Experiences, attitudes, and confidence of students taking an undergraduate level animal biology course Bryan T. Bares Life Sciences Program Spring 2014

University of Wyoming Life Sciences Established to provide a common series of courses to all science majors at UW Colleges of Agriculture, Health Sciences, and Arts & Sciences

Experimental Design LEARNING OUTCOME: develop testable hypotheses to answer research questions. Inquiry-based learning is a key component in UW LIFE labs Students learn best when provided with inquiry-based opportunities compared to traditional approaches (Brownell et. al. 2012)

Writing in Science LEARNING OUTCOME: become competent in written communication. Approaches to student writing in sciences varies: lab reports, critical thinking content questions

Animal Dissections LEARNING OUTCOME: acquire fundamental concepts in biology. Observations from spring 2013 Data collected in spring 2012 indicated that students at UW do not learn from animal dissections (Flaherty, unpublished data)

Methods Developed survey with LIFE faculty and staff Completed and submitted IRB proposal in January 2014 – exempt status Administered pre-survey to lab students in January 2014

Pre-survey Questions How many semesters of science classes (biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, etc.) have you taken at the college level? Does designing experiments, writing, and dissections contribute to your understanding of the field? – I am comfortable writing about science. – How would you describe past experiences with designing your own experiments? – How would you describe past experiences with dissections in biology courses? What animals have you dissected? Do dissections make labs more engaging/enjoyable? Alternative dissections?

Content Questions & Confidence 1.Arrange the following organisms in an appropriate phylogenetic tree: cockroach, clam, leech, starfish, perch, and frog. 2.Which line is typical of a: Homeotherm? Poikilotherm? Mammal? 3.Which of the following has the highest surface-area-to-volume ratio? A.A mouse B.A cat C.An elephant D.Dozens of mice huddled together in a ball the size of an elephant

Methods Summarized pre-survey data and addressed hypotheses presented here Have begun working with Shannon Albeke, WyGISC, to analyze data using Program R Administered post-survey to lab students in April 2014 – last week of labs

LIFE 2022 Students 305 students enrolled, 253 completed pre-survey (83%) 30% freshmen; 32% sophomores; 22% juniors; 16% seniors Number of semesters of college science courses – 25% taken 0-1 semesters – 37% taken 2-3 semesters – 38% taken 4 or more semesters

How would you describe your past experiences designing your own experiments?

Does writing contribute to your scientific understanding?

How would you describe your past experiences with animal dissections?

Dissection Experiences 116 students (46%) have participated in one or more forms of alternative dissections – Instructor dissection – Modeling – Virtual dissection – Picture labeling – Cadaver lab – Other (not specified) Image from Waters et. al. 2005

Content Questions and Confidence 66% of students were able to receive 3-6 out of 10 points on the pre- survey Students are coming in with good background knowledge of concepts # of Semesters Average Total Confidence Level or more18.5

Conclusions Attitudes regarding experimental design and writing are consistent despite backgrounds The majority of students find value in experimental design and writing in science Students are coming in with positive experiences and knowledge of dissections

Future Plans Post-survey data was collected last week and will be analyzed in May Information will used to improve future labs for LIFE 2022 (Animal Biology) and across the LIFE curriculum

Acknowledgements The Life Sciences Program – Mark Lyford, Brianna Wright, Amy Krist, Jamie Crait, Chris North – LIFE 2022 graduate teaching assistants – Fellow LIFE 4975 students Shannon Albeke – statistical advice