Citizen Science column

Undergraduate institutions serve as stepping stones to a student’s career. Teaching and learning in the science classrooms requires quality and integrated teaching-research learning experiences that prepare students to advance their careers. Using publicly available datasets and open-access data analyses software serves can be impactful in engaging students in meaning research experiences, while keeping low institutional expenses associated with implementing and supporting research opportunities. Here, we show two examples of student-led data research that utilized openly available data and software to analyze microbial sequence data. As part of this process, we also recognized a need for discipline-specific databases that can hold a record of publicly available data. Such a set-up will support undergraduate educators and students in accessing data relevant to their requirements, thereby narrowing the gap between data availability and accessibility. Finally, both examples illustrate the benefits of using open resources in supporting student learning, with the possibility of using such resources to develop course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURES) as part of course curricula.

There continues to be a concern regarding sustained recruitment and retention of students in STEM majors. Although the rate of attrition in these majors is comparable to other majors (Chen, 2013), the demand for trained scientists to enter the workforce with a baccalaureate degree is high (PCAST, 2012). In an effort to enhance retention and support of STEM students from their first year to graduation a Residential Learning Community (RLC) for STEM majors was established. Although learning communities of this type currently exist, this was the first one of its kind at our institution. The primary components included living on campus with a roommate also in the program, taking courses like general chemistry and first year seminar as a designated cohort, and increased faculty mentoring through advising. The RLC, named “STEM Scholars”, was developed with significant institutional buy-in and interdisciplinary faculty support, but without financial backing. Several key takeaways are reported here, most notably the need for funding to support a STEM cohort program. The effectiveness of the program and its components continues to be assessed; results of the assessment will be shared in the near future. Successful components of STEM Scholars can be incorporated at other institutions to further enhance STEM education.

Retrieval practice has been proved effective in conceptual science learning and retesting was applied in retrieval practice and showed significant improvement in learning outcomes (Karpicke & Blunt, 2011; Ariel et al., 2018; Lyle et al., 2020). In this study, retesting was employed in an online microbiology course to evaluate the attitude and behavior of college students about it. The students were offered the same course materials and requirements except for three different options: retesting in exams without practice quizzes, retesting in practice quizzes with points, or retesting in practice quizzes without points. Our data indicated that retesting improved the exam grades, especially in those with a longer interval period between two consecutive testing attempts. Not surprisingly, the points in practice quizzes encouraged more students to take practice quizzes and their exam grades were improved. Distractedly not all the students would utilize the retesting opportunities to enhance the retention of information, which could be associated with student engagement in distance learning.

Nationally, students fail anatomy and physiology courses at some of the highest rates compared to other courses at the undergraduate level. Formative evaluation guides future learning by assessing the quality of student achievement while the student is still learning. Formative assessments were introduced in an undergraduate human anatomy course intended for students majoring in various allied health fields. In this research, the formative assessments were utilized throughout the course on each of the five exams. The results were analyzed using a partial correlation and regression to establish if any relationships existed between the formative assessment and summative test and looked for any significant impact on the summative test scores. The results suggest that at-risk students can be identified using formative assessment before the first summative assessment in the class and increase the likelihood of successful course completion. Considering the implementation of formative assessments in college science courses should be considered a way to inform the instructors of student learning gaps and increase student success in the course.

Moving to remote, online learning to meet local and national health guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic posed a challenge for college science courses due to the interactive nature of laboratories. We developed and implemented a remote/in-person lab partner model where in-person students were paired with remote students in college natural science courses during the 2020-2021 academic year. The goal was to provide an opportunity for students to attend lab in-person and provide an interactive lab experience for students who elected to attend remotely. Students in each course completed a questionnaire assessing their perception of their learning. Learning outcomes were assessed and compared between in-person and remote modalities in a general biology course (General Biology II). In-person students perceived that attending in-person increased their learning but having remote partners hindered their learning. Conversely, remote students perceived that attending remotely hindered their learning overall, but having in-person partners enhanced their experience. In General Biology II, we found that learning outcomes were not significantly different between in-person and remote students. Although the data suggests the model was not successful in its initial iteration, we provide a workable technique for offering a remote laboratory option in science classes, making them more inclusive and accessible.

