Evaluating student learning of experimental design using online module and experiential learning

Digital learning may be an advantageous accessory to large university classes as an accessible and multifaceted method of content delivery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate student learning using an online module given over a week and an experiential lab offered over three weeks. A short-term longitudinal comparison was performed with first and second year biology students using pre- and post-concept inventory short answer quizzes about fundamental experimental design concepts associated with an eLearning module in a first year lab and in a second year Scientific Methods lab course. Furthermore, experimental design knowledge retention rates were assessed on a short-term basis, as well as comparisons, based on demographics (gender, age, secondary school location, etc.), within a sample of 78% of second year students and 24% of first year students to provide association-based inferences on students’ understanding of experimental design. Results from the concept inventory quizzes show that experiential learning in second year students is significantly more effective than the online counterpart in the first year course (difference of 3.2 (t = 12.2, P \u3c 0.001) with 95% CI: (2.7, 3.8). Students in first year had difficulty in identifying controls and students in both years found the question on replications to be a challenge. Educators can use this information to plan experiential/digital content resources based on course outcomes, as well as to gain insight into the level of experimental design knowledge in first and second year biology students

Facilitating self-directed learning through early research experience. A synthesis of biology, innovation and education.

Laboratory research positions and NSERC scholarships at the undergraduate level are generally more available to upper year students. Hence, the Early Research Program was envisaged with the idea of providing research experience to first and second year students in the Faculty of Science. The program was designed to create open-scheduled spaces and to facilitate flexible learning module for students to collaborate with peers, graduate students and professors. This has resulted in students conducting experiments, generating interesting hypotheses and testing other novel approaches using fundamental principles of Synthetic Biology. This learning approach marks a significant shift from our traditionally more passive “cookbook” exercises that students followed during scheduled laboratory sessions. Our new experience has demonstrated that independent inquiry through stages of increased self-direction allows the students to become active learners with high levels of confidence, motivation and engagement with research

Enhancing biomass production and yield by maintaining enhanced capacity for CO2 uptake in response to elevated CO2

Using four model plants, two members of the Gramineae, rye and wheat, and two Brassicaceae, Brassica napus and Arabidopsis thaliana, two fundamental approaches were exploited to determine how regulating source-sink development would alter photosynthesis, productivity and yield during long-term acclimation to elevated CO2. In one approach we exploited the cold acclimation response of winter wheat, rye and B. napus. In the other approach we modified the dark respiration in A. thaliana to alter availability of respiratory substrates required for anabolic processes, such as fatty acid metabolism, thus reducing sink limitations on canopy photosynthesis at elevated CO2. Taken together, the data show the importance of maintaining strong demand from active sinks when the aboveground canopy is being exposed to elevated levels of the primary substrate of photosynthesis, CO2.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye