Use of research-based instructional strategies: how to avoid faculty quitting

We have examined the teaching practices of faculty members who adopted research-based instructional strategies as part of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI) at the University of British Columbia. Of the 70 that adopted such strategies with the support of the CWSEI program, only one subsequently stopped using these strategies. This is a tiny fraction of the 33% stopping rate for physics faculty in general [Henderson, Dancy, and Niewiadomska-Bugaj, PRST-PER, 8, 020104 (2012)]. Nearly all of these UBC faculty members who had an opportunity to subsequently use RBIS in other courses (without CWSEI support) did so. We offer possible explanations for the difference in quitting rates. The direct support of the faculty member by a trained science education specialist in the discipline during the initial implementation of the new strategies may be the most important factor.Comment: 7 page

Collaborative testing: evidence of learning in a controlled in-class study of undergraduate students, or more learning while testing, less time only testing

In collaborative two-stage exams students complete a test as individuals and then immediately complete the same, or very similar, test in groups. We compared two-stage collaborative testing to individual testing to determine which format has a greater effect on student learning in an undergraduate Earth and Ocean Science course. A cross-over design allowed students to participate in both the control (individual) and treatment (collaborative) conditions. In both the individual and collaborative conditions students completed the same set of questions twice, which controlled for any potential performance gain caused by more frequent testing. Learning was measured as the change in students’ individual performance on questions given in the individual stage and after the midterm, calculated as percent change and normalized change. When students were tested in groups they showed significantly greater improvement on subsequent individual testing then when tested only as individuals. There was no significant difference in the amount of improvement experienced by ‘upper’, ‘middle’ or ‘lower’ achieving students as categorized by their first-stage midterm score. Our results demonstrate that students of all achievement levels can learn from each other while simultaneously being assessed, and we believe collaborative testing is a powerful tool that can be applied to any undergraduate science classroom

The Development and Delivery of a Multidisciplinary Research Course for First-Year International Science Students

Students who engage in undergraduate research experiences acquire many benefits, including an understanding of how scientific knowledge is constructed, recognition that knowledge can be complex and uncertain, and the habit of viewing knowledge critically. This paper describes a first-year two-course sequence that provides multidisciplinary opportunities for international science students to engage in the research process and present at a student-led research conference. We describe course goals and structure, and discuss whether the goals were attained using instructor reflections, student performance, and student survey data. We also evaluate the impact of changes to the curriculum between Year 1 and Year 2. In both years, we found that students engaged meaningfully with the research process and began to understand how scientific knowledge is created. We also found that a modular model with front-end support worked better for instructors as compared to a continuous individualized project mentorship model. This modular approach involved structured pre- and post-class assignments within discipline-specific themes containing examples of the research process embedded into the discipline. These discipline-specific modules were followed by modules covering broader research process themes. We encourage instructors who are thinking of delivering a similar research-based course for first-year students to provide support via example research questions and other example templates for student submissions