Most introductory science courses are large, lecture-style general education classes. Introduction to Environmental Science (ES 100) at NC State University is no exception, enrolling 200-300 students and meeting in the campus cinema. In 2018, I introduced an inquiry-based, service-learning project measuring trees on campus. After experiencing problems, I engaged students to help improve our methods. With the help of sustainability and instructional technology grants and expertise, I developed innovative teaching tools to create an enhanced field lab to collect long-term data on 100+ campus trees. As a result, students’ reflection responses shifted from focusing on processes, like data collection, to more concept-themed ideas about urban trees and their health. Additional revisions to the project in the third year, having students use the National Tree Benefit Calculator (Casey Trees and Davey Tree Experts 2020), led students to focus more broadly on the ecosystem services trees provide in urban environments. Using inquiry-based approaches in large classes is both challenging and rewarding, and making adjustments can better align to learning objectives. Finally, this service-learning project contributed to NC State’s recognition as a Tree Campus USA for 2018, 2019, and 2020.

In this article, we discuss Micro Assignment Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (MAGIC), an active learning method that draws on the merits of inquiry-based learning in STEM courses. We describe the use of Micro Assignments (MAs) consisting of a series of short, instructive guiding questions that scaffold the course material. Students work through these questions and present solutions to the class. The instructor facilitates learning as well as collaboration amongst the students during face-to-face interactions, providing the Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (GIC). Here we present a qualitative discussion about this active learning approach that achieves some of the documented benefits such as deep student engagement with material and familiarity with communicating arguments. In addition, this method helps develop skills students need as they move from lower to upper-level courses such as collaboration, active reading, and breaking down involved assignments and problems into manageable steps. Through GIC and use of the MAs, the instructor guides students to become more abstract thinkers who desire evidence, evaluate arguments, and no longer follow step-by-step formulas but rather produce logical thought processes.

Equitable sensemaking enables students to draw on personal resources to investigate and explain phenomena and problems within their communities. Although equitable sensemaking allows for meaningful understanding of big ideas of science and deeper engagement in the science practices, many non-science majors including elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) do not have opportunities to engage in equitable sensemaking within their secondary or college-level courses. This paper describes an innovative cycle developed to support PSTs’ engagement in equitable sensemaking entitled the Local Ecosystem Observation Cycle (LEOCycle), which was used in both online and in-person sections of an integrated Earth and Life Science undergraduate course for PSTs. In the LEOCycle, students observe, wonder, investigate and make sense of phenomena within their local ecosystem via shared online platforms. We investigate the benefits of engaging in this cycle, PSTs’ prior experiences, and their changing thinking about investigating science outside. The PSTs’ surveys and work within the course suggested that the LEOCycle facilitated students’ connections between the ideas within the course with their personal experiences and supported the development of a community of practice. ??The “LEOCycle” provides an example of how to facilitate students’ equitable sensemaking of science ideas in local ecosystems within science content courses.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was suddenly necessary to shift college courses online. Many instructors without experience teaching online were faced with course design decisions about how to structure their courses and support students during the pandemic. In the three introductory STEM courses described here, instructors chose to include online teamwork activities. In this study, we have surveyed the students about their experience participating in active-learning teamwork activities in online Computer Science or Human Anatomy and Physiology courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The overwhelming majority of students rated the experience of their team as positive. Most students cited either interpersonal interactions, productivity, or team members’ equal contributions as reasons for their positive rating of the team. In all these courses, students reported benefits of the experience to include teamwork, connections, and communication. Overall, instructors in these three introductory STEM courses felt positively about structuring their online courses to include teamwork learning activities and appreciated the community and connection benefits for students.