Successful Application of Active Learning Techniques to Introductory Microbiology

Hoffman, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1128/jmbe.v2.58

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The comparison of student performance on the final examination indicates that team projects significantly improved the performance of the majority of students relative to the year before team projects were instituted (Table 1). Consistent with our results, several investigators found that cooperative learning approaches using small groups improved retention and final performance in different kinds of microbiology classes (5,6,19,32). However, this is not always the case.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Team-Based Learning Enhances Long-Term Retention and Critical Thinking in an Undergraduate Microbial Physiology Course

McInerney

Fink

2003

Microbiol Educ.

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We used team-based learning to improve comprehension and critical thinking of students in an undergraduate microbial metabolism-physiology course. The course used well-known bacterial pathways to highlight themes of energy conservation and biodegradation. Prior to the introduction of team-based learning, student recall of this information was poor and students had difficulty extrapolating information to new organisms. Initially, individual and group quizzes were added to promote problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. This significantly improved student attitudes about the amount of information they learned and whether the instructor promoted critical thinking. However, retention of the material as judged by final examination scores was still poor. In the next year, two challenging projects were added to the course to complement the above themes: (i) postulating a pathway for the metabolism of a substrate by a bacterium, and (ii) modifying the current model for anaerobic sulfate reduction by incorporating recent genetic information. The inclusion of the team projects significantly improved final examination scores compared to the previous year without team projects. Overall, team-based learning with challenging projects improved the students’ comprehension and retention of information, critical thinking, and attitudes about the course and focused student-instructor interactions on learning rather than grades.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Team-Based Learning Enhances Long-Term Retention and Critical Thinking in an Undergraduate Microbial Physiology Course

McInerney

Fink

2003

Microbiol Educ.

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“…For instance, researchers have shown that the use of CLGs leads students to evaluate their instructors more positively and may be associated with students engaging in such valued behaviors as completing the assigned reading and being prepared for class (e.g. Hoffman 2001;McKinney and Graham-Buxton 1993).…”

Section: Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group Quizzes: An Extension of the Collaborative Learning Process

Slusser

Erickson

2006

Teach Sociol

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Research has documented that collaborative learning groups improve student learning and increase the likelihood that students will have positive attitudes about both the subject matter and their peers. However, researchers know much less about how collaborative learning groups may influence student behavior and the extent to which their utility extends to testing as well as projects and papers. In an effort to address these gaps, we used quasi-experimental and survey data to examine the effects of collaborative testing on Introduction to Sociology students' learning, behavior, and attitudes. Findings indicate that collaborative testing improved students' behavior and attitudes. In comparison to a control group, students who participated in collaborative testing reported completing more of their assigned readings and had improved attitudes toward their learning, the testing process, and sociology.

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“…Students have been shown to perform better and work harder at courses which they find relevant and interesting (8,9). The results of this survey suggest that the construct of the current Microbiology course allows students to develop the creative and analytical skills they require, while at the same time remaining stimulating.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Development of a Microbiology Course for Diverse Majors; Longitudinal Survey of the Use of Various Active, Problem-Based Learning Assignments

Cundell

2002

Microbiol Educ.

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Educators are increasingly being encouraged to use more active- and problem-based-learning techniques and assignments in the classroom to improve critical and analytical thinking skills. Active learning-based courses have been purported to be more time consuming than traditional lecture methods and for many instructors have therefore proven difficult to include in many one-semester science courses. To address this problem, a series of assignments was developed for use in a basic microbiology course involving sophomore-, junior-, and senior-level students from five different biology majors (environmental science, biology, biochemistry, premedicine, and physician assistant). Writing assignments included global, historical, and social themes for which a standardized grading format was established. Students also participated in a class debate in which the merits of the living microbial kingdoms were discussed, with only one kingdom being saved from an imaginary global catastrophe. Traditional lectures were facilitated by the use of a dedicated note packet developed by the instructor and specific for course content. Laboratories involved group analysis of mini-case history studies involving pathogenic microbes. Students’ perceptions of the subject were assessed using an exit questionnaire sent to 100 of the 174 students who had taken the course during the 5-year time period. The majority of the 64 students who responded were sophomores (78%), in keeping with the target audience, and their perception of the course’s challenge level was significantly higher (p < 0.03, 8.7) than their junior and senior counterparts (7.9). Students rated the most useful learning tools as case history studies (9.4) and the class debate (9.1), with the introduction of a dedicated microbiology links web page to the University website representing the sole component resulting in a statistically significant increase in students’ perceptions of the importance of the course (p < 0.03).

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Successful Application of Active Learning Techniques to Introductory Microbiology

Cited by 8 publications

References 7 publications

Team-Based Learning Enhances Long-Term Retention and Critical Thinking in an Undergraduate Microbial Physiology Course

Team-Based Learning Enhances Long-Term Retention and Critical Thinking in an Undergraduate Microbial Physiology Course

Group Quizzes: An Extension of the Collaborative Learning Process

Development of a Microbiology Course for Diverse Majors; Longitudinal Survey of the Use of Various Active, Problem-Based Learning Assignments

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