First-Year and Non-First-Year Student Expectations Regarding In-Class and Out-of-Class Learning Activities in Introductory Biology 
†

Tanya L. Brown; Kathleen R. Brazeal; Brian A. Couch

doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

First-Year and Non-First-Year Student Expectations Regarding In-Class and Out-of-Class Learning Activities in Introductory Biology †

Authors:

Tanya L. Brown¹, Kathleen R. Brazeal², Brian A. Couch^2,*

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Affiliations: 1: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045; 2: School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588

AUTHOR AND ARTICLE INFORMATION AUTHOR AND ARTICLE INFORMATION

Received 12 September 2016 Accepted 25 January 2017 Published 21 April 2017
©2017 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
†Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
*Corresponding author. Mailing address: 204 Manter | Lincoln, NE 68588-0118. Phone: 402-472-8130. Fax: 402-472-2083. E-mail: [email protected].

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. April 2017 vol. 18 no. 1 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

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Abstract:

National calls for teaching transformation build on a constructivist learning theory and propose that students learn by actively engaging in course activities and interacting with other students. While interactive pedagogies can improve learning, they also have the potential to challenge traditional norms regarding class participation and learning strategies. To better understand the potential openness of students to interactive teaching practices, we administered a survey during the first week of two sections of an introductory biology course to characterize how students envisioned spending time during class as well as what activities they expected to complete outside of class during non-exam weeks and in preparation for exams. Additionally, we sought to test the hypothesis that the expectations of first-year students differed from those of non-first-year students. Analyses of closed-ended and open-ended questions revealed that students held a wide range of expectations and that most students expressed expectations consistent with some degree of transformed teaching. Furthermore, first-year students expected more active learning in class, more out-of-class coursework during non-exam weeks, and more social learning strategies than non-first-year students. We discuss how instructor awareness of incoming student expectations might be used to promote success in introductory science courses.

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Supplemental Material

Appendix 1: Complete list of survey questions
- MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
  PDF
  206.04 Kb
Appendix 2: Description of criteria for demographic variables
- MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
  PDF
  206.04 Kb
Appendix 3: Accounting for model assumptions
- MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
  PDF
  206.04 Kb
Appendix 4: Results of general linear models predicting student expectations about time spent on in-class and out-of-class activities
- MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
  PDF
  206.04 Kb
Appendix 5: Summarized results of general linear models predicting student exam and course grades
- MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
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  206.04 Kb

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Author and Article Information

Received 12 September 2016 Accepted 25 January 2017 Published 21 April 2017
©2017 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
†Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
*Corresponding author. Mailing address: 204 Manter | Lincoln, NE 68588-0118. Phone: 402-472-8130. Fax: 402-472-2083. E-mail: [email protected].

Figures

First-Year and Non-First-Year Student Expectations Regarding In-Class and Out-of-Class Learning Activities in Introductory Biology †

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Citation: Brown T, Brazeal K, Couch B. 2017. First-year and non-first-year student expectations regarding in-class and out-of-class learning activities in introductory biology † . J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. 18(1): doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241.f1-jmbe-18-7

FIGURE 1

Student expectations regarding the percentage of class time they expect to spend completing activities and working in small groups or listening to lecture and taking notes. Student responses to both questions were required to total 100%. Response distributions are shown for first-year and non-first-year students. Central bars represent medians, boxes represent inner quartiles, and whiskers represent the 5th and 95th percentiles. General linear model, ***p < 0.001, see Appendix 4 .

jmbe/18/1/jmbe-18-7f1_thmb.gif

jmbe/18/1/jmbe-18-7f1.gif

FIGURE 1

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. April 2017 vol. 18 no. 1 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241.f2-jmbe-18-7

FIGURE 2

Open-ended student perceptions regarding the best use of class time. Bars represent the percentage of first-year and non-first-year students who indicated each category at least once in their response. Fisher’s exact test, *p < 0.05.

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FIGURE 2

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. April 2017 vol. 18 no. 1 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241.f3-jmbe-18-7

FIGURE 3

Student expectations regarding the amount of time they expect to spend on required and non-required work outside of class time. Response distributions are shown for first-year and non-first-year students. Central bars represent medians, boxes represent inner quartiles, and whiskers represent the 5th and 95th percentiles. General linear models, *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, see Appendix 4 .

jmbe/18/1/jmbe-18-7f3_thmb.gif

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FIGURE 3

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. April 2017 vol. 18 no. 1 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

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FIGURE 4

Open-ended student expectations regarding out-of-class activities during non-exam weeks. Bars represent the percentage of first-year and non-first-year students who indicated each category at least once in their response. Fisher’s exact test, *p < 0.05.

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FIGURE 4

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. April 2017 vol. 18 no. 1 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241.f5-jmbe-18-7

FIGURE 5

Student expectations regarding the amount of time they expect to spend preparing for exams. Response distributions are shown for first-year and non-first-year students. Central bars represent medians, boxes represent inner quartiles, and whiskers represent the 5th and 95th percentiles. General linear model, *p < 0.05, see Appendix 4 .

jmbe/18/1/jmbe-18-7f5_thmb.gif

jmbe/18/1/jmbe-18-7f5.gif

FIGURE 5

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. April 2017 vol. 18 no. 1 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

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FIGURE 6

Open-ended student expectations regarding exam preparation. Bars represent the percentage of first-year and non-first-year students who indicated each category at least once in their response. Fisher’s exact test, *p < 0.05.

jmbe/18/1/jmbe-18-7f6_thmb.gif

jmbe/18/1/jmbe-18-7f6.gif

FIGURE 6

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. April 2017 vol. 18 no. 1 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1241

First-Year and Non-First-Year Student Expectations Regarding In-Class and Out-of-Class Learning Activities in Introductory Biology †

Key Concept Ranking

References & Citations

Supplemental Material

Appendix 1: Complete list of survey questions

Appendix 2: Description of criteria for demographic variables

Appendix 3: Accounting for model assumptions

Appendix 4: Results of general linear models predicting student expectations about time spent on in-class and out-of-class activities

Appendix 5: Summarized results of general linear models predicting student exam and course grades

Author and Article Information

Figures

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