Biology and Society: A New Way to Teach Tertiary Science to Non-science Students

Room 9.15, Worsley Building, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9J

Removing the fear from teaching Traditional Ways of Knowing in science

Incorporating Traditional Ways of Knowing (TWK) into science education has long been recommended (e.g., Meyer & Crawford, 2011; Rich, 2012; Zidny, Sjöström, & Eilks, 2020). While many students are unaware that alternatives to western knowledge exist (Rich, 2012), cross-cultural education can provide students with the tools for a multiple-knowledge approach to real-world problems and can increase the relevance of science education beyond theories and facts, contextualising learning in everyday life (Zidny et al., 2020). Embedding TWK into science education can also engage under-represented students and assist in the development of academic hospitality toward Indigenous peoples (Meyer & Crawford, 2011; Rich, 2012). However, it is important to not make this approach only a box-ticking exercise (Rich, 2012). While TWK is best done in cooperation with Aboriginal people, the opportunities for this are limited. We have developed TWK with the assistance of Traditional Owners and have implemented cultural awareness training for all science students at Flinders University.  We have also developed a program of TWK embedded across an entire science degree in Conservation Biology.  We will discuss how we can build, facilitate, and embed Indigenous perspectives as non-Indigenous Australian lecturers, and how through experience, we can build confident and competent delivery of material. REFERENCES Meyer, X., & Crawford, B. (2011). Teaching science as a cultural way of knowing: Merging authentic inquiry, nature of science, and multicultural strategies. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 6(3), 525-547. Rich, N. (2012). Introduction: Why link Indigenous ways of knowing with the teaching of environmental studies and sciences? Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2(4), 308-316. Zidny, R., Sjöström, J., & Eilks, I. (2020). A multi-perspective reflection on how Indigenous knowledge and related ideas can improve science education for sustainability. Science & Education, 29(1), 145-185

Biological Fieldwork in Australian Higher Education: Is The Cost Worth The Effort?

Student engagement in fieldwork and other field-based activities are crucial elements of an undergraduate biology degree. Fieldwork and other field-based activities, however, are under threat as funding declines and regulations and approval processes in Australian universities increase. The consequence of this is that in some universities, field work has disappeared from the curriculum. The reasons for the decline in field work include an increasing number of student enrolments and the high cost of running field-based activities. Students are very often attracted to programs because of the fieldwork element. Additionally, student evaluations from units with field work repeatedly report fieldwork and field activities are their favorite components of the course, and moreover, of their undergraduate experience. Re-engaging universities administrators with the value of field work may take some creative thinking. This review reports on the current state of fieldwork and field-based learning activities within tertiary biology education in Australia. It investigates reasons for the decline of fieldwork, provides ways to integrated fieldwork into the curriculum, including assessment, and examines the future role of fieldwork in higher education

Raising the profile of teaching and learning: Scientists leading scientists

It has long been assumed that expertise, or profound knowledge in a subject area, is sufficient for effective teaching at the university level. However, lack of student engagement and failure of students to reach set standards have been found to be associated with an inability of academic staff to teach or to construct appropriate assessment components. With this in mind, students are likely to be given less than adequate instruction, reducing their motivation to engage with subject content. This can result in a higher probability of discontinuation in their chosen course of study. Ultimately, student engagement, success and retention can be affected by motivating non-engaged, uninformed academics and the ALTC project 'Raising the profile of teaching and learning: Scientists leading scientists' has focused on ways to do just that

The development of model of teaching focused on engagement and retention in large first year science courses

Our objective was to produce a model to transform the way in which large first year science courses are delivered. We did this by researching the problem, directly implementing a series of changes and carefully evaluating the changes that were made. We compared student exam grades before and after the redevelopment, and found a clear improvement across each passing grade level (average 3.5%), in addition, failure and withdrawal rate dropped by 14%. More specifically, students without a biology background, who traditionally fail at twice the rate as those with a background, succeeded at the same rate after the changes were made. This clearly indicates that the initiatives introduced, such as the introduction of PASS (peer assisted study sessions) and prelectures (giving year 12 background), were especially important in giving this group of students the opportunity to perform on an even level. Most notably for the School of Biological Sciences and the Faculty of Science, the increased engagement of our students has led to significantly more students enrolling in second year topics, an increase of 21%. These data clearly detail how the overall student experience in first year biology must have improved. The student perspective on the value of our changes actually demonstrates this quite clearly. A comparison of Student Evaluation of teaching was overwhelming positive toward the redeveloped course structure with mean responses on a 7 point Likert scale up by at least one point in all categories. We are therefore able to say with confidence that not only did students do better academically, but they also enjoyed the course more and were consequently more likely to continue in Biology in their second year of university study

