Improving the Scientific Literacy of All Students: Using TeamTaught Interdisciplinary lab courses

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Improving the Scientific Literacy of All
Students Using Team-Taught Interdisciplinary
lab courses

• Amy Jessen-Marshall, Ph.D.
• Department of Life Science
• Otterbein College,
• Westerville Ohio, USA.

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Goals

• It is increasingly important in todays global
  society for all students, including non-science
  majors, to become scientifically literate and
  understand the processes and limitations of
  science. Models of General Education vary, often
  including introductory majors courses as options
  for non-majors to meet science requirements,
  however creative course models designed for all
  students with an emphasis on problem solving and
  scientific methodology are offered as a
  successful alternative.

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Goals

• This breakout session will discuss and share
  innovative practices and ideas to improve
  scientific literacy through team-taught
  interdisciplinary lab-based courses within an
  Integrative Studies core curriculum.

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Topics for discussion

• What models for course design are most successful
  in developing scientific literacy for non-science
  majors?

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Topics for discussion

• How can you organize general education science
  courses to meet the needs of majors and
  non-majors in science?

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Topics for discussion

• What themes or content areas are most important
  to develop scientifically literate citizens?

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Topics for discussion

• What are the pros and cons of team-teaching
  interdisciplinary science courses?

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First questions

• Is science literacy important for all students?
• Why?
• Educated society
• Consumer issues
• (quantitative literacy)
• Journalism/news
• (Critical evaluation)
• Voters
• (Support for science in politics)
• (NSF funding)
• Jury of peers
• Science is COOL!

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First questions

• Outcomes of science education different for major
  vs non-major?
• What are the learning outcomes?
• Basic content knowledge
• Application of scientific method
• Critical evaluation of data
• Appreciation for science as
• a mode of inquiry?
• Others?

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• What models for course design are most successful
  in developing scientific literacy for non-science
  majors?
• Existing models and curriculum
• New?
• Adaptations of existing curriculum?

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Model 1

• Introductory majors courses
• General Distribution requirement
• Biology/ Chemistry/Physics/ Earth science
• Content driven
• One field of exposure
• Message to non-majors?
• Lab component
• Positive!
• Focus on method (hopefully)

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Model 2

• Courses specifically designed for non-majors
• Watered down majors courses?
• Topical courses?
• Majors exempt from these courses?
• Value to majors as well as non-majors?

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Framing

• Otterbein College- Westerville Ohio, Liberal Arts
  and Professional Programs- Comprehensive School.
• Enrollment 2200 Undergraduates, 1200 Continuing
  Studies and Masters students
• General Education Program Integrative Studies.
  (Core curriculum)

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General Education Models

• General Distribution requirement
• Two Year
• Four Year
• Core curriculum model
• Two year
• Four year
• Often thematic- goal is often more
  interdisciplinary
• Otterbein Integrative Core Curriculum

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Otterbeins Science Curriculum Pre and Post
revision

• Ten liberal arts courses required through our
• Integrative Studies program.
• This includes two IS courses in the sciences.
• Pre 2004
• Traditionally taken in the junior and senior
  years.
• Class size has averaged between 60-100 students
• Taught by one professor, in a largely lecture
  format
• No formal laboratory experience required.

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Otterbeins Science Curriculum Pre and Post
revision

• The Science Division at Otterbein decided to
  reform
• our non-majors science curriculum within our
• general education program (Integrative studies)
  Post 2004
• We noticed a dichotomy in how we taught science.
• Department mission for Life Science
• Focus on scientific method.
• Engage student in the process of science through
  active inquiry.
• Create a community of scientists.
• Create scientifically literate citizens.
• Why arent we applying this to all students?
• Why just our majors?
• Learning outcomes for majors and non-majors the
  same?

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Where we started

• Specific goals for new Integrative Studies
  science courses
• Shared with Majors courses
• Focus on scientific method.
• Engage student in the process of science through
  active inquiry.
• Create a community of scientists.
• Create scientifically literate citizens.
• Unique to Integrative Studies courses
• Reduce anxiety
• Focus on science as a way of knowing (Mode of
  inquiry)
• Team teach courses with an interdisciplinary/multi
  disciplinary
• focus.

