Do non-majors learn genetics at a different rate than majors?  

What factors affect how students think about and learn difficult genetics concepts?

Jenny Knight and Michelle Smith 11/12/08MCDBScience Education InitiativeASM Biology Scholars Research Residency Program

Learning Genetics: comparing student learning in non-majors and

majors genetics courses

The two courses, Fall 2008

format Learning goals

year gender Major

MCDB 1041Non-majors(61 students reporting)

LAsClicker sHomework3 exams FinalGroup activities

Shares 7 content learning goals with majors

72.1% fresh/soph

62.7% female

6.7% Bio

MCDB 2150Majors(138 students reporting)

LAsClicker sHomework3 exams FinalOptional group activities

9 content learning goals

37.6% fresh/soph

58.7% female

55% Bio

13% Engineer/Chem

Non majors pre: 34% post: 70% normalized gain: 54% n=61Majors pre: 40% post: 78% normalized gain: 63% n=107

Are these students really different?Performance on the Genetics Concept Assessment (GCA) in Fall 2007 was not dramatically different

Fall 2007

The GCA is a 25 question validated assessment tool that tests conceptual understanding of fundamental genetics concepts

Experimental Design:Rate of learning genetics: measure performance at 4 points during the

semester

1. PRE ASSESSMENT : Administer the multiple choice GCA on the first day of class in both courses

2. WHAT THEY KNOW IMMEDIATELY AFTER INSTRUCTION : Administer shared short multiple choice quiz after we address each topic already identified as a misconception area

3. WHAT THEY KNOW AFTER STUDYING : Administer shared multiple choice exam questions and a few short answer questions at each of 3 midterm exams

4. POST ASSESSMENT : Administer the multiple choice GCA as part of the final exam in both courses

 

:

This was interesting, but not enough data to make conclusions about learning genetics. So:

Pilot study (Fall 2007): • Designed common quiz and exam questions for each common

learning goal

• Observed:

A trend towards increasing understanding (higher performance) with each measure, for each learning goal

Majors were usually ahead of non-majors, but often by only a little

• What we still needed: – Better coordination--material was not introduced at the same time to

both groups– more questions per learning goal to feel confident of comparisons

 Current study: Fall 20083-5 questions per learning goal per quiz or exammaterial introduced in same order, quizzes and exams

over same material (topics introduced within 1 week of each other)

Fall 2008 Score on genetics content pre-assessment (GCA):

Average score % (±SE) number of students

Non-majors 31.14 (1.7) 70Majors: 37.76 (1.1) 148

LA’s 80.2 (6.1) 6TA’s: 69.7 (7.2) 7

Performance on shared exam questions

*

*

* Significantly different, Tukey post-hoc test p<.05

Exam 1 Exam 2

*

% s

tude

nts

answ

erin

g co

rrec

tly

What factors affect how students think about and learn difficult genetics concepts?

(characterizing the way students work and how they feel)

1. PERCEPTION : How do students feel about genetics and science? What is their motivation to succeed?

2. PROCESS and TIME: How do students study? How much time do students spend studying and how often do they study? How do they prefer to work (alone or in groups)? How do they approach solving difficult genetics problems (what resources do they use)?

3. PRIORITY : How much importance do students place on the class in relationship to their other classes?

Experimental Design part 2

SURVEYS and INTERVIEWS

Interest Genetics background

Reason for taking course

Intimidation level of material

Motivation

Non majors(n=61)

49% high

25%never taken any genetics

70.5 science distribution requirement

16% for med school

26.2% high 83.6% highly motivated to study

Majors(n=138)

87% high

7.2% never taken any genetics

71.7 required for major

54.5% for med school

34% high 97% highly motivated to study

Starting points: comparing the demographics of the two courses, Fall 2008

Starting points that might affect their perception of genetics

Interest Genetics background

Reason for taking course

Intimidation level of material

Motivation

Non majors(n=61)

49% high

25%never taken any genetics

70.5 science distribution requirement

16% for med school

26.2% high 83.6% highly motivated to study

Majors(n=138)

87% high

7.2% never taken any genetics

71.7 required for major

54.5% for med school

34% high 97% highly motivated to study

What factors affect how students think about and

learn difficult genetics concepts?

Survey questions: TIME

How much do they study for exams?

Exam 1 Exam 2

% o

f st

uden

ts

Hours studying

Survey questions (midsemester): PROCESS

How do students study?

I rework homework/ clicker questions/ activities in preparation for the exams:

1 (never) ……. 3 (sometimes)………5 (always)

homework clicker questions activities

1041 3.17 3.39 3.39

2150 4.14 3.91 3.46

Survey questions (midsemester): PROCESS “culture” of group work

You are working on a Friday activity and your classmate Chris, who is doing well in the course, answers a question. What are you most likely to do next?a. I will write the answer down and not really think about what Chris just saidb. I will pause to think about what Chris said, but I will likely write down what s/he says c. I will probably write down a different answer, but I will not say anything to Chrisd. I will ask Chris questions and point out any flaws in his/her answer before writing an answer down

Majors: 29% B; 63.8%DNon-majors: 3% A, 45% B,31% D

You are working on a Friday activity and your classmate Alex, who is struggling in the course, answers a question. What are you most likely to do next?a. I will write the answer down and not really think about what Alex just saidb. I will pause to think about what Alex said, but I will likely write down what s/he says c. I will probably write down a different answer, but I will not say anything to Alexd. I will ask Alex questions and point out any flaws in his/her answer before writing an answer downMajors: 89.8% DNon-majors: 13.8% C, 78% D

CJ and Sam are working through an activity. CJ says something that Sam thinks is wrong. What do you think is the most appropriate thing for Sam to do?a. Not say anythingb. Ask an LA or course instructor to decide who is correctc. Point out errors in CJ’s thinking and offer an alternative viewMajors: 42% B; 58% CNon-majors: 41.4% B, 58.6% C

Survey questions (midsemester): PRIORITY

How many courses are you taking this semester? (number)

Rank studying genetics compared to other courses

Rank importance of genetics compared to other courses

Rank interest level in genetics compared to other courses

Divide rank by number of classes for each student, in each category, take average:

LOW number (closer to 0 = highest studying, importance and interest)

Avg # courses studying importance to future interestNon majors 4.64 0.50 0.71 0.51

Majors 4.20 0.54 0.53 0.48

Conclusions so far…When compared to students in the non-majors

course, students in the majors course:

1.Begin the course with slightly higher content knowledge and have had more exposure to genetics

2.Perform better on common exam questions

3.Feel a genetics course is more important to their future career and begin the course with a higher interest

4.Less likely to blindly trust a peer they perceive as knowledgeable

5. Study more for exams and spend more time reworking problems

What other questions would be useful to ask?