The Western Conference on Science Education

Design, development and evaluation of first year biology open online tutorials

FNB 2210

Online resources can be helpful for students, and augment the learning environments’ content. They may also increase freedom of choice relating to content delivery. A team consisting of four biologists, a graduate student, instructional designer and media developers collaborated on the design, development and evaluation of first year biology open, online tutorials in 2016-2017. The tutorials sought to address knowledge gaps resulting in low success rates and attrition of first year students in biology. Large class sizes, such as first year biology with ~900 registrants annually, with detail-oriented, content-heavy loads, can result in low success rates and attrition. Active learning methods which encourage student engagement in course material can be effective in large classes and in introductory science classes, and we attempt to add engagement with online resources. Tutorial topics were identified by analyzing previous years’ tests, student feedback, and pedagogical research in biology. The top five topics identified as common misconceptions or troublesome concepts within the course were selected. Standard instructional design processes were used to produce high quality online tutorials. Tutorials included learning materials, videos, animations, self-assessments, reflective questions and badges to facilitate deep learning of the topics. Effectiveness of the tutorials was evaluated using a mixed-method, quasi-experimental design to compare the student learning results. A conceptual understanding pre- and post-test approach was used to assess gains in student learning. Additionally, student engagement was measured using the Classroom Survey of Student Engagement (CLASSE), an online survey, and data from learning management system. Results of the study show that the tutorials were an effective means of providing supplementary assistance to students as well as fostering a gain in students’ levels of engagement with the course. Data analysis indicates that there was a significant gain in learning over the previous year (p