Preliminary Assessment of an Undergraduate Biology Capstone Course for Gains in Research Skills and Attitudes.
Session Format
Conference Session (20 minutes)
Location
Room 217
Abstract for the conference program
Capstone courses are high impact educational experiences in any undergraduate major including those related to STEM. We designed a theme focused on microbial ecology for a preexisting undergraduate capstone course to enable biology majors to choose their own research focus from a wide array of possibilities, and then to use current techniques to engage in it. Here, we report the use of a newly developed quiz to assess gains in research skills. A survey already in use for all STEM courses targeted for the 4 year undergraduate research experience, was also used to gauge attitudinal changes that may relate to persistence in STEM. This new course theme appears to be effective, boosting both students’ self-efficacy and their research skills. We seek to share our course implementation and solicit feedback that will help to validate and/or improve on the course design and its assessment.
Proposal Track
Research Project
Start Date
3-3-2017 10:00 AM
End Date
3-3-2017 10:30 AM
Recommended Citation
Darr, Pratima C.; Ward, Rebekah J.; and Dustman, Wendy A., "Preliminary Assessment of an Undergraduate Biology Capstone Course for Gains in Research Skills and Attitudes." (2017). Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019). 7.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/stem/2017/2017/7
Preliminary Assessment of an Undergraduate Biology Capstone Course for Gains in Research Skills and Attitudes.
Room 217
Capstone courses are high impact educational experiences in any undergraduate major including those related to STEM. We designed a theme focused on microbial ecology for a preexisting undergraduate capstone course to enable biology majors to choose their own research focus from a wide array of possibilities, and then to use current techniques to engage in it. Here, we report the use of a newly developed quiz to assess gains in research skills. A survey already in use for all STEM courses targeted for the 4 year undergraduate research experience, was also used to gauge attitudinal changes that may relate to persistence in STEM. This new course theme appears to be effective, boosting both students’ self-efficacy and their research skills. We seek to share our course implementation and solicit feedback that will help to validate and/or improve on the course design and its assessment.