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Is science too hard?
Rosalind Franklin
Watson and Crick Structure of DNA
Not meant to be pedantic statement. (Common
complaint of IS science courses And premise of
Emerti chemistry professor)
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Is science harder than other subjects to learn?
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Where does the perception that science is hard
come from?
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• Studies on science education date back as far as
  you care to look.
• As a group, you cant deny that scientists like
  to gather information
• and make comparisons. We generate questions and
  test them.
• We have a tendency to analyze things.
• As a result, scientists, and science educators
  have studied and written
• a lot about why people outside of the sciences
  think
• Science is so hard.

Louis FarianNSF June 2002
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• But is it unlearnable and should we give up?
• What do we know?
• Students have anxiety/avoidance/phobia about
  science,
• particularly concerning math.
• Sheila Tobias has written since the 1980s about
  the impact
• of Math anxiety on students perceptions of
  science.
• Tobias, S. (1985) Math anxiety and physics Some
  thoughts on learning 'difficult'subjects.
• Physics Today, Vol. 38 Issue 6, p60
• Tobias, S., (1990) They're Not Dumb. They're
  Different.
• Malcom, S. M., Ungar, H., Cross, K. P., Malcom,
  S., (eds). Change, Vol. 22 Issue 4, p11-30
• And to make matters worse, Bower in (2001)
  reported
• that Math fears can actually subtract from
  memory and learning.

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• Educators in physics have studied anxiety related
  to this discipline
• and found math phobia a major indicator.
• Tuminaro, J., Redish, E.F., (2004) Understanding
  students poor performance on mathematical
  problem
• solving in physics. AIP Conference Proceedings,
  Vol. 720 Issue 1, p113-116
• Redish, E. F., Steinberg, R. N. (1999) Teaching
  Physics Figuring Out What Works.
• Physics Today, Vol. 52 Issue 1, p24
• Laukenmann, M., Bleicher, M., Fub, S.,
  Gláser-Zikuda, M., Mayoring, P., von Rhöneck,
  C., (2003)
• An investigation of the influence of emotional
  factors on learning in physics instruction.
• International Journal of Science Education, Vol.
  25 Issue 4, p489
• Anxiety not as profound in Biology, but for
  non-majors
• certainly still a factor.
• Leonard, W.H., (2000). How do College Students
  Best Learn Science?

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• 2. Students bring misperceptions about science
  into the classroom.
• Students tend to approach science as a fact based
  field that needs
• to be memorized, and the language is too
  foreign.
• Content, not process is stressed.

By stressing the process of scientific inquiry,
labs impart the content of science in a manner
that is relevant to students, increasing the
probability that students will come to
understand science as a way of knowing. Carolyn
Haynes, p187, Innovations in Interdisciplinary
Teaching, 2002, American Council on Education,
Oryx Press
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• Students tend to bring information from earlier
  experiences into
• the classroom, that is very difficult to
  unlearn. This sets up
• blocks to accepting different information.
• Michael, J. (2002) MisconceptionsWhat students
  think they know.
• Advances in Physiology Education, Vol. 26 Issue
  1, p5-6
• Modell, H., Michael, J., Wenderoth, M.P., (2005)
• Helping the Learner To Learn The Role of
  Uncovering Misconceptions.
• American Biology Teacher, Jan2005, Vol. 67 Issue
  1, p20-26
• Example Evolution is defined as Survival of the
  Fittest
• The strongest, and fastest survive.
• True or False?

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• False Evolution is gradual change over time.
• The mechanism of evolution is Natural Selection.
• Natural selection shows that those individuals
• most capable of leaving offspring are the most
• reproductively fit. Not necessarily the
  strongest
• or fastest.

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3. Students bring different skills and histories
to the classroom. In Cross and Steadmans
Classroom Research, a discussion about
students prerequisite knowledge and learning
strategies points out that students may be quite
successful in one discipline, yet not have the
skills to cross that divide into a different
discipline. Cross, K.P. and Steadman, M.H.
(1996) Classroom Research, Implementing the
Scholarship of Teaching, San Francisco,
Jossey-Bass.
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• This raises the very important point, that it is
  not that general
• concepts in Science are Harder than other
  subjects, its that
• science is Different than other subjects.
• Students may not have the skill set, or the
  mindset to see
• that difference.
• They get trapped in memorization of unrelated
  facts
• They fear the use of math.
• They set themselves up for frustration.

