Team-Based Learning in Honors Science Education: The Benefit of Complex Writing Assignments

Cooperative learning and team-based learning have been widely recognized as beneficial strategies to improve all levels of education, including higher education. The benefits have been widely researched and are now well-established (Johnson et al.; Michaelsen, Bauman Knight, et al.; Michaelsen & Sweet; Slavin; Springer et al.). The studies have indicated a positive relationship between cooperative learning and student effort, achievement, persistence, and motivation. Just forming groups, however, does not automatically lead to better learning and motivation; cooperation flourishes only under appropriate conditions (Fink; Gillies; Parmelee et al.). This potential for cooperation and learning is maximal when groups are structured in such a way that students understand what is expected of them and how they are supposed to work together (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith; Michaelsen & Sweet)

Teacher dilemmas in challenging students in higher education

Students need to be challenged to stimulate their learning. Applying challenge in practice however is not straightforward. Challenging students may conflict with other teacher responsibilities, creating potential dilemmas for teachers. This study discloses dilemmas teachers encounter when challenging students as well as the considerations accompanying their actual choices for action when coping with these dilemmas. Based on interviews with teachers, first, a dilemma analysis instrument was developed. Seven main categories of dilemmas were found. One of the main dilemmas encompassed maximizing challenge versus keeping all students on board. University students differ in their ability, confronting teachers with the feeling that choosing to serve one group could be detrimental to the learning of others. The diversity of choices and considerations brought forward by the teachers indicates that it matters who the teacher is, and what he or she stands for and is able to do

Pop-up Questions Within Educational Videos: Effects on Students’ Learning

Educational videos are increasingly used to let students prepare lesson material at home prior to in-class activities in flipped classrooms. The main challenge of this teaching strategy is to stimulate students to watch these videos attentively before going to class. This paper describes the use of questions that pop-up within relatively long educational videos of 16 min on average and designed to enhance students’ engagement and understanding when preparing for in-class activities. The effects of such pop-up questions on students’ learning performance were studied within a flipped course in molecular biology. Students had access to videos with or without a variable set of pop-up questions. The experimental group with pop-up questions showed significantly higher test results compared to the group without pop-up questions. Interestingly, students that answered pop-up questions on certain concepts did not score better on items testing these specific concepts than the control group. These results suggest that merely the presence of pop-up questions enhances students’ learning. Additional data from interviews, surveys, and learning analytics suggest that pop-up questions influence viewing behavior, likely by promoting engagement. It is concluded that pop-up questions stimulate learning when studying videos outside class through an indirect testing effect

Be Prepared! How Pre-lab Modules Affect Students’ Understanding of Gene Mapping

Lab activities are characteristic of life science education. In the current study, we investigate whether pre-lab modules can improve students’ understanding of the theories and experimental procedures associated with lab activities. Such effects were studied in context of an expository lab on gene mapping in biology undergraduate education. An experimental group of 126 students had access to an online pre-lab module to prepare for the lab activity; a control group of 90 students did not have access to this pre-lab module. The data revealed that students who studied the pre-lab module had a better understanding of the gene mapping theory, at the onset of the class, when compared with the control group. Additionally, these students appeared to ask fewer questions on what needed to be done in the lab, suggesting more awareness of the experimental procedure. Further, students who studied the online pre-lab module showed greater understanding of the theory in their lab reports. These findings suggest that students’ understanding of background theory and its relation to practice can readily be improved by enriching existing expository labs with pre-lab modules that contain information and questions on the complex conceptual information relevant to the lab experiment

