May 2014

My courses require online grade checks in week 3, 6, 9 and 12; however, low scoring students were not taking significant action to change their study habits. So I implemented in-class metacognitive/reflective activities the day after the grade checks where due (see attached document).

Final grade comparison:

JRN 201, Spring 2014, 8 completing students:

4 As, 1 B, 3 Cs, 0 failing students

Compared to

JRN 201, Fall 2013, 7 completing students:

1 A, 2 Bs, 2 Cs, 1 D, 1 F

In fall 2013, Dwain Desbien and I taught MAT221/PHY121 learning community (LC).  In spring 2014, 8 of these students went on to take MAT230 with me (calculus II).  Here is some info on the LC students as compared to the non LC students.  

A question on my BIO156/181 Unit 5 exam addresses Mendelian genetics and the inheritance of a trait from parents. The trait in question is inherited in a simple Mendelian manner (one gene with two alleles, one allele being dominant and the other allele being recessive.)   Originally the question was about hitchhiker's thumb and involved a kind of "double negative" statement, where "lack of the thumb" was dominant.  I think this wording was making it hard for students to think through the problem.

Nursing students (those enrolled in BIO156) and STEM majors (those enrolled in BIO181) are often underprepared when it comes to math skills.  In BIO156/181 one of the places where this becomes evident is with conversion of measurements between units (e.g. milimeters to micrometers etc...).  We cover the metric system in one lab, take one quiz the following week and then move on.  Many students score badly on the quiz, and never really learn from it or improve.