Effects of Instructional Model on Student Attitude in an Introductory Biology Laboratory

This study assessed student attitude towards reformed laboratories featuring a factorial design of inquiry (IN) and explicit / reflective (ER) pedagogy to foster nature of science understanding. Students in thirty-one lab sections responded to pre and post semester assessments of their confidence, perception of usefulness, and effectance motivation toward the laboratories. Relative change in attitude (RCA) was not significantly different (p\u3e0.05) among the treatments or their interaction for confidence, usefulness, or effectance motivation. Student self-reports (n = 137) of factors that affected their attitude suggested that grades and TAs played a larger role in determining student attitude than the laboratory treatments. This hints at the complex interactions that impact student attitude, and which should be considered when implementing course reforms

A conceptual framework for graduate teaching assistant professional development evaluation and research

© 2016 T. D. Reeves et al. Biology graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are significant contributors to the educational mission of universities, particularly in introductory courses, yet there is a lack of empirical data on how to best prepare them for their teaching roles. This essay proposes a conceptual framework for biology GTA teaching professional development (TPD) program evaluation and research with three overarching variable categories for consideration: outcome variables, contextual variables, and moderating variables. The framework’s outcome variables go beyond GTA satisfaction and instead position GTA cognition, GTA teaching practice, and undergraduate learning outcomes as the foci of GTA TPD evaluation and research. For each GTA TPD outcome variable, key evaluation questions and example assessment instruments are introduced to demonstrate how the framework can be used to guide GTA TPD evaluation and research plans. A common conceptual framework is also essential to coordinating the collection and synthesis of empirical data on GTA TPD nationally. Thus, the proposed conceptual framework serves as both a guide for conducting GTA TPD evaluation at single institutions and as a means to coordinate research across institutions at a national level

The Effect of Instructor Title on Student Instructional Expectations

This study investigated undergraduate pre-semester instructional expectations of two types of introductory biology course instructors based on four titles (faculty member [FM], graduate teaching assistant [GTA], lecture instructor, laboratory instructor). Data were collected via an online survey administered before students had met their instructors. All students enrolled in first-semester non-majors and majors introductory biology were invited to participate, and 199 students completed the survey. Results identified different instructional expectations for instructors based on the four titles. Significantly, students anticipated differences between FMs and lecture instructors, and GTAs and lab instructors, despite these being the same individual. These results suggest that instructors can enhance student instructional expectations and associated perceptions of learning through the use of particular titles

The Ph.D. Panic: Examining the Relationships Among Teaching Anxiety, Teaching Self-Efficacy, And Coping in Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs)

Anxiety among graduate students in the United States has increased over the last several decades, affecting not only their overall mental health but also reducing retention in graduate programs. High teaching anxiety can negatively impact teacher well-being and student learning, yet teaching anxiety in graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) is not well studied. Biology GTAs teach most introductory Biology labs and discussions nationally, thus broadly influencing the quality of undergraduate education. We investigated Biology GTA teaching anxiety at a large research-intensive university by (1) measuring teaching anxiety of Biology GTAs, and (2) exploring the relationships between teaching anxiety, self-efficacy, and coping. Using correlation plots and multiple linear regressions, we found that greater teaching self-efficacy was related to lower teaching anxiety in Biology GTAs (R2adj=0.65, p<0.001), and coping was positively correlated to self-efficacy. These results suggest that teaching self-efficacy is important to reducing teaching anxiety, and coping frequency may help to build self-efficacy. Thus, effective coping may be linked to reduced anxiety via increases in self-efficacy, although these specific relationships need to be further explored. Although anxiety did not differ significantly among graduate students in our population, reduced anxiety was linked to direct increases in self-efficacy and indirect increases in coping. With a rising mental health crisis in academia, particularly among graduate students, these results can inform teaching professional development for GTAs, by incorporating dialogue about teaching anxiety, self-efficacy, and coping. Encouraging greater awareness and discussion about mental health issues in academia, we can further reduce its stigma and mitigate its impacts

How do undergraduates cope with anxiety resulting from active learning practices in introductory biology?

Active learning pedagogies decrease failure rates in undergraduate introductory biology courses, but these practices also cause anxiety for some students. Classroom anxiety can impact student learning and has been associated with decreased student retention in the major, but little is known about how students cope with anxiety caused by active learning practices. In this study, we investigated student coping strategies for various types of active learning (clickers, volunteering to answer a question, cold calling, and group work) that were used in 13 introductory Biology courses at a large public university in 2016-2017. A survey asked students to rate their anxiety regarding the four active learning practices and over half of the students explained the coping strategies they used to manage their active learning anxieties. Coping responses from 880 students were sorted into pre-defined categories of coping strategies: problem solving, information seeking, self-reliance, support seeking, accommodation, helplessness, escape, delegation, and isolation. We found that a different category of coping was dominant for each type of active learning. The dominant coping strategies for anxiety associated with clickers, cold calling, and group work were adaptive coping strategies of information seeking, self-reliance, and support-seeking, respectively. The dominant coping strategy for volunteering to answer a question was escape, which is a maladaptive strategy. This study provides a detailed exploration of student self-reported coping in response to active learning practices and suggests several areas that could be foci for future psychosocial interventions to bolster student regulation of their emotions in response to these new classroom practices

Student anxiety in introductory biology classrooms: Perceptions about active learning and persistence in the major - Fig 5

<p><b>General class anxiety compared among self-reported letter grade (A) and intention to persist in the biology major (B).</b> (A) mean general class anxiety scores on final survey based on self-reported letter grade in class. Students who indicated they were receiving a C, D, or F reported significantly higher anxiety than those who reported earning an A or B (p < 0.001). Cohen’s f = 0.43, indicating a large effect size. (B) Mean general class anxiety scores on final survey comparing students who indicated they were leaving the Biology major versus those who were continuing (p = 0.017). Hedges’ g = 0.50, indicating a medium effect size. Data are mean anxiety ± standard error of the mean (SEM).</p

Number of students (out of 12) who chose particular cards representing classroom practices that caused them anxiety, along with themes and representative quotes about why that practice caused them anxiety.

<p>Number of students (out of 12) who chose particular cards representing classroom practices that caused them anxiety, along with themes and representative quotes about why that practice caused them anxiety.</p

Demographics of students who completed interviews.

<p>Demographics of students who completed interviews.</p

Demographics of students who completed the survey.

<p>Demographics of students who completed the survey.</p

Average student anxiety for each of the five active learning practices.

<p>Cold calling caused significantly higher anxiety than completing worksheets, working in groups, or using clickers, but not higher than volunteering to answer (p < 0.001). Cohen’s f was 0.23, indicating a medium effect size. The Likert scale is 1–5, with 1 being not anxious at all, and 5 being very anxious. Data are mean anxiety ± standard error of the mean (SEM).</p