1. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES?
NW Bio 2018
Curricular Changes- They’re a Scream!
Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC)
Jane Finan, Heather Henson-Ramsey, Leigh Latta, and Liz Martin.
Abstract: The challenge of a biology program that is both small and diverse is to provide a curriculum that adequately prepares all students for life-long careers in biology. This challenge necessitates both a flexible and comprehensive curriculum. In order to align our curriculum with science-based evidence on best practices for undergraduate biology education, the practices outlined in the Vision and Change document will be implemented. Program assessment revealed deficiencies in the core competencies of modeling and science and society and within the core concepts both systems and evolution. Consequently, the curriculum is being redesigned to maintain strengths and mitigate deficiencies.
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INTRODUCTION
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
A meaningful general biology curriculum adequately prepares all students for life-long careers in biology. To ensure that biology majors receive an education congruent with the rapidly advancing field of biology, faculty adopted the Vision and Change document as a model for program reform.
Program assessment revealed deficiencies in the competencies of modeling and science and society, and in the concepts of systems biology and evolution.
Current discussions amongst biology faculty have focused on:
Assessing the value of individual introductory courses;
Addressing deficiencies by requiring new courses (computational biostatistics, ecology, and an evolution capstone).
LCSC demographics:
4-year, open access with community college role;
15 biology graduates/year per year;
11 full-time biology faculty;
Graduates pursue diverse career paths: medicine, graduate school, bio-tech, and field biology.
Figure 1. Competency scores for the required biology courses in the core biology curriculum at LCSC.
METHODS
Attend NW Pulse Conference
Design competency and concept surveys modified from Vision and Change matrices.
Faculty who teach program required biology and science support course completed and submitted appropriate surveys.
Generate descriptive statistics.
Use summary statistics to guide curriculum redesign decisions.
Figure 2. Competency scores for the required chemistry and physics component of the core biology curriculum at LCSC.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES?
This work was supported NSF RCN UBE award #
Figure 3. Content scores for the required biology courses in the core biology curriculum at LCSC.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Finalize curriculum changes;
Integrate science and society competencies into the curriculum;
Student assessment of concepts by using the ETS Major Field Test;
Post-implementation faculty assessment;
Discuss strategies for assessing student competencies.