Improving Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics
at the Undergraduate Level
2006-2007 Grant Awards

The Northeast Georgia Partnership for Reform in Science and Mathematics (PRISM) awarded 10 grants for the 2006-07 school year to faculty teaching science and mathematics courses at the University of Georgia (UGA) and Georgia Perimeter College (GPC). These grants provide funds for innovative projects that improve instruction and student learning in undergraduate science and mathematics courses in which pre-service teachers might typically enroll. Successful grants were chosen from a set of highly competitive proposals through a process of peer review and committee deliberation. The following are summaries of the 2006-07 projects. The next call for proposals is anticipated for mid-spring 2007.

Measuring Scientific Literacy as a Function of Inquiry in Non-Science Major Undergraduate Biology Labs
Norris Armstrong, narmstro@uga.edu, UGA Franklin College of Art and Sciences, Department of Genetics

Recently, there have been focused efforts to increase scientific literacy using popular literature in the classroom. Additionally, there is an increased emphasis on promoting inquiry-based learning to move students away from a “cookbook” approach to labs toward constructing new knowledge under the guidance of the instructor.  The improvement of science literacy and increase in inquiry-based learning in UGA’s Biology 1103L are the two main objectives of this project.  In Spring 2006, an assessment instrument (Wheeler-Toppen et al., 2005) was piloted to measure the ability to read and interpret science media resources. This PRISM project will revise the Wheeler-Toppen instrument and re-test it in introductory Biology 1103L, “Concepts in Biology.”  The results will be evaluated and the information used to help instructors improve teaching and student learning. The introductory biology lab has approximately 500 undergraduates, many of which are education majors. 

Agri-science for Teachers: Improving Pre-Service Teacher Learning through Research, Course Innovation, and Evaluation
John C. Ricketts, jcr@uga.edu, and Maria Navarro, mnavarro@uga.edu, UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication

In 2005, PRISM funded the development of a course entitled, “Agri-science for Teachers,” designed to teach science content and science processing skills within the context of agriculture and the environment.  The course, which is counted as an elective for science education students, also focused on familiarizing students with pedagogical methods such as inquiry-based activities, group projects, and labs.  Evaluations from the course were very positive, however, instructors wanted to improve several areas.  This year, PRISM funds will be used to redesign the course by increasing the amount of content delivered while optimizing classroom time. Content instruction will be offered as audio/video online lectures that students will be expected to review during non-class hours.  Classroom time that is freed up will allow additional instruction to help students understand scientific concepts.  There will also be more time for inquiry-based activities and contextual experiences.  Students will be asked to participate in a voluntary study of science teaching efficacy and will also have the opportunity to give anonymous online feedback regarding course satisfaction and progress.  Qualitative and quantitative measures will be used throughout the project to enhance and expand efforts to improve student learning.

Using Peer-Evaluation and Web-Based Software to Enhance Student Writing and Learning
Norris Armstrong, narmstro@uga.edu, UGA Franklin College of Art and Sciences, Department of Genetics

Writing assignments will become a part of the curriculum in UGA’s Biology 1103 in this project proposed by Dr. Armstrong.  Writing assignments are seldom used in science because of the time it takes to review and grade papers from the large number of students.  Dr. Armstrong will introduce peer-evaluated writing, where students trade papers to give feedback on rough drafts of two separate laboratory reports.  Students will then be given the opportunity to revise and submit their work for final grading.  A disadvantage to peer-evaluation is that it takes class time to administer.  Therefore web-based writing software will be reviewed for its potential use to collect, disseminate, and evaluate essays electronically without using valuable class time.  Three different aspects of the essays will be studied: 1) overall organization of the paper; 2) spelling and grammar; and 3) the accuracy of the science concepts.  If this project is effective in increasing writing into the BIOL 1103, the approach will be expanded to include all of the sections of BIOL 1103, 1104, 1107, and 1108.  Approximately 4,500 students take introductory biology each year.

