Undergraduates Achieve Learning Gains in Plant Genetics through Peer Teaching of Secondary Students
| Autor: | Michelle L. Klosterman, Justin M. Watkins, Hanya E. Chrispeels, Carole L. Gibson, J. B. Martin, Gloria K. Muday, Stacey R. Lundy |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Models Educational Adolescent Universities education Service-learning Genes Plant Peer Group General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Education Young Adult Concept learning Genetics ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION Mathematics education Humans Learning Statistical analysis Students Curriculum Schools Teaching Knowledge level Botany Peer group Articles Female Content knowledge Peer teaching |
| Zdroj: | CBE Life Sciences Education |
| ISSN: | 1931-7913 |
| Popis: | This work describes the learning gains of undergraduates who participated in a service-learning program involving teaching genetics to middle and high school students. Results show increases in content knowledge of topics taught by undergraduates, compared with other course content, assessed by both an immediate posttest and a delayed course final exam. This study tests the hypothesis that undergraduates who peer teach genetics will have greater understanding of genetic and molecular biology concepts as a result of their teaching experiences. Undergraduates enrolled in a non–majors biology course participated in a service-learning program in which they led middle school (MS) or high school (HS) students through a case study curriculum to discover the cause of a green tomato variant. The curriculum explored plant reproduction and genetic principles, highlighting variation in heirloom tomato fruits to reinforce the concept of the genetic basis of phenotypic variation. HS students were taught additional activities related to molecular biology techniques not included in the MS curriculum. We measured undergraduates’ learning outcomes using pre/postteaching content assessments and the course final exam. Undergraduates showed significant gains in understanding of topics related to the curriculum they taught, compared with other course content, on both types of assessments. Undergraduates who taught HS students scored higher on questions specific to the HS curriculum compared with undergraduates who taught MS students, despite identical lecture content, on both types of assessments. These results indicate the positive effect of service-learning peer-teaching experiences on undergraduates’ content knowledge, even for non–science major students. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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