Developing Scientific Literacy for all University Graduates

University educated students should possess at least a basic level of scientific literacy so as not to be disadvantaged in a highly technological global environment. Most, if not all Australian Universities, list the graduate attribute of “being knowledgeable” yet many graduates are potentially unable to make decisions based on scientific understanding. Without a basic knowledge of science, graduates will find it difficult to make informed choices about their health care, their environment and the society in which they live. The ability to critically analyse the validity of a given argument or media presentation in order to come to a logical conclusion should be considered highly valuable in terms of graduate qualities and consequently an important requirement of all university degrees. A course to teach scientific literacy needs to be carefully structured to maintain student engagement and to provide understanding without the focus on creating scientists

Achieving scientific sustainability – A pilot study into the importance of improving first year undergraduate scientific literacy in the biological sciences

Listed amongst the graduate qualities of most, if not all, Australian universities is that of students being ‘knowledgeable’ in their degree’s subject matter with a thorough understanding of how that knowledge can then be applied to real world contexts. Yet, many previous studies have indicated that many of our graduates are potentially unable to make significant decisions due to their lack of a basic level of scientific understanding. The possession of at least a basic understanding of science and how it affects society is crucial for all undergraduate students to possess, as without it they may soon become disadvantaged in our increasingly technological global environment. Scientific literacy should therefore be considered to be a high priority for all graduates as not only does it increase their interest in and understanding of the world around them, but also allows them to engage in discussions of scientific advancements and be sceptical and questioning of the claims made by others

Innovations in teaching go viral: effective, better ways to teach virology.

A new second year level topic called “Virology” was launched in 2007. While conventional methods of teaching: lectures, student presentations of journal papers, an exam, an essay are included, innovative approaches to this stimulating subject are also used. To encourage engagement short "minitests", with a few multiple choice questions, occur in every tutorial session, and students gain marks for participation in discussion. This led to an unexpectedly high turn-out at tutorials, with over 50% of students attending extra sessions. In another innovation used to show the daily relevance of virology, students present media reports about viruses. To foster independent research, students are encouraged to develop their own essay topic and have opportunity in the exam to write answers to questions of their own choosing, such as about viruses, or areas of virology, not covered in the lecture material. Measures of learning outcome show the topic is highly successful. For example, in 2011, the week 1 initial knowledge test, on general concepts in virology, returned an average mark of 29% which rose to 92% on repeating the quiz in week 13. The proportion of students gaining Distinction or High Distinction grades (e.g. 41% in 2010) is high. Measures of student satisfaction also show overwhelmingly positive views towards the topic. For example, the mean of all Student Evaluation of Teaching scores in 2009 was 6.74 out of a possible 7, and the lowest score, 6.51. Enrolments, 20 in 2007, rising to 172 in 2011, increased by 860% in 4 years showing a widespread interest in the field of study and in the course in particular

Are the benefits of clickers due to the enforcement of good pedagogy?

Milperra NS

STEM women branching out: A community initiative at flinders

Background: Women are currently under-represented in all areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). In 2011, only 33% of all tertiary qualifications were awarded to Australian women in STEM fields (Roberts et.al, 2014) The notion that men are more dominant in the field of STEM than women and that STEM women are outside the norm in all their social encounters with their peers remains a common belief (Solomon et.al, 1997). Longstanding stereotypes, as well as a shortage of visible role models, may be contributing factors to this belief. Compared to men, women are less likely to have role models and therefore get limited advice on navigating career development (Macfarlane et.al 1998; Rosser 2004). Objectives: We aim to help change the stereotype that STEM is predominately for males and that there are very successful females amongst our community. Method: In August 2015, we initiated a group for young women studying STEM at Flinders University called STEM: Women Branching Out, to support and encourage female students within STEM disciplines, and to provide role models to help motivate young females to stay within their choice of STEM study. We also wanted to increase the visibility and authority of women in science which is a key element in attracting young women to science. Results: We developed an online LMS site and program that has grown from 16 students in the first role-model workshop (August 2015) to 302 within 9 months (June 2016). The students were engaged through activities like LOGO competition, Role-Model workshops, Leadership Laboratory, and Thinker in Residence series. Our commencing undergrad female STEM enrolments have grown by 11% from 2015-2016. Conclusions: In this paper, we sought to describe the usefulness and need of this type of initiatives by describing unique initiatives aimed at post graduate, undergraduate and high school gives and to provide outcomes we have achieved so far