Teaching Basic Calculations in an Introductory Biology Lab

Area of Science:

• Biology Education
• Undergraduate Science Pedagogy

Background:

• Quantitative reasoning is a core competency for transforming undergraduate biology curricula.
• First-year biology students often exhibit low confidence in their quantitative abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance quantitative skills in introductory biology students.
• To investigate the impact of a revised laboratory curriculum and repetitive assessment on learning basic laboratory calculations.

Main Methods:

• Revision of an introductory biology lab to focus on basic laboratory calculations.
• Utilization of diverse teaching tools: online prelab quizzes, minilab lectures, calculation worksheets, and video tutorials.
• Implementation of a repetitive assessment strategy for unit conversions, molar concentrations, and dilutions across all quizzes and exams.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant improvements in learning were observed for all three quantitative problem types assessed.
• Learning gains were significant from the initial assessment to the midterm, and notably, from the midterm to the final assessment.
• The most challenging calculation type, molar concentrations, demonstrated the greatest normalized learning gains in the latter half of the semester.

Conclusions:

• Persistent, repetitive assessment fosters continued learning of quantitative skills, even beyond formal instruction.
• This pedagogical approach can be effectively adapted to other science courses to improve essential quantitative competencies.