In this study, a modified CREATE methodology (www.teachcreate.org) was used to incorporate the reading, analysis and discussion of four primary research papers from the recent biological literature into BIO182. Individual and group activities were used to integrate the papers into the course; some activities were graded, some were not. Activities included concept mapping, cartooning of experimental design, paragraph summarizing, data transformation, and figure annotation. A pre-post survey instrument was used to measure the impact of the CREATE process on four areas of student learning: Understanding, Skills, Attitudes, and Integration of Learning. The surveys showed that students in classes exposed to the CREATE process made significant gains in all four areas compared to their peers in a similar but unmodified BIO182 course. This study demonstrates that integrating a modified CREATE approach into an early majors-level course can positively impact student learning in many areas. The positive gains in attitudes and confidence are important in view of the high levels of attrition seen in the early years of STEM curriculum.
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| smith-milrffinalreport.pdf | 531.62 KB |
| milrf-results-presentation.pdf | 462.51 KB |
Comments
Rachel - I assume you will be applying the CREATE pedagogy in your classroom, and I look forward to the how and why, as well as the results of implementing this new pedagogy!
I look forward to learing more about this.
This is excellent study and is something you might read in a journal article. The infusion of primary literature appears to be effective based on the survey data. It would really be interesting to see if students who used CREATE process also score higher on common class assignment as compared to another class that did not use the process. . Great work!
In reply to This is excellent study and is something you might read in by Rene Willekens
Thank you :) I should have mentioned in the intro that it was my MIL research project, so it was supported by MCLI and I received 6hrs reassign time for the Fall and Spring semesters to do the work and write up the results. The MILRF program was really helpful. I learned a lot - it was a kind of low-key experience, but looking back on it I have grown a lot in my own understanding of SOTL and in my abilities to conduct action research.
Rachel, great way to implement a new way to engage students in the learning process. Nicely designed.
WOW! This is so cool. I'd like to meet up with you to discuss this further. It may help my students and it would be something different for me to try. Where did you learn about this model? If you stated it in the attached docs and I missed it, sorry.
I love how this incorporates such a variety of instructional modalities to encompass the variety of learning styles all of our students possess. I also love the fact that this starts with students taking a structured in-depth look at relevant research! Finally, the appeal to bring confidence to your students at the start of a difficult course/unit shows empathy on your part.
We can "teach" the idea of scientific literacy, but often students continue to walk away from the lesson thinking that science publications are a blackbox of information. Using primary literature to teach important scientific concepts makes the lesson real AND reveals the "secrets" of research and publishing scientific findings.
I like the pre/post measurement to assess if this worked. Thanks for sharing!