Biology 1402 Laboratory ‘Closing the Loop’ Implementations
The following list indicates ways in which we have used assessment-based results to improve the 1402
Laboratory course.
1) First semester graduate students assigned to teach the 1402 laboratory course are required to
enroll in a best teaching practices course taught within the department and operate under the
direct mentorship of more senior graduate students, receiving feedback on their teaching style
and delivery throughout their first semester of teaching.
2) The Biology 1402 manual was overhauled in 2010 in response to the results of a course-wide
survey of students and what they were expecting to learn from enrolling in this course.
3) Classroom lectures now incorporate on-line technologies and digital delivery of materials
through the addition of two large monitor displays in each of the two classrooms.
4) Active learning styles are emphasized during weekly lab meetings and TAs are encouraged to
actively engage students in the learning process during each lab.
5) Students of the course now actively engage in a self-teach activity during the comparative
anatomy lab whereby groups of students are responsible for teaching the rest of the class about
the unique anatomical structure of the animal they were assigned to examine.