This week our "Guest Blogger" is David L. Pearson, PhD, Researcher Professor and Senior Lecturer for the School of Life Sciences. Dr. Pearson's research is focused on using the interaction of ecology,
conservation, ecotourism and education to develop methods that promote
sustainable use of biodiversity. He shares an active learning technique from his class that helped students create value for the content.
Bio 100 tries to make biology pertinent to non-majors. We do this by introducing current and often controversial topics in the Active Learning Class that distill video lecture and online labs into an applied situation. Getting them to discuss and appreciate biology in terms of “What is beauty?”, “Are you medically illiterate?”, “To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?” and “Are we all really experts on sex?” was not a problem. But when it came to diffusion and osmosis, the students just couldn’t make a connection of why these ungainly mechanisms should have any importance for them and their lives.
To resolve this impasse, I proposed a contest during the last 10 minutes of class. We divided the class into small groups of six, and then presented them with a question to research. The first group of students who developed a cogent answer, wrote it succinctly in their own words on the white board, and could then explain it well to the rest of the class, would win two bonus points on the next lecture exam. Using Google Scholar, Bing, their text book or whatever resource was available to them online in class, the students quickly and enthusiastically pursued answers to the question “What effect does osmosis have on diabetics?”
All the groups came to understand and remember that osmosis is the primary cause of two major symptoms of diabetes – extreme thirst and frequent urination, and why. They also better appreciated that even non-majors are well-served by this knowledge.
Do you have an activity that you do in class to help students see the value of a specific topic you teach? Please feel free to share it in the “Comments” section below.
For more information about Active Learning, please check out these resources:
 |
| David L. Pearson, PhD |
Bio 100 tries to make biology pertinent to non-majors. We do this by introducing current and often controversial topics in the Active Learning Class that distill video lecture and online labs into an applied situation. Getting them to discuss and appreciate biology in terms of “What is beauty?”, “Are you medically illiterate?”, “To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?” and “Are we all really experts on sex?” was not a problem. But when it came to diffusion and osmosis, the students just couldn’t make a connection of why these ungainly mechanisms should have any importance for them and their lives.
To resolve this impasse, I proposed a contest during the last 10 minutes of class. We divided the class into small groups of six, and then presented them with a question to research. The first group of students who developed a cogent answer, wrote it succinctly in their own words on the white board, and could then explain it well to the rest of the class, would win two bonus points on the next lecture exam. Using Google Scholar, Bing, their text book or whatever resource was available to them online in class, the students quickly and enthusiastically pursued answers to the question “What effect does osmosis have on diabetics?”
All the groups came to understand and remember that osmosis is the primary cause of two major symptoms of diabetes – extreme thirst and frequent urination, and why. They also better appreciated that even non-majors are well-served by this knowledge.
Do you have an activity that you do in class to help students see the value of a specific topic you teach? Please feel free to share it in the “Comments” section below.
For more information about Active Learning, please check out these resources:
- Engaging “Gen Z” first year college students
- Center for Teaching and Learning at the Univ. of Minnesota
Comments
Post a Comment