207) is a large regional university. **

Preliminary results from the SMCM and CSUS data indicate that the best predictors of student performance in introductory biology include GPA (either from high school or previous college work) coupled with the SAT Math score. However, a number of other factors were positively related to student success including AP Biology exam score, confidence in prior academic preparation, confidence in study skills, and in-state residency. Repetition of the biology course was inversely related to final course grade. Some variables were statistically significantly related to final course grades at one institution, but not when considering both data sets combined: ethnicity, student housing status, number of hours dedicated to an activity or employment outside of school, time since previous core courses (Biology, Math, English), and current number of semester hours in which student was enrolled. Variables that were not found to be statistically significantly related to final course grade included: participation in study group, working with a tutor, working with the professor, type of degree sought, major declared, English as a primary language spoken at home, year in college, expected graduation date, first generation college student, first semester of college, high school location, and gender. These data will be utilized in the future design of intervention strategies to retain students, especially underrepresented populations, within the sciences.

Next Steps: Because the results of the combined data do not support the findings of Kuh and others, we want to look at this more closely in our own student population. We will be performing the analysis independent of the other universities this summer.