Using Interactive Communication Courseware to Encourage Active Learning in Hybrid Pre-Calculus Courses
Thomas Cooper, tcooper@gpc.edu, GPC Department of Mathematics

Georgia Perimeter College has recently begun to encourage faculty to develop online courses to meet the demand of their non-traditional student population.  There are many challenges to developing an online mathematics course.  For example, there is consensus among teachers that students must be active learners if a mathematics course is to be successful, and online courses have difficulty engaging students in active learning.  Hybrid courses have an online component but also offer face-to-face meetings on a pre-determined basis.  This project will design a pre-calculus curriculum using the hybrid model and incorporate online courseware developed by Dr. Thomas Banchoff of Brown University.  His courseware has key components that foster better communication and promote active learning.  Mr. Cooper will develop a set of open-ended investigative assignments, which will be incorporated into a hybrid pre-calculus course.  The course will be offered in Fall 2006 and data will be collected concerning student achievement and online participation.   An evaluation will also be conducted as to whether the courseware promotes active learning.

Improving Pre-Service Teachers’ Learning of Biology: A Case-Based Strategy for Practical Inquiry
Peggy Brickman, brickman@uga.edu, UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Division of Biological Sciences
Shawn Glynn, sglynn@uga.edu, UGA College of Education, Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology

In the spring of 2006, a survey was conducted to determine whether pre-service teachers thought that BIOL 1103, “Basic Concepts in Biology,” was relevant to their majors.  Each year, almost 300 pre-service students enroll in this required introductory course.  Survey results indicated that students did not see the course as relevant to their teaching careers, were anxious about their performance, and were often dissatisfied with their grades.  PRISM funds will be used to revise the curriculum to help these future teachers make connections to their career goals, not just on one occasion, but throughout the course.  Data will be collected to see whether attendance, student learning, attitudes, and motivation improve if students better understand how the course relates to being a teacher.  A set of web-based pre-service teacher tutorials will be developed that show practical applications of the biological content.  Extra credit options will be provided to those who complete the tutorials.  Assessments are included in the tutorials to provide immediate feedback to the students.  The project’s effectiveness will be assessed by comparing the pre-service teachers’ grades to other students (non-science majors) and by structured interviews at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester.  Improvements will be made to the web-based tutorials according to the data analyzed and then will be added to the curriculum for future use.

Data Driven Evaluation and Modifications to the Organic Chemistry Curriculum: The Application of Item Response Theory to Organic Chemistry Instruction and Assessment
Richard Morrison, morrison@chem.uga.edu, UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry

The Item Response Theory (IRT) is testing software that can selectively identify portions of questions that distinguish between “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” and “F” students in UGA’s Organic Chemistry.  The classification of the ability level of the concepts as well as experience in interpreting and applying IRT has provided Dr. Morrison the opportunity to hone in on misconceptions and develop effective methods to correct them.  It is now possible to evaluate student performance on exams and provide information on what is needed to improve.  Dr. Morrison has access to a national database of student responses in organic chemistry.  Questions in this database, the Online Web-based Learning System (OWL), will be analyzed with the IRT to expand and enhance the information needed to make changes in the organic curriculum of benefit to faculty and students at UGA.  Additionally, concepts and principles can be aligned for a more cohesive curricula in the Chemistry Program.  Changes to questions in the OWL database will be implemented for students’ use across the nation.

Enhancing Climate Change Science Education Through Inquiry-Based Concepts and Real-World Simulations
James Marshall Shepherd, marshgeo@uga.edu, UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Geography

Dr. Shepherd plans to develop realistic climate change simulations for GEOG 1112 and lab, a core introductory course taken by approximately 1000 students per year.  Students will be exposed to “real-world” meteorological instruments, field experimentation, and climate models that can govern climate research and guide policymakers.  The curriculum will be integrated with the Educational Global Climate Model (EdGCM), a software model that allows students to conduct realistic scenarios of climate change.  EdGCM is run on desktop computers and has additional capabilities of organizing data and images.  Students will engage in the scientific process by experimenting with EdGCM and its inquiry-based simulation models. Results will be communicated as formal reports. The proposed project will increase student participation in inquiry-based climate science and provide them with the knowledge and skills to pursue an environmental sciences or science education career.  Evaluation will include assessing whether the EdGCM is “user-friendly,” ensuring the content of the lessons is rigorous, and evaluating the effectiveness of the modules in demonstrating complexity of climate change.