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So what can we do?
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• Goals of new science courses
• Introduce science into the Integrative studies
  curriculum earlier.
• (Move one required course to the sophomore
  year.)
• Rationale Reduce science anxiety by modeling
  that science is not
• so Hard that a student cant handle learning
  college science until
• their upper level years.
• 2. Introduce inquiry based labs into each course.
• Rationale To refocus student learning from fact
  based science to the
• METHOD of science focusing on the principles of
  scientific inquiry

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3. Team teach courses with faculty from different
scientific disciplines. Rationale Model how the
scientific disciplines approach related problems
from different perspectives and with different
techniques. We want our students to discover
that science method is universal, and that
scientific theories are even stronger
when evidence is available from several fields of
study.
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• Key point
• Non-majors wont have the opportunity to
  experience multiple fields
• of science if we are using Introductory Majors
  courses as the way to
• fulfill science requirements.
• Students end up with a small sampling of content
  in one
• field, where the level of content is designed for
  majors.
• Interdisciplinary courses-
• Model how the scientific disciplines approach
• related problems from different perspectives and
  with different
• techniques.
• Science method is universal
• Scientific theories are even stronger when
  evidence is available
• from several fields of study.

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How can you organize general education science
courses to meet the needs of majors and
non-majors in science?
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Value for Majors to experience this too? We
think so- Integrative Studies science courses
are also required for science majors.
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• Courses offered to date
• Origins (Paleontology/ Molecular Biology)
• The Atom (Chemistry/ Physics)
• Why sex? (Ecology/ Molecular Biology)
• Exobiology (Physics/ Microbiology)
• Water (Ecology/ Chemistry)
• Faculty driven topics-
• Content is not the driving goal!

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What themes or content areas are most important
to develop scientifically literate citizens?
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Overall our goal is to alleviate science anxiety
and increase scientific reasoning skills by
building the courses around topics both students
and faculty will find intriguing and relevant as
well as by designing the courses for a sophomore
level audience and in so doing better prepare our
students for the second upper level science
courses.
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So have we been successful?
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What are the pros and cons of team-teaching
interdisciplinary science courses?
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Impact of team teaching on student learning
The rationale is that students working with
faculty from two different scientific
disciplines will get the opportunity to synthesis
ideas and see how questions in science are
addressed in many different ways. Carolyn
Haynes, 2002, Chapter 2, Enhancing
Interdisciplinary Through Team teaching. Chapter
9, Transforming Undergraduate Science through
Interdisciplinary Inquiry. American Council on
Education, ORYX Press The evidence for this
success so far is qualitative. Students
who participated in the team taught classes
overwhelmingly report a positive experience.
However, teasing apart team teaching
successes and failures is more difficult, due to
the nature of the team, and the specific topic of
the class.
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Team Teaching Experience related to Sex
P value 0.009
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Team Teaching Impact over time
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• One of our main focuses has been impact on
  science anxiety.
• A series of statistical comparisons were made to
  assess levels of
• pre-existing Science anxiety in the populations,
  and to correlate
• variables related to anxiety.
• Of the students who responded,
• 157 reported some level of science anxiety
• 170 reported no significant anxiety

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• Variables considered to determine the underlying
• factors that correlate with anxiety.
• 1. Current GPA
• 2. Year in College
• 3. Major (grouped by Academic Division)
• 4. Previous High School experience in science
  courses.
• 5. Gender

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Combined effect of sex and High School Experience
on Science Anxiety
P value 0.0003
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But did the students actually learn more about
scientific method by doing lab activities?
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To determine whether students had improved in
their ability to identify the scientific method,
I used a blinded coding scale. This was repeated
by a second Coder and the range of improvement
was averaged. For example. A student response
of Using science to answer questions was
given a score of (1) for limited knowledge. Other
responses were given scores of (2)- (5) based on
using code Words, including hypothesis, data,
repeatability, controls, experiment.
Pre and post test responses were randomized,
scored and resorted to match students response
and calculate the range of improvement. For
example a student who made significant
improvement in their definition would show a
scoring range of 4. A student who showed, no
improvement, or who was strong at the beginning,
would have no range score difference. These
ranges were then summarized for each class and
statistical significance was evaluated.
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Results of course comparison for the ability to
define scientific method.
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• So what do we know?
• Summary
• Gender is a strong predictor of science anxiety,
  and is closely
• tied to experience in High School science.
• Anxiety is difficult to alleviate, as evidenced
  by both versions
• of our non-majors science courses.
• 2. The majority of students regardless of
  science background,
• see the value of learning about science in
  todays society, and
• understand that participating in labs is a major
  part of learning.
• 3. Focusing on science method and modeling its
  use
• through labs and team teaching does result in
• statistically significant improvement in the
  ability
• to define the process of science method.
• 4. Team teaching is difficult to assess,
  although overall it has been
• reported as positive. Individual courses are
  more or less successful.
• small correlation that women are more critical
  of team teaching.
• All classes are effective at increasing student
  awareness and
• interest in science related current events.

