Changing the Culture of Science Teaching
at a Large Research University
William B. Wood, Katherine Perkins, and Carl Wieman
Departments of MCD Biology and Physics
and Science Education Initiative
University of Colorado, Boulder
Vision and Change Conference
Washington, DC, July 16, 2009
How can we change the teaching culture of an entire
college so that science is taught more effectively?
An approach that seems to be succeeding:
The Science Education Initiative (SEI)
at U. of Colorado, Boulder and U. B. C.,
Vancouver, Canada
The SEI at University of Colorado
Funding from the University:
5-year project, 2006-2011
Competitive applications from departments
to participate in the program
Five participating science departments:
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Earth Sciences
Integrative Physiology
MCD Biology
Physics (funded in 2008)
All strongly research-oriented
All teaching many undergraduates
SEI Goal - to improve undergraduate science education
Process
In each department, for each large course:
• Establish specific learning goals through faculty
consensus
• Create validated assessments for measuring
attainment of learning goals
• Create and utilize pedagogically effective materials
and teaching approaches that are:
• aligned with the learning goals
• based on educational research
• improved each year based on assessment results
1. Establish specific learning goals through
faculty consensus
Learning goals:
• specify what students should be able to do by the
end of each course
• guide 60-70% of instruction (remainder discretionary)
• Result: the departmental curriculum is redefined
in terms of specific learning objectives, which can
be assessed by performance-based criteria
Example from our introductory genetics course
After completing this course, students should be able to:
1. Analyze phenotypic data and deduce patterns of inheritance
from family histories.
Course level (one of 9 course-level learning goals):
a) Draw a pedigree based on information in a story problem.
b) Distinguish between dominant, recessive, autosomal, Xlinked, and cytoplasmic modes of inheritance.
c) Calculate the probability that an individual in a pedigree
has a particular genotype.
Topic level (3-5 topic-level goals for each courselevel goal):
2. Create validated assessment tools for measuring
attainment of learning goals
These assessments:
• are aligned with learning goals
• validated through student interviews, input from
outside experts, and statistical analysis of
results from large numbers of students
• are administered as pre- and post-tests, to measure
normalized learning gain <g>
Difficulty Index (P)
Item Difficulty Index (P)
P values (mean fraction correct answers) on each of the
25 GCA questions, pre- and post-tests, grouped by
learning goal
LG2
1
0.9
LG3
LG1
LG4
LG5
LG7
LG9
LG6
0.8
0.7
0.6
LG8
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1 11 13
9 10 15 24
7
8 16 17 25
21 23
4 14 18
3 12
2
5
6 22
20
19
Question
Question number
n = 607 students
Pre-test
Post-test
increment
Smith, MK, Wood, WB, Knight, JK (2008) The Genetics Concept Assessment:
a New Concept Inventory for Gauging Student Understanding of Genetics.
CBE-Life Sci. Educ. 7: 422-430.
3. Create and utilize materials and teaching
approaches proven to be pedagogically effective
Materials and approaches include a variety of activities
in addition to or in place of lecturing that:
• are cooperative, involving students working in groups
• are coupled with immediate feedback
• require students to recall, think about, apply, and
verbalize important concepts, rather than simply
record facts for later memorization.
Some examples:
• Clicker questions (challenging, with peer discussion)
• Concept mapping
• Problem solving (in groups)
• Analysis of case studies (in groups)
• Analysis and explanation of research data
Implementation
• Research-active faculty don't have time to do
these things on their own.
• They are assisted by Science Teaching Fellows,
supported by the SEI grant.
Science Teaching Fellows (STFs):
• have Ph.D.'s in the discipline
• have elected to pursue careers in science education
• receive pedagogical training as a group from SEI
faculty and staff and occasionally education faculty
• do little actual teaching
• assist faculty in developing learning goals,
assessments, and teaching activities
• spearhead research to evaluate effectiveness of
materials and activities developed for each course,
in collaboration with faculty
How well is the SEI working,
three years into the 5-year project?
Use of SEI resources (primarily STFs) by faculty who
teach undergraduates in four departments
How well is the SEI working?
Courses impacted:
53
Courses using clickers, peer discussion
22
Students impacted/year:
~10,000
Faculty reporting increase in
discussions with peers about education
72%
Faculty reporting change in discussions
of teaching (less content, more pedagogy) 61%
Faculty reporting positive impact of SEI
on department
83%
More discussion of educational issues in
faculty meetings
All departments
How well is the SEI working?
Education publications by faculty collaborating with STFs*
Published:
3
Submitted or in preparation:
22
Several grants for support of education research
applied for, at least 2 funded
* As of February 2009
How well is the SEI working?
Are students learning more as a result of the SEI?
Yes, based on STF research results from several
individual courses
(overall evaluation of the program is in progress)
What SEI features are helping it work?
• Department-based (with strong central leadership)
• Competitive funding (departments must commit to
participate)
• One course at a time (in framework of departmentally
established learning goals)
• Faculty-STF relationship (post-doctoral level STFs are
stimulating and non-threatening to faculty)
• Synergy between STFs (fostering interdisciplinary
interaction and collaboration)
Sustainability?
• We predict that the cultural change with regard
to teaching will persist beyond the 5-year
project.
• Learning goals, assessments, and learning
activities are being archived and made
publically available online.
• New instructors can be assimilated into the
culture and provided with all the materials
they need to propagate these courses.
Conclusions
• The SEI appears to be on track to succeed in the
transformation of teaching for five science
departments.
• It should be sustainable beyond the project.
• It should be transferable to other institutions!
Acknowledgements: colleagues in MCD Biology
Jennifer Knight, Ph.D. - SEI Coordinator
Jia Shi - Science Teaching Fellow
Michelle Smith - Science Teaching Fellow
Twelve participating faculty members
The University of Colorado Science Education Initiative
http://www.colorado.edu/sei/