1. Background Context Intro to majors biology, cell and molecular 500 students a year I teach one semester in fall Pre-professional, secondary ed Challenge STEM retention STEM retention Students do not see why biology class relates to their lives –> no motivation until too late to recover Students do not see why biology class relates to their lives –> no motivation until too late to recover

2. Research Question Does providing popular media of biological concepts improve student outcomes in introductory majors biology? Outcomes Retention Retention Content knowledge Content knowledge Grades Grades Attitudes Attitudes Interest Interest

3. Why is it Interesting? (to anyone other than me) STEM Retention Method anecdotally works, but little hard research in biology Contemporary format/media to engage students where science meets their lives (me meeting them where they are, not the other way around) Eating, Cooking (Alton Brown), CSI mystery, Science career, Eating, Cooking (Alton Brown), CSI mystery, Science career, Human Interest/Justice, Agriculture/Plant, Animal

4. Research Design 6 units of material Unit 2 - Introduce pop. media to whole class (no assn.) Units 3, 4 - Random ½ gets intervention, other ½ normal, switch Quantitative Pre, Post, Embed MC (factual knowledge, comprehension, concept familiarity) Grades, decreased dropping of classQualitative Interview random 7 (?) of each half 1 page, open-ended, self-reporting paper