Dr. Dayna DeFeo and Dr. Sarah Gerken have begun publishing preliminary findings from studies undertaken in Transforming Introductory Biology at UAA (TIBUAA), a three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation to help UAA infuse inquiry-based approaches into its undergraduate biology class for non-science majors.
“Whether or not students will graduate and hold jobs as scientists, they need basic science literacy,” said Gerken. “With this project, we are studying how to better serve students through their general education undergraduate experience. Every day, people are making personal choices as citizens, as consumers, and as voters – and their understanding of basic scientific principles shapes the choices they make.”
Recently published preliminary findings
“The Effect of a Paired Lab on Course Completion and Grades in Nonmajors Introductory Biology” appears in the Fall 2020 issue of CBE-Life Sciences Education. In the paper, DeFeo, Gerken and co-author Andrew Bibler examine whether students who take introductory biology labs have better lecture course outcomes than students who do not take labs. The authors found that while students did have better outcomes, much of the difference in their performance is attributable to selection bias rather than the lab itself.
“Our findings challenge the misperception that science labs just reinforce what students learn in their lecture experiences,” said DeFeo. “The lab experience has a different set of learning outcomes, and supports students’ science learning in a different but complementary way.”
“Mediating Students’ Fixation with Grades in an Inquiry-Based Undergraduate Biology Course,” was published in Science and Education (September 29, 2020). DeFeo, Gerken, and coauthor Trang Tran analyzed student views on grades and their experiences in inquiry-based science classes. The analysis includes recommendations for teaching and learning.
Understanding student views is particularly relevant today, explained DeFeo: “Right now, our nation is experiencing fundamental changes to the way we teach and learn, as classrooms are moving online and into other alternate formats. Understanding what works and what motivates students cognitively as well as socially and emotionally will help us to improve instruction and design learning spaces that are best for students.”
DeFeo and Gerken are entering the third and final year of the Transforming Introductory Biology project. “The work we are doing helps improve teaching and learning at UAA,” said DeFeo, “and the dissemination of the research findings through peer-reviewed publications helps other institutions to learn from the work we do here in Alaska.”
About Dr. Dayna DeFeo
Dr. Dayna DeFeo is Director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR) and a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). She holds a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from New Mexico State University. Dr. DeFeo’s primary research interests include college and postsecondary transitions, particularly in the career and technical fields and for underrepresented populations; teacher turnover, supply, and demand; and representation and hegemony in the curriculum and institutional systems. [caption id="attachment_4375" align="alignright" width="400"] Sarah Gerken, January 2020[/caption]
About Dr. Sarah Gerken
Dr. Sarah Gerken is a Professor in UAA’s Department of Biological Sciences, and she teaches both majors and non-majors introductory biology, among other courses. She holds a PhD in Oceanography, 2000, University of Maine, Orono, and her primary disciplinary research focus is crustacean systematics..
Additional co-authors
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- Andrew Bibler is a former Assistant Professor of Economics with ISER. He currently teaches at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
- Trang Tran is a Research Professional with ISER and a doctoral student at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Andrew Bibler
Dayna DeFeo, Ph.D.
