Of Mice and Meth

Abstract

This article describes an innovative neuropsychopharmacology laboratory that can be incorporated into any research methods class. The lab consists of a set of interconnected modules centered on observations of methamphetamine-induced behavioral changes in mice and is designed to provide students with an opportunity to acquire basic skills necessary for conducting research. To assess the practical utility of this new laboratory, an empirical study was conducted to determine whether different formats of the lab produce similar learning gains. The results suggest that both the live and the media-based variations of this lab are similarly effective. Thus, to facilitate the adoption of the lab, especially in its media-based format, all necessary materials are made available on a dedicated website.

Measuring and Advancing Experimental Design Ability in an Introductory Course without Altering Existing Lab Curriculum

“…The overlay of a semester-long experience, therefore, provides a viable alternative to more drastic changes to existing lab curriculum. An alternative option to in-class activities is the use of online research resources, which require little to no in-lab preparation and still provide the inquiry-based research experience with assessed higher-order thinking increases (9, 10). Anecdotally, we observed that this overlay design provides learning opportunities for written and oral communication development and problem solving.…”

“…Furthermore, online resources for other fields such as genetic studies make this overlay design a viable option for institutions with limited resources or large numbers of students. The documented effectiveness of using online resources for data collection does not preclude the creativity of student experimental design and has a significant effect on learning gains similar to live data collection (10). Our hope is that others will adopt this effective model for their specific setting to increase students’ experimental design abilities.…”

“…Previously, we used a self-reported assessment, Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG), to demonstrate higher-order learning after students completed a semester-long research experience in an introductory biology course for majors (9) and in an upper division neuroscience course (10). However, the subjective nature of this evaluation led us to find a more objective assessment technique.…”

Reviewing affective, behavioural and cognitive learning gains in higher education

“…In order to address RQ2, we first will unpack 28 studies using self-reported measures (51 independent samples, n = 19,509), after which we will unpack 22 studies using objective measures (39 student samples, n = 18,024). Of the 28 self-reported studies, thirty-five samples were assessed using cross-sectional design (e.g., Douglass, Thomson, & Zhao, 2012;Matthews et al, 2015), sixteen samples were assessed in pre-post test design (e.g., Hatch et al, 2014;Stolk & Martello, 2015), out of which eight samples were assessed using both standardised tests and self-reported measures and both pre-post testing and cross-sectional design (e.g., Mathabathe & Potgieter, 2014;Mortensen & Nicholson, 2015).…”

“…Cognitive learning gains were measured in 22 studies (e.g., Seymour, Daffinrud, Wiese, & Hunter, 2000;Ojennus, 2016), comprising 39 student samples, totalling 18,024 higher education students. Pre-post testing was used in four studies (Wattiaux and Crump 2006;Lim, Hosack, and Vogt 2012;Hatch et al 2014;Stolk and Martello 2015;), and two studies used a form of pre-post testing through reflection (Douglass, Thomson, and Zhao 2012;Nagel et al 2012) all totalling to seven student samples. Only in one sample (Stolk and Martello 2015) did students report lower cognitive ability at the post-test than at the pre-test, but the difference was not significant.…”