HOW DO CELL BIOLOGY STUDENTS LEARN EFFECTIVELY?
1 2 3, Ellen Rosenberg1,2
1 2, Joanne Nakonechny3, Lacey Samuels1
Gülnur Birol1,2,3
Departments of 1Botany and 2Zoology,
Zoology and 3Science Centre for Teaching and Learning,
Learning The University of British Columbia,
Columbia Vancouver,
Vancouver BC
BC, Canada
ABSTRACT
RESULTS
Table 1.
1 Survey questions with student responses in percentages.
percentages Those responses that
differed
d
e ed stat
statistically
st ca y bet
between
ee tthe
ep
pre-survey
e su ey and
a d the
t e post-survey
post su ey are
a e indicated
d cated by a
an
asterisk
asterisk.
• The goal of this study was to identify
How do you know when you have learned
something?
100
top 15%
90
*
*
80
P erc
Pe
cen
nt of
o Sttud
de nts
s (%
( )
The underlying
y g structure for learning
g scientific approaches
pp
to cell biology
gy and
applying
l i th
them iis unknown
k
to
t mostt second
d year university
i
it students
t d t and
d assumed
d
by
y most instructors.
instructors In a large
g second year
y
Cell Biology
gy lecture course
course,, students
were surveyed
d to
t probe
b their
th i ideas
id
ideas, attitudes
ttit d and
d habits
h bit with
ith respectt to
t how
h
they
th
learn effectively
effectively.
y Successful students displayed
p y hallmarks of expert
p learners with
respectt to
t their
th i study
t d strategies
strategies,
t t i
organization
i ti and
d metacognition
metacognition.
t
iti
Students
St d t who
h
struggled
gg
tended to display
p y characteristics of novice learners such as the inabilityy
t connectt and
to
d organize
i information
i f
ti around
d important
i
t t concepts
concepts,
t limited
li it d ability
bilit to
t
transfer information into novel contexts and lack of metacognition
metacognition.
g
Here
Here,, we report
p
our fifindings
di
and
d th
the iimplications
li ti
on our teaching
t
hi practices
practices.
ti
DISCUSSION
SC SS O AND
CONCLUSIONS
bottom 15%
*
70
*
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
THE COURSE
I can explain it to
others
second year students with basic eukaryotic cell biology.
biology
• Enrollment in the course is over 1100 students in five different lecture sections
sections.
• In addition a one-hour
one hour tutorial per week includes frequent quizzes to provide
students with feedback on their learning
g and give
g
them practice with the kind of
questions they will encounter on exams.
exams
• Students take common exams that include problem-solving
problem-solving,
g short answers and
essays
essays.
100
P rce
Per
entt of
o Stu
S ud en
nts
s (%
%)
Survey
• Participation
p
was voluntary.
voluntaryy We adhered to the behavioural research ethics
Statistical Significance
g
Chi^2 test was employed
p y in the statistical analysis
y in
order
d tto compare (i) allll students
students,
t d t (ii) top
t 15% and
d (iii) bottom
b tt
15% off students’
students
t d t ’
pre and p
p
post responses
p
as well as to compare
p
top
p and bottom students post
p
survey responses.
responses χ2<
2 0
0.05
05 was considered
id d to
t be
b statistically
t ti ti ll significant
i ifi
t unless
l
otherwise stated.
stated
Sh t Answer
Short
A
Questions
Q
ti
were analyzed
l
d with
ith N’Vivo
N’Vi
N Vivo software
ft
I Biology
In
Bi l gy 200,
200 , how
h
did you
y use the
th course
website?
b it ?
90
METHODS
80
top 15%
b tt
bottom
15%
*
70
0
*
60
50
*
40
30
20
10
0
*
I didn't
didn t use the I downloaded I check points I do problems I do problems
website
notes
that I didn't
didn t
that are
that are
understand in posted on the posted on the
lecture
ec u e
website
ebs e while
e I website
ebs e while
eI
studyy alone
studyy in a
group
g
p
I browse
I watch the
animations
I watch the
animations
and take
notes
o es
Student Responses
Check 3 of the following options that best
describe your
y
studyy habits
*
100
00
P rce
Per
en t of
o St
S ud
den
nts
s (%
%))
90
top 15 %
b tt
bottom
15%
Figure 3: Statistically significant differences in use of the course website
by the top 15% of students compared to the bottom 15% of students.
Data is displayed as percentage of students who chose each option
option,
based on the question, “How
How did you use the course website”,
website , divided
i t students
into
t d t who
h did well
ll ((t
(top 15%)) or poorly
ly ((bottom
(b tt
15%)) in
i the
th
course Asterisks indicate statistical significance (χ2< 0
course.
0.05).
05)
80
70
How did you use your Biology 200 lecture
notes to study?
60
50
40
30
100
*
*
90
top 15%
*
b
bottom
15%
I pli ti
Implications
ffor T
Teaching
hi g
• Students
St d t require
i explicit
li it instruction
i t ti on
de eloping successful
developing
s ccessf l learning strategies
strategies.
• Students require
q
time and practice
p
in
d
developing
l i th
the metacognitive
t
iti processes
necessary for a novice to expert learning
transition
transition.
80
20
10
0
Ig
go to myy p
prof or I work with a studyy I frequently
q
y make a
TA to ask
group
summary or
questions if I can't
revision of my
figure it out myself
notes after lecture
I use textbooks
and websites to
figure things out
that I don't
understand
I onlyy review myy
notes the night
before the test
I make diagrams
g
and flowcharts to
summarize course
material
Student Responses
Figure
Fig
re 1
1. Statistically
Statisticall significant differences in study
st d habits of the top
15% of students compared to the bottom 15% of students
students.
