Measuring and Advancing Experimental Design Ability in an Introductory Course without Altering Existing Lab...

Area of Science:

• Biology Education
• Curriculum Development

Background:

• Traditional introductory biology labs often lack authentic research experiences.
• Semester-long research opportunities are known to improve student learning outcomes.
• Curricular changes for incorporating research can be challenging for faculty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a model for overlaying authentic research experiences onto introductory biology labs.
• To assess the impact of this model on students' experimental design abilities.
• To validate the Experimental Design Ability Test (EDAT) for assessing these gains.

Main Methods:

• Developed a working model to overlay research experiences onto existing lab structures.
• Implemented a pre-test/post-test design with experimental and comparison groups.
• Utilized exploratory factor analysis on the EDAT to identify latent factors.

Main Results:

• Students showed significant increases in both basic and advanced experimental design abilities.
• Students in the experimental group demonstrated significantly greater gains in advanced experimental design understanding.
• The EDAT analysis revealed two latent factors for assessing experimental design skills.

Conclusions:

• The proposed overlay model effectively integrates authentic research experiences into introductory biology.
• This model enhances students' experimental design skills with minimal increases in workload.
• The validated EDAT provides a reliable tool for assessing the effectiveness of such research experiences.