The Development of “Inquiry-Based” Exercises on Severe Weather and Hurricane Forecasting for Geography 1112L: An Introduction to Weather and Climate Laboratory Sections
Andrew Grundstein, UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Geography

The goal of Dr. Grundstein’s project is to develop and implement a set of inquiry-based laboratory exercises for Geography 1112L, “An Introduction to Weather and Climate.”  This core course enrolls approximately 300-400 students each year.  For the past two years, new field-based lab exercises have been piloted and added to the curriculum.  These new experiments provided opportunities for students to think critically and actively participate in the learning experience.  This year, two new exercises related to severe weather and hurricane forecasting have been chosen to be developed and tested in Geography 1112L.  The students will be given an actual weather scenario with real weather maps and asked to play the role of weather forecaster.  Their assignment will be to predict when and where severe weather will strike.  A similar experiment will be developed to predict hurricane movement and estimate potential storm damage.  Evaluation will include both quantitative and qualitative measures.  Quiz scores will be compared with those from a class not participating in the new experiments.  Additionally, anonymous student evaluations and instructor interviews will be conducted.  Data will be analyzed for evidence of improved student learning and inform revisions to the field-based lab experiences next year.

Incorporation of Online Video Supplemental Material for Chemistry 1151 Lab Class
Luise Strange de Soria, lstrange@gpc.edu; Teresita L. Lampe, tlampe@gpc.edu; and Howard Silverstein, hsilvers@gpc.edu; GPC Science and Physical Education Department

At GPC, a majority of students in Chemistry 1151L are international students who are English language learners.  The goal of this project is to provide an online video resource to enhance the ability of these students—as well as all the other students in the class—to achieve in the course.  Approximately 50 students enroll in Chemistry 1151L each semester.  Photos and other video resources will be placed on a website to be used as preparatory material prior to class and for review after class.  In Fall 2006, the website will be designed and resources, such as photos and video clips, will be collected.  Information about laboratory procedures, equipment, setups, and supplemental information will be placed on the website.  In Spring 2007, students will be introduced to the website as an additional resource for the course.  Student surveys will be conducted at the end of the semester to determine the frequency of use, student satisfaction, and students’ perception of improved learning.  Evaluation of student learning will include pre-lab quizzes (compared with a “control” class), notebook assignments and laboratory reports, as well as final exam scores.

Continued Analysis of Computer-Based Assessments and Peer Tutoring in the UGA General Chemistry Program with a New Development of Chemistry Elicitation Questions
Charles (Butch) Atwood, batwood@chem.uga.edu, UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry

This year, Dr. Atwood plans to build on three previous years of PRISM research in the Chemistry Department by focusing on three major goals: 1) understand and assess student learning using the Item Response Theory (IRT) in large chemistry courses, 2) increase classroom attendance by continuing and expanding Peer Tutor support in the classroom, and 3) develop elicitation questions to provide an immediate, in-class assessment of a student’s ability level on a given topic.  A primary objective is to continue development of the IRT, a test development and assessment software tool.  When areas of difficulty are identified, changes will be made in instruction to see if there is an improvement in student learning.  Peer Tutors will continue to monitor and assist students in CHEM 1211 and 1212.  A Chemistry faculty member has agreed to pilot test the results of peer tutoring in another class this coming year.  Since the IRT data identify concepts with which students are struggling, elicitation questions will be developed to pre-assess student understanding of these difficult topics, thereby immediately informing revisions to instruction.  Evaluation will include tests and IRT data to determine improved student learning, protocols for testing the elicitation questions, and end-of-term evaluations to determine the effectiveness of the Peer Tutors.