Proposal Title
Insights and contradictions from student surveys in a 1st year biology lab course
Session Type
Digital Poster
Room
University College, 1110
Start Date
4-7-2019 3:00 PM
Keywords
biology, student survey, workload, first-year experience, laboratory
Abstract
We implemented several active learning strategies in a first-year laboratory biology course across a 4 year period and assessed effectiveness and student satisfaction. These changes included self-inquiry for experiments, interactive discussions in class, guided videos, group work, and field work. Through quantitative and open-ended survey questions, we assessed students’ overall satisfaction, student workload, and how student learning could further be supported. We analyzed online course surveys and focus groups from students in a 100 level biology laboratory course across 7 semesters from September 2015 through to April 2018. Field work and hands-on experiments were rated as the most liked activities across all semesters. Results indicate that students viewed statistics, data analysis, and writing as most useful in future studies, but these were also described as activities that students liked least overall and wanted more learning support on. Results also showed that both current students in 2015-2018 and alumni of the course have a strong perception that the course workload is too high for a 2-credit course. In contrast, self-reported mean hours worked per week outside of class was 3.5 hours, and 92% of all students reported spending less than 6 hours per week outside of class on this course. There is a clear disconnect between student workload perception and actual workload that merits further investigation. Applications across other disciplines include methods of standardization and analysis of open-ended survey questions in a large enrollment course and exploration of workload perception verses actual workload.
Elements of Engagement
- Ask conference participants how they perceive and quantify their own workload to start a discussion on differences in perception vs. reality in student workload.
- Ask conference participants what factors influence their perception of workload—pace, content, time of day, other?
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Insights and contradictions from student surveys in a 1st year biology lab course
University College, 1110
We implemented several active learning strategies in a first-year laboratory biology course across a 4 year period and assessed effectiveness and student satisfaction. These changes included self-inquiry for experiments, interactive discussions in class, guided videos, group work, and field work. Through quantitative and open-ended survey questions, we assessed students’ overall satisfaction, student workload, and how student learning could further be supported. We analyzed online course surveys and focus groups from students in a 100 level biology laboratory course across 7 semesters from September 2015 through to April 2018. Field work and hands-on experiments were rated as the most liked activities across all semesters. Results indicate that students viewed statistics, data analysis, and writing as most useful in future studies, but these were also described as activities that students liked least overall and wanted more learning support on. Results also showed that both current students in 2015-2018 and alumni of the course have a strong perception that the course workload is too high for a 2-credit course. In contrast, self-reported mean hours worked per week outside of class was 3.5 hours, and 92% of all students reported spending less than 6 hours per week outside of class on this course. There is a clear disconnect between student workload perception and actual workload that merits further investigation. Applications across other disciplines include methods of standardization and analysis of open-ended survey questions in a large enrollment course and exploration of workload perception verses actual workload.