Assessing the Impact of Integrating Scientific Research and Education What evidence will we accept? Diane Ebert-May Michigan State University Celia Evans Paul Smith’s College

Anonymous (Change Magazine, 2001): “I believe we would all agree that the absolute best teaching learning-assessment model is the one-on-one Socratic apprenticeship model with unlimited time with the student. But ever since Socrates took on two students rather than only one (to double his income), teachers have had to make compromises in teaching.”

Please respond on a scale if 0-100 Question 1 Please respond on a scale if 0-100 in increments of 10: How important is it to use multiple kinds of data to assess student learning?

How important is it to use multiple forms of data to assess student learning? % Relative Importance n=127

Please respond on a scale of 0 - 100 Question 2 Please respond on a scale of 0 - 100 in increments of 10: How often do you use data to make instructional decisions?

How often do you use data to make instructional decisions? % Frequency n=127

True or False? Assessing student learning in science parallels what scientists do as researchers.

Parallel: ask questions Description: -What is happening? Cause: -Does ‘x’ (teaching strategy) affect ‘y’ (understanding)? Process or mechanism: -Why or how does ‘x’ cause ‘y’?

Parallel: collect data We collect data to find out what our students know. Data helps us understand student thinking about concepts and content. We use data to guide decisions about course/curriculum/innovative instruction

Parallel: analyze data Quantitative data - statistical analysis Qualitative data break into manageable units and define coding categories search for patterns, quantify interpret and synthesize Valid and repeatable measures

Parallel: peer review Ideas and results are peer reviewed - formally and/or informally.

Data collection with the purpose of answering questions about… What is assessment? Data collection with the purpose of answering questions about… students’ understanding students’ attitudes students’ skills instructional design and implementation curricular reform (at multiple grainsizes)

Improve student learning and development. Why do assessment? Improve student learning and development. Provides students substantive feedback about their understanding. Challenge to use disciplinary research strategies to assess learning.

Research Methods

Data collection approaches

Assessment Gradient low Potential for Assessment of Learning high Multiple Choice … … Concept Maps … … Essay … … Interview high Ease of Assessment low Theoretical Framework • Ausubel 1968; meaningful learning • Novak 1998; visual representations • King and Kitchner 1994; reflective judgment • National Research Council 1999; theoretical frameworks for assessment

Pre-Posttest Analysis Does active, inquiry-based instructional design influence students’ understanding of evolution and natural selection?

Alternative Conceptions: Natural Selection ■ Changes in a population occur through a gradual change in individual members of a population. ■ New traits in species are developed in response to need. ■ All members of a population are genetically equivalent, variation and fitness are not considered. ■ Traits acquired during an individual’s lifetime will be inherited by offspring.

Cooperative groups in class: Instructional Design Cooperative groups in class: Guppy Problem: sexual vs. natural selection -PBS film -Simulation -Analyze data -Written explanation

Explain the changes that occurred in the tree and animal Explain the changes that occurred in the tree and animal. Use your current understanding of evolution by natural selection. (AAAS 1999)

Misconception: individuals evolve new traits % of Students

Misconception: evolution is driven by need % of Students

In guppy populations, what are the primary changes that occur gradually over time? The traits of each individual guppy within a population gradually change. The proportions of guppies having different traits within a population change. Successful behaviors learned by certain guppies are passed on to offspring. Mutations occur to meet the needs of the guppies as the environment changes. Anderson et al 2002

Posttest: Student responses to mc * % of Students

Animal/Tree Posttest: Gain in student understanding of fitness % of Students

Quantitative Data Qualitative Data Design Experiment Bioscience 2003

Question How do assessment questions help us determine students’ prior understanding and progressive thinking about the carbon cycle.

Instructional Design Two class meetings on carbon cycle (160 minutes) Active, inquiry-based learning Cooperative groups Questions, group processing, large lecture sections, small discussion sections, multi-week laboratory investigation Homework problems including web-based modules Different faculty for each course One graduate/8-10 undergraduate TAs per course

Experimental Design Two introductory courses for majors: Bio 1 - organismal/population biology (faculty A) Bio 2 - cell and molecular biology (faculty B) Three cohorts: Cohort 1 Bio 1 (n=141) Cohort 2 Bio1/Bio2 (n=63) Cohort 3 Other/Bio2 (n=40)

Assessment Design Multiple iterations/versions of the carbon cycle problem Pretest, midterm, final with additional formative assessments during class Administered during instruction Semester 1 - pretest, midterm, final exam Semester 2 - final exam

Grandma Johnson Problem Hypothetical scenario: Grandma Johnson had very sentimental feelings toward Johnson Canyon, Utah, where she and her late husband had honeymooned long ago. Her feelings toward this spot were such that upon her death she requested to be buried under a creosote bush overlooking the canyon. Trace the path of a carbon atom from Grandma Johnson’s remains to where it could become part of a coyote. NOTE: the coyote will not dig up Grandma Johnson and consume any of her remains.

Analysis of Responses Used same scoring rubric (coding scheme) for all three problems - calibrated by adding additional criteria when necessary, rescoring: Examined two major concepts: Concept 1: Decomposers respire CO2 Concept 2: Plants uptake of CO2 Explanations categorized into two groups: Organisms (trophic levels) Processes (metabolic)

Coding Scheme

Cellular Respiration by Decomposers Correct Student Responses (%) Bio1/Bio2 Other/Bio2 Freidmans, p<0.01

Pathway of Carbon in Photosynthesis Correct Student Responses (%) Bio1/Bio2 Other/Bio2 Freidmans, p<0.05

Is Graduate Education Similar? Often excellent at preparing individuals to design and carry out disciplinary research. Often inadequate and haphazard in preparing future faculty/professionals to take on the increasingly complex demands of the professoriate. Teaching is not mentored, peer reviewed, or based on accumulated knowledge.

Instructional Research and Development teams (IRDs) Who: senior faculty, junior faculty, postdoctoral and graduate students - intergenerational teams. What: scholarship of science teaching and learning is fully integrated into the professional culture along with discipline- based activities. Assessment is critical to both practices.

IRD Team at MSU Janet Batzli - Plant Biology [U of Wisconsin] Doug Luckie - Physiology Scott Harrison - Microbiology (grad student) Tammy Long - Plant Biology Jim Smith - Zoology Deb Linton - Plant Biology (postdoc) Heejun Lim - Chemistry Education Duncan Sibley - Geology *National Science Foundation

What evidence will we accept? What is the question? What research and instructional designs? What data collection methods? How to analyze and interpret data? Are findings valid and generalizable? What are the next questions? WHO? What evidence will we accept?