Assessment of a novel group‐centered testing schema in an upper‐level undergraduate molecular biotechnology course

Providing students with assignments that focus on critical thinking is an important part of their scientific and intellectual development. However, as class sizes increase, so does the grading burden, prohibiting many faculty from incorporating critical thinking assignments in the classroom. In an e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochemistry and molecular biology education 2013-07, Vol.41 (4), p.232-241
Main Authors: Srougi, Melissa C., Miller, Heather B., Witherow, D. Scott, Carson, Susan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biotechnology
Biotechnology - education
collaborative learning
College Science
Cooperative Learning
Critical Thinking
Curriculum
DNA
Educational Measurement - methods
Faculty
Genetics
Group Activities
Higher education
Humans
Instructional Effectiveness
Learning
Molecular Biology
North Carolina
Problem Based Learning
Problem Solving
problem‐based testing
Science Achievement
Science education
Science Instruction
Student Surveys
Students
Teamwork
Thinking Skills
undergraduate
Undergraduate Study
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Summary:Providing students with assignments that focus on critical thinking is an important part of their scientific and intellectual development. However, as class sizes increase, so does the grading burden, prohibiting many faculty from incorporating critical thinking assignments in the classroom. In an effort to continue to provide our students with meaningful critical thinking exercises, we implemented a novel group‐centered, problem‐based testing scheme. We wanted to assess how performing critical thinking problem sets as group work compares to performing the sets as individual work, in terms of student attitudes and learning outcomes. During two semesters of our recombinant DNA course, students had the same lecture material and similar assessments. In the Fall semester, student learning was assessed by two collaborative take‐home exams, followed immediately by individual, closed‐book in‐class exams on the same content, as well as a final cumulative exam. Student teams on the take‐home exams were instructor‐assigned, and each team turned in one collaborative exam. In the Spring semester, the control group of students were required to turn in their own individual take‐home exams, followed by the in‐class exams and final cumulative exam. For the majority of students, learning outcomes were met, regardless of whether they worked in teams. In addition, collaborative learning was favorably received by students and grading was reduced for instructors. These data suggest that group‐centered, problem‐based learning is a useful model for achievement of student learning outcomes in courses where it would be infeasible to provide feedback on individual critical thinking assignments due to grading volume. © 2013 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 41(4):232–241, 2013
ISSN:1470-8175
1539-3429
DOI:10.1002/bmb.20701