| Abstract | In Fall 2010, Iowa State University initiated a program to transform first and second year science courses, with the goal of increased student success in scientific disciplines. Historically, introductory biology courses have emphasized the memorization of material, and this has left little time to devote to developing scientific reasoning skills. At ISU each year, over 1500 students belonging to 40 different majors take introductory biology at ISU, in sections of approximately 250 students. The large number of students taking these courses and the diversity of student backgrounds creates unique challenges; it also presents important opportunities to inspire student interest, teach important concepts, and develop scientific reasoning skills. To improve student learning in these courses, ISU faculty have initiated a multi-step program, including the organization of a Biology Faculty Learning Community (BioFLC). The goals of the BioFLC focus on clarifying and communicating course learning objectives, including those of scientific reasoning skills, and developing strategies for active learning in high enrollment courses. Currently, we are designing POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) activities that combine active and problem-based learning to teach scientific reasoning skills using a student-centered approach for the two-semester introductory biology sequence. These activities will challenge students to solve authentic problems that require the use of scientific reasoning skills. Starting in Fall 2011, a scientific reasoning skills assessment will be given as a pre- and post-test to measure learning gains both in courses that implement the POGIL activities and those that do not. This assessment not only will provide us with feedback regarding the efficacy of our approach, but it will also provide information regarding specific skills on which future activities should focus. |
