Integrating evidence-based teaching practices into the Mammalogy classroom

Abstract

The teaching practices used in college science classrooms have a profound influence on which students pass their courses (and continue to major in science) and which are ‘weeded out.’ Students from traditionally marginalized backgrounds have lower grades and learning gains compared to their nonmarginalized peers in courses that rely heavily on lecture and high-stakes exams. This achievement gap narrows or disappears when instructors use student-centered, evidence-based teaching practices. These teaching practices can include actions that shape our classroom environment, communicate course material, and assess student learning. In this paper, we provide a summary of the evidence supporting the use of student-centered teaching practices, followed by examples of several effective evidence-based teaching practices that can be integrated into organismal courses. Examples include faculty mindset for inclusion, teaching practices to increase student confidence and to reduce stereotype threat, increasing course structure by spreading points among several different types of activities, several active learning methods, jigsaws, Scientist Spotlights, course-based undergraduate research experiences, and inquiry-based labs. Each example is linked to supporting resources to help instructors easily implement these practices in their classrooms. The American Society of Mammalogists endeavors to be equitable and inclusive through numerous initiatives, and modifying our teaching practices can increase equity and inclusion of future mammalogists into our own classrooms.

Teaching Mammalogy in the 21st century: advances in undergraduate education

“…Notably, the responses to the survey question about training made it clear that instructors understand the need for training in pedagogy and are seeking this professional development on their own, even if such training is not required by their institution. To this end, we have provided some suggestions and recommendations for making Mammalogy courses student-centered (Box 1; see also Patrick et al 2023). These suggestions follow directly from the results of our survey, include ideas submitted by respondents, and are specifically curated to overcome barriers to change identified in our survey.…”

“…In addition, many instructors now share activities, ideas, and materials, such that diverse resources are readily available. Many other sources and activities are reviewed by Patrick et al (2023), including online repositories of case studies like the National Center for Case Studies Teaching in Science, CourseSource (qubeshub.org), or networked CUREs with plug- and-play modules like Squirrel-Net (squirrel-net.org; Connors et al 2020), and BCEENET (Biological Collections in Ecology and Evolution Network; bceenet.org). These resources are free, ready to be implemented in new classes, and some offer to provide equipment or supplies to instructors.…”

“…Instructors are also building activities into their courses, like examining and identifying specimens, traveling to visit natural areas to observe wild mammals, and visiting museums and zoos. Indeed, examining and identifying specimens is an easy way to incorporate active learning methods and could be made even more active and inclusive by following the activity with a group discussion or having students build concept maps (Patrick et al 2023). By incorporating such activities into a course, the experiences provide a greater depth of learning while in class and are then accessible to all students, rather than a select few with extracurricular time to participate.…”

Response to Messageret al. (2022)

“…CURE networks -i.e., networks through which CURE data are collected and shared across multiple institutionsare increasingly accessible options for instructors to incorporate undergraduate research and collect ecological data within their courses (Connors et al 2021). These networks are often already developed and themselves part of studies on effective scientific teaching (Bangera and Brownell 2014; Corwin et al 2015;Buchanan and Fisher 2022;Patrick et al 2023). As such, CURE networks can support, and lower barriers for, instructors looking to collect ecological data by providing training and teaching resources, data collection protocols and equipment, and centralized databases (Connors et al 2021).…”

The Primary Healthcare Physician's Awareness and Engagement in Community-Based Medical Education: a mixed qualitative and quantitative study

“…CBME aims to empower individuals and communities to actively shape their educational experiences and outcomes [5]. This approach effectively improves student engagement, academic performance, and well-being [6].…”