MCDB 1111: Biofundamentals

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MCDB 1111Biofundamentals BioLiteracy.net
A collaborative project between
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MCDB 1111Biofundamentals

• Replaces MCDB 1150 (lecture) MCDB 1151 (lab)
• with a single course using virtual laboratories

Majors/Non-majors Natural Science
Three year experiment Major revisions each
year. Typical enrollment 80 students, 0.5 TA
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MCDB 1111Biofundamentals Principles

• Bioliteracy (vocabulary fluency) is critical
  for both majors, non-majors and the broader
  society.

Basic ideas in biology are well established,
reasonably easy to grasp, although sometimes
controversial, e.g. evolution.
Current courses cover too much material, with
little feedback on student subject mastery.
Majors sequences of 5 courses is highly
redundant (and leaves critical areas uncovered).
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Observations

• Students who pass through the majors four
  required laboratory courses are still untrained
  in practical laboratory skills.

At the end of their required courses, majors
still lack of subject mastery non-majors are
likely to be even less well prepared (although
this has not been systematically tested).
Bio-illiteracy is widespread and costly
anti-vaccination, nutraceutical and medical
quackery, creation science, frivolous lawsuits as
examples
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MCDB 1111Biofundamentals History Future

• Year 1 No book, Web-notes only, virtual
  laboratories

Year 2 Interactive web-readings, student
tracking of compliance (30 of grade) / Learning
coaches IMing Multiple on-line, in class reviews
/ Two-dimensional testing
Year 3 On-line reading/feedback system generates
personal study guide for each section (20 of
grade). In class group discussion of questions
random question answering (10 of grade). BCI
assessment
Future?
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MCDB 1111Biofundamentals Eliminating real labs
are we doing the students a disservice?

• "I have always found undergrad labs to be worse
  than useless, as most make science uninteresting,
  and make most students feel inadequate. The
  real goal would be if one could incorporate a
  feeling of discovery (or attempt at discovery) by
  having students trying to figure something out
  that is not already known"
• Martin Raff,
• co-author of the "Molecular Biology of the Cell"

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MCDB 1111Biofundamentals real laboratories are

• Constrained by biological realities, time,
  personnel and resources.
• Little chance to discover how science is really
  done - failure is fatal rather than instructive.
  
• Not enough time to discover or talk through
  students misconceptions

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MCDB 1111Biofundamentals virtuallyBiology
virtuallyGenetics weblabs

• Not constrained by time or resources. No
  conceivable experiment is impossible.
• virtual TA IM system/chat rooms can facilitate
  group interchange - troubleshooting
• Failure is a viable option and success is always
  possible.
• Open ended applets allow students to explore on
  their own.

Given appropriate resources
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MCDB 1111Biofundamentals Did the students like
it?
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BiofundamentalsDoes it work?
We think so, but who knows (really)?
To find out, we are building a biology concept
inventory, along the lines of the FCI and ADT.
This project is described in detail at
bioliteracy.net (NSF EREC proposal Klymkowsky,
Garvin-Doxas, Barker Weston submitted) (Current
partial funding through Mike Zeiligs Flaguide
NSF grant)
Klymkowsky, Garvin-Doxas Zeilik, 2003.
Bioliteracy and Teaching Efficacy What
Biologists can Learn from Physicists. Cell
Biol. Ed. in press. Klymkowsky, Garvin-Doxas
Zeilik. Building a Biology Concept Inventory A
community effort to attain biological literacy
and fluency. Amer. Biol. Teacher, submitted.
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BioLiteracy.net Building a BCI
First - accumulate concept statements that cover
topics. Second - query students to identify
misconceptions and difficult concepts. Third -
build, test, verify distribute BCIs
First BCIs - introductory biology and
developmental biology (in collaboration with
Jenny Knight and Bill Wood).
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BioLiteracy.net Using the BCI

• Allows for pre- and post-instructional
  assessment of students conceptual understanding
• Allows for the objective comparisons of student
  learning before and after the implementation of
  new teaching approaches.
• Drive a rational redesign of majors/non-majors
  curriculum

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Our evolving efforts

• Use BCIs to maintain contact with reality

• Keep teaching solutions consistent with economic
  institutional realities - scaleable

• Improve teaching efficacy and redistribute
  limited resources in more productive directions.