It’s in the Syllabus: What Syllabi Tell us about Introductory Biology Courses

Heil, Austin; Olaniran, Joshua; Gormally, Cara; Brickman, Marguerite (Peggy)

doi:10.1187/cbe.23-05-0081

LSE

2024

DOI: 10.1187/cbe.23-05-0081

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It’s in the Syllabus: What Syllabi Tell us about Introductory Biology Courses

Austin Heil,

Joshua Olaniran,

Cara Gormally

et al.

Abstract: Researchers characterized the landscape of student learning expectations for introductory biology using course level learning objectives ( N = 1,108) and course schedules ( N = 203) from non-major, mixed major, and major introductory biology syllabi.

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Nationally endorsed learning objectives to improve course design in introductory biology

Hennessey,

Freeman

2023

Preprint

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Introductory biology for majors is one of the most consequential courses in STEM, with annual enrollments of several hundred thousand students in the United States alone. To support increased student success and meet current and projected needs for qualified STEM professionals, it will be crucial to redesign majors biology by using explicit learning objectives (LOs) that can be aligned with assessments and active learning exercises. When a course is designed in this way, students have opportunities for the practice and support they need to learn, and instructors can collect the evidence they need to evaluate whether students have mastered key concepts and skills. Following an iterative process of review, revision, and evaluation, which included input from over 800 biology instructors around the country, we produced a nationally endorsed set of lesson-level LOs for a year-long introductory biology for majors course. These LOs are granular enough to support individual class sessions and provide instructors with a framework for course design that is directly connected to the broad themes inVision and Changeand the general statements in the BioCore and BioSkills Guides. Instructors can implement backward course design by aligning these community endorsed LOs with daily and weekly learning activities and with formative and summative assessments.

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Nationally endorsed learning objectives to improve course design in introductory biology

Hennessey,

Freeman

2023

Preprint

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It’s in the Syllabus: What Syllabi Tell us about Introductory Biology Courses

Abstract: Researchers characterized the landscape of student learning expectations for introductory biology using course level learning objectives ( N = 1,108) and course schedules ( N = 203) from non-major, mixed major, and major introductory biology syllabi.

Cited by 1 publication

References 16 publications

Nationally endorsed learning objectives to improve course design in introductory biology

Nationally endorsed learning objectives to improve course design in introductory biology

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