Examiners' use of rubric criteria for grading bachelor theses

Students are generally required to demonstrate diverse skills when writing their bachelor thesis. Accordingly, examiners are expected to consider all these skills when assessing the thesis, regularly with one overall grade. In this study, we examine which criteria of a rubric contribute most to the overall assessment. The study is performed through quantitative analyses of 318 theses of undergraduate biology students. The analyses demonstrate that all criteria scores are predictive, but that scientific quality and professional attitude give the best prediction of thesis grade, together with structure. The predictiveness of scientific quality and professional attitude correspond with the instructions given to examiners that these are important criteria to consider. Presentation-related criteria scores on writing skills and expressing catchy and justifying titles give the lowest prediction of grade. This study identifies that some criteria appear more predictive for low grades than for high grades, with professional attitude being a good predictor for low grades and abstract being a good predictor for high grades. We recommend similar analyses for students to help them prioritise the most relevant criteria, for supervisors to instruct students on these criteria, and for education managers to evaluate whether bachelor theses are assessed on the criteria they find most relevant

Teacher dilemmas in challenging students in higher education

Students need to be challenged to stimulate their learning. Applying challenge in practice however is not straightforward. Challenging students may conflict with other teacher responsibilities, creating potential dilemmas for teachers. This study discloses dilemmas teachers encounter when challenging students as well as the considerations accompanying their actual choices for action when coping with these dilemmas. Based on interviews with teachers, first, a dilemma analysis instrument was developed. Seven main categories of dilemmas were found. One of the main dilemmas encompassed maximizing challenge versus keeping all students on board. University students differ in their ability, confronting teachers with the feeling that choosing to serve one group could be detrimental to the learning of others. The diversity of choices and considerations brought forward by the teachers indicates that it matters who the teacher is, and what he or she stands for and is able to do

Pop-up Questions Within Educational Videos: Effects on Students’ Learning

Educational videos are increasingly used to let students prepare lesson material at home prior to in-class activities in flipped classrooms. The main challenge of this teaching strategy is to stimulate students to watch these videos attentively before going to class. This paper describes the use of questions that pop-up within relatively long educational videos of 16 min on average and designed to enhance students’ engagement and understanding when preparing for in-class activities. The effects of such pop-up questions on students’ learning performance were studied within a flipped course in molecular biology. Students had access to videos with or without a variable set of pop-up questions. The experimental group with pop-up questions showed significantly higher test results compared to the group without pop-up questions. Interestingly, students that answered pop-up questions on certain concepts did not score better on items testing these specific concepts than the control group. These results suggest that merely the presence of pop-up questions enhances students’ learning. Additional data from interviews, surveys, and learning analytics suggest that pop-up questions influence viewing behavior, likely by promoting engagement. It is concluded that pop-up questions stimulate learning when studying videos outside class through an indirect testing effect

Challenging high-ability students

The existing literature on indicators of an optimal learning environment for high-ability students frequently discusses the concept of challenge. It is, however, not clear what, precisely, constitutes appropriate challenge for these students. In this study, the authors examined an undergraduate honours course, Advanced Cell Biology, which has succeeded extremely well in challenging students. Methods included interviews with teachers and students, analysis of course materials, and observation of class meetings. As part of their course, the students developed a research programme according to national scientific standards, which they did successfully, according to an external jury of experts in the field. The challenge faced by the students comprised the complexity of the task, the high expectations placed upon them, and the lack of teacher direction. The results indicate that students' perceived learning peaked in a period of over-challenge and, although students felt worried and frustrated in this period, their efforts increased. © 2012 Society for Research into Higher Education

Be Prepared! How Pre-lab Modules Affect Students’ Understanding of Gene Mapping

Lab activities are characteristic of life science education. In the current study, we investigate whether pre-lab modules can improve students’ understanding of the theories and experimental procedures associated with lab activities. Such effects were studied in context of an expository lab on gene mapping in biology undergraduate education. An experimental group of 126 students had access to an online pre-lab module to prepare for the lab activity; a control group of 90 students did not have access to this pre-lab module. The data revealed that students who studied the pre-lab module had a better understanding of the gene mapping theory, at the onset of the class, when compared with the control group. Additionally, these students appeared to ask fewer questions on what needed to be done in the lab, suggesting more awareness of the experimental procedure. Further, students who studied the online pre-lab module showed greater understanding of the theory in their lab reports. These findings suggest that students’ understanding of background theory and its relation to practice can readily be improved by enriching existing expository labs with pre-lab modules that contain information and questions on the complex conceptual information relevant to the lab experiment