Science Case Network

GAPS IN REACHING DIVERSE AUDIENCES

Aditi Pai

Networking Conference

August 6-7, 2012

RCN-UBE Project #1062049 

Q1. Who do YOU Q1. Who do YOU think of when you think of when you think of diversity think of diversity in your classroom?in your classroom?

http://www.si.edu/oeema/DivInitiatives.htm

DiversityDiversity

Race Ethnicity Gender Sexual orientation Age Religious background Cultural background

Q2. What Q2. What challenges do challenges do your students your students have in have in your/traditional your/traditional classes?classes?

Challenges faced by Challenges faced by studentsstudents

Engagement Social dynamics Presence/absence

Q3. What is done to reach diverse students in your institution? Department? Classrooms?

My quick answer to those questions…

How things How things look from look from where I am..where I am..

Diversity : What is the problem?

Diversity : What is the problem?

Who? Women of color

Challenges? Disengagement Retention

What am I/my department doing? Wait for it……

Diversity : What is the solution?

CustomizeActive learningRelevantEngaging

Customizing

http://www.psfk.com/2010/05/using-rfids-to-take-student-attendance.html

Wants to be a doctor

Wants to be a lawyer

Activelearning

real life/relevant examples

Engaging?

In short..

My favorite solution is CASE STUDY METHOD

Q4. How can we make it Q4. How can we make it work for diverse work for diverse audiences?audiences?

1. Create customized cases

2. Pick existing cases that are of special

interest to your audience

3. Adapt existing cases by tweaking them

But…Aditi you may ask me..

Q5. Does Q5. Does it work? it work?

And I know ready for the answer...

Case study method in an introductory Biology class

Three main questions: 1) Did the case study method work?

what are the students’ responses to case study activities and assignments,

2) Did the students learn Biology from this class?

what is the students’ gain in conceptual knowledge, and

3) How does CBL Intro class compare to the previous introductory biology course?

how does student perception of their learning in this class compare to the previous introductory Biology class?

Did students like case study work?1. Survey of student response to all

elements of course (instructors, textbook, exams, case studies, labs, field trip) in 2006, 2007 Score from 0-10, 0 worst, 10 best for whether

something was interesting and/or useful Overall: yes,

2006: average 7.3 ± 0.85 2007: average 8.11 ± 1.88

www2.warwick.ac.uk/.../students/edriab/teaching/

Did students gain conceptual knowledge over the semester?1. Pre-and post-class test

20 questions, very basic concepts Yes Pre- class test 52.5% and post -class test

63%

How does CBL approach compare to traditional lecture approach?

1. College administered student evaluation 22 questions on instructors, course quality and course

management Used scores of students evaluation of their

learning experience for 8 questions on college administered survey for Bio 110 (new class) and 112 (old class)

Controls: Same instructor Same year (2006) Student experience (freshmen)

Questions relating to learning experience in the survey

Bio112mean (SD)

Bio110mean (SD)

Result of t-test

The course improves my understanding of concepts and principles in this field

3.04(1.36) 4.5(0.65) T 53=19.35

P <0.005

Course activities and assignments assist with learning the course content

3.31(1.49) 4.56(0.70) T 53=13.70

P <0.005

Exams and assignments accurately reflect the course objectives

3.80(0.87) 4.39(1.40) T 53=5.17

P <0.005

The course is intellectually challenging 3.68(0.92) 4.54(0.71) T 53=17.71

P <0.005

I can apply information and skills learned in this course

3.5(0.96) 4.21(0.92) T 53=10.59

P <0.005

The course encourages me to think critically

3.86(0.83) 4.48(0.61) T 53=16.19

P <0.005

The course motivates me to do further exploration in this area

3.59(1.05) 4.24(0.54) T 53=13.88

P <0.005

I learned a great deal from this class 3.40(1.05) 4.34(0.65) T 53=17.34

P <0.005

Comparison of Bio 112 and Bio 110

Did it work?1) Did the case study method work?

YES

2) Did the students learn Biology from this class?

YES

3) How does Bio 110 compare to the previous introductory biology course?

Students liked Bio 110 better

Yes..it works! Introductory courses

Ecology, evolution, Biodiversity (Pai et al JCST 2010)

Advanced electives Evolution (Pai 2009, JET)

Capstone Wait for it..

So --what now?Q6.What the biggest opportunities for

research on case study method and MSIs?

Q7. What should the next steps be for maximizing impact of case study teaching in retention of minority students?

Thank You!