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Where do we go from here? Focus on upper level
courses! Three years ago- Otterbein selected
by American Association of Colleges and
Universities to be one of sixteen schools in a
joint project Shared Futures General
Education and Global Learning. Piloting courses
throughout our Core curriculum focused on Global
Learning. (Not just science)
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Science Global Learning
Definitions and Learning Objectives
Current Working Definition To foster student
understanding and appreciation of science and its
cultural significance. To empower students to
develop and apply scientific and analytical
skills both in further understanding of
themselves and human nature and in an ethical
context towards solving global, national and
local problems.
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Science
Definitions and Learning Objectives
Two INST Science Courses Developmental
Model Lower level course Fundamentals of
scientific inquiry Upper level course The main
theme of these courses is to show how science and
scientific data are foundational to society,
through the exploration of a current global
issue. The courses will explore how science is
applied to an issue, and how other influences
also impact the issue.
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Science
Definitions and Learning Objectives

• Common Global Objectives for the course
• Understanding of data as the foundation of course
  topic
• Understanding of the active building of
  scientific body of knowledge
• new advances, future challenges
• Understanding of how the issue affects parts of
  the world differently.
• Understanding of how cultures react to the global
  issue differently.
• Understanding of how student decisions/actions
  impact the issue (locally and globally).
• Ethics and the possibility of addressing issue in
  a sustainable way.

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ScienceExamples of Specific Syllabi objectives
INST350 Being in Nature- Plagues and
Pestilence This course is focused on the global
nature of infectious disease. Discovering how
plagues and pandemics, both historical and
emerging, impact human health and play a role in
how societies are shaped is an important piece of
understanding your role as a global citizen.
Infectious disease does not recognize state or
national boundaries, and the interconnected
relationship between microbiology, virology,
epidemiology, sociology, politics and history
provide a framework for making decisions in
todays world. This course will engage you in
issues that affect your personal health, the
health of your community and the health of people
across the planet, my goal is to help you find
those connections.
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ScienceExamples of Specific Syllabi objectives
Learning Objectives By the time you complete
this course you should be able to 1. identify
and describe what types of microbes are
considered pathogens. 2. describe historical
plagues and pandemics that shaped
civilizations. 3. identify key advances in
medicine and technology that contain or prevent
pandemics. 4. describe the current state of newly
emerging and reemerging infectious agents that
influence current societies. 5. compare
historical events to current events and draw
inferences for future pandemic risks. 6. identify
current challenges in human health care and
treatment of infectious disease that impact
future pandemic risks. 7. consider how society
and culture recognize and respond to pandemic
threat, based on societal practices and resource
availability. 8. reflect on how your major and
other courses integrate into these topics and
what role you play in human health, personally
and as a global citizen.
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What themes or content areas are most
important to develop scientifically literate
citizens?
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Courses offered to date
IS350 Plagues and Pandemics IS400 Earth Science
and Humankind- focus on Coral Reefs IS400
Earth Science and Humankind- focus on
Sustainable energy usage IS360 Energy and
Society (in development) Others-
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Current Otterbein I.S. science curriculum

• Lower level team-taught multidisciplinary course
• Model how the scientific disciplines approach
• related problems from different perspectives and
  with different
• techniques.
• Science method is universal
• Scientific theories are even stronger when
  evidence is available
• from several fields of study.
• Upper level course on application of science
• to global issues

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Acknowledgments Otterbein College Science
Division Department of Life Science Mary
Gahbauer, Hal Lescinsky, Simon Lawrance, Sarah
Bouchard, Dean Johnston and Dave Robertson The
Integrative Studies Program Otterbein Center for
Teaching and Learning Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens SoTL
Professional Learning Community The McGregor
Fund National Science Foundation Grant
0536681 AACU Shared Futures FIPSE Grant