1. My Research Project Jeff LaMack Milwaukee School of Engineering 2010-2011 Biology Scholars

2. Context I teach undergrad courses in Intro Cell Biology (mostly nursing & biomedical engineering freshmen) and Physiology (BME juniors), approx. 20-30 students/class Certain students seem to expect and respond to higher levels of “handholding” – want to be told very specifically what they will be tested on – Major – Maturity I generally provide learning objectives for each unit (in addition to course objectives on syllabus) – Students use and view them differently Rules for writing instructional objectives (RF Mager, 1960’s) dictate that they be very specific

3. Research Question Does learning objective density (specificity and number) affect learning, and is the effect student/demographic dependent? Can dependence on dense learning objectives be reduced during a course? Might be interesting in those teaching intro courses to freshmen to help get them out of the “regurgitation” mindset Might reveal what students do with and how they use learning objectives Why It’s Interesting What is? What’s possible?

4. Research Design/Methods 1.Survey students pre- and post-course to determine how they view and use learning objectives 2.Vary density of learning objectives provided by unit, conduct exams with Bloom level matched for all units – Compare density vs performance, look for dependence on major and maturity level, look for changes from beginning to end of course, see if performance correlates with how the students say they use the objectives 3.Follow up with questions 6 months later (in subset of students) to see if retention of knowledge depends on whether high density or low density learning objectives were provided for the topic

5. Examples of Low Density & High Density Learning Objectives Low Density 1.Describe the structure and function of the organelles of a eukaryotic cell High Density 1.Identify the contents of the nucleus and what processes take place in the nucleus 2.Explain the structures of the rough ER and smooth ER and the functions of each 3.Describe the purpose of lysosomes in a cell 4.…