D t is
Data
i displayed
di pl y d as percentage
p
t g off students
t d t who
h chose
h
each
h option,
pti ,
based on the question
question, “Check
Check 3 of the following options that best
d
describe
ib y
your study
dy h
habits”,
bi ”, di
divided
id d into
i
students
d
who
h did well
ll (top
( p
15%) or poorly (bottom 15%) in the course.
course Asterisks indicate statistical
significance (χ2<
(χ2 0.05).
P errce
entt o f Stu
S ude
en
nts (%
%)
Q
Quantitative
data were categorized
g
into three groups:
g p
(i) allll students
t d t
((ii)) top
p 15%
% of students (grade
(g
average
g = 89
89.7±2.6)
7±2 6))
(iii) bottom
b tt
15% off students
t d t (grade
( d average = 53
53.2±8.6)
2±8
2 8 6) iin the
th class
l
as we
were able to establish statistical significance
g
at this level
level.
I am able to recall the
information
Figure 2: Statistically significant differences in students’ perceptions of
learning by the top 15% of students compared to the bottom 15% of
students.
t d t D
Data
t is
i displayed
di pl y d as percentage
p
t g off students
t d t who
h chose
h
each
h
option based on the question
option,
question, “How
How did you know when you have
l
learned
d something?”
thi g?” A
Asterisks
t i k iindicate
di t statistical
t ti ti l significance
ig ifi
(χ2<
(χ
( 2
0 05)
0.05).
• Biology
gy 200 is a large
g multi-section introductoryy course designed
g
to familiarize
Data Analysis
I can apply the new
I get a good grade on a
information to problem
test
solving
Student Responses
Cell Biology I: Structure and Function
protocol
t
l for
f our university
i
it in
i this
thi study
study.
t d
• The surveyy was designed
g
to capture
p
students’
students learning
g strategies
g
and habits
as presented
t d in
i Table
T bl 1.
1
• Annual revisions to the surveyy were based on student responses.
responses
p
The
multiple
lti l choice
h i questions
ti
were crafted
ft d based
b
d on student
t d t responses to
t the
th
open
open-ended
p ended q
questions
questions.
• The
Th survey was administered
d i i t d online
li att the
th beginning
b i i and
d towards
t
d the
th end
d off
the 13-week
13 week course from 2003 to 2007.
2007
• The
Th total
t t l number
b off students
t d t who
h completed
l t d both
b th the
th pre and
d postt survey
and gave
g
consent was 781 in 2006 and we report
p that data set here
here.
I feel confident that I
understand it
successful student learning
g strategies
strategies.
g
From
th responses we have
the
h
been
b
able
bl to
t develop
d
l
a profile of student learners that parallels
characteristics of novice and expert
p learners
learners.
• We intend to provide
p
students with feedback
on successful
f l strategies
t t gi for
f navigating
ig ti g
university
i
it llearning
i and
d give
i iinstructors
t t
information on what teaching
g practices
p
will
b t scaffold
best
ff ld student
t d t learning.
learning
l
i
• Inherent in the conceptualization
p
and
analysis
l i off this
thi survey was the
th acceptance
t
off
the influence of the teaching-learning
teaching
g learning
g
environment on the processes
p
off learning
g and
studying
t d i (Entwhistle
(E t hi tl ett all 2004).
2004)
• The
Th results
lt off the
th survey suggestt that:
th t
– students in this course are still in a
transition phase
p
to universityy learning
g
– top
t 15% and
d bottom
b tt
15% off students
t d t by
b
grade show significantly different approaches
to learning
g
– there
th
are a variety
i t off areas where
h
instructors
s uc o s can
ca more
o e explicitly
e p c y help
e p students
sstudents.
ude s
• This study underlines the need for
instructors to spend
p
time helping
p g students
d
develop
l their
th i llearning
i skills
kill as wellll as their
th i
content knowledge.
knowledge
70
60
50
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
40
• This work was supported by the University of British
30
*
20
10
0
I did
didn't't use my lecture
l t
notes
t to
t study
t d
I read
d th
them and
d
highlighted
hi
hli ht d th
them
I restated
t t d the
th notes
t
using
i my own words
d
Student Responses
I rewrote
t th
the notes
t
exactly
tl
I iintegrated
t
t d th
the material
t i l
f
from
my notes
t with
ith
other information from
the textbook and/or
website
Figure 4.
4 Statistically significant differences in use of lecture notes by
the top 15% of students compared to the bottom 15% of students
students.
D t is
Data
i displayed
di pl y d as percentage
p
t g off students
t d t who
h chose
h
each
h option,
pti
based on the question,
question “How
How did you use your Biology 200 lecture
notes
t tto study?”
t dy?” A
Asterisks
t i k iindicate
di t statistical
t ti ti l significance
ig ifi
(χ2<
(χ
( 2 0
0.05).
05))
Columbia Skylight
y g Development
p
Grant
Grant,, Carl Wieman
S i
Science
Education
Ed
ti Initiative
I iti ti Life
Lif Sciences
S i
Funds,
F d
Faculty of Science Dean’s
Dean s Office Travel Grant
Grant.
• Special
p
thanks to
BIOL 200 Students and Instructors
f their
for
th i participation;
ti i ti
P
Profs.
f Fred
F d Sack,
S k Bill Milsom,
Mil
Charles Thompson
Thompson, and George Spiegelman for their
support
pp in this study
study.
y