CREATE: Cornerstone to Capstone--Integrating a tranformative paradigm for undergraduate Biology education throughout the curriculum

Cuny City College, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

C.R.E.A.T.E. (Consider, Read, Elucidate hypotheses, Analyze and interpret data, and Think of the next Experiment), uses intensive analysis of primary and other scientific literature to demystify and humanize science. To date, it has been introduced in numerous upper-level capstone courses and a single introductory stand alone course. The current CREATE toolkit includes the use of concept maps, sketching, figure annotation, experimental design, grant panels, and student email interviews of paper authors. These tools are applied to analysis of primary or other scientific literature that illuminates key concepts of biology or the nature of science. This project is investigating how best to deploy CREATE strategies at initial stages of a curriculum and how best to integrate CREATE strategies at intermediate levels of a curriculum in traditionally-taught courses. The PIs are testing a full-semester City College of New York (CCNY) CREATE course for first-year students in distinct new student cohorts, and testing the effectiveness of embedding a two-week CREATE module into an otherwise traditionally-taught Genetics course. They are investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of interventions at each curricular level, by assessing students' cognitive and attitudinal gains using a critical thinking test and a survey of student attitudes/abilities/beliefs. The first-year CCNY Introduction to Scientific Thinking course is being tested with first-year students at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Rowan University. Multi-week CREATE interventions in Genetics are being developed and tested at all three campuses. The data is providing insight into the adaptability of this teaching/learning strategy. Intellectual Merit: CREATE has been tested previously in full-semester elective courses for upper-level students and found to lead to gains in critical thinking, content integration, student self-rated attitudes/abilities, and maturation of aspects of students' epistemological beliefs about science. This project explores the potential of the approach to be adapted at a less intense level and in a wider array of courses. Broader Impact: The PI is also conducting a series of CREATE faculty development workshops (supported by NSF 1021443). To date 96 faculty from a wide variety of community and 4-year colleges and universities have been involved in these workshops. Many of the graduates from the faculty development project teach at institutions where options for teaching non-traditionally are limited, making effective short-term CREATE interventions particularly appealing. Outcomes from this new CREATE protocol can inform the faculty development project and that project and the graduates from it can help disseminate outcomes from this new project to a wide number of faculty from diverse institutions. This project is being funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate of Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to support Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.