Creating Validated Learning Objectives to Improve Course Design and Student Outcomes in Introductory Biology

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This project aims to serve the national interest by helping the United States meet the need for qualified STEM professionals and scientifically literate citizens. Learning objectives are statements of what students should know and be able to do after instruction. In a well-designed science course, the curriculum and the exams and other assessments are tightly linked to learning objectives. However, no widely accepted set of learning objectives has been developed for introductory college biology for majors or nonmajors, even though these foundational courses are some of the most important in undergraduate STEM education. This project will engage over 300 biology faculty nationwide in creating a comprehensive set of learning objectives for these courses. In addition, it will 1) produce a user’s guide to support instructors who are new to implementing learning objectives, 2) publish an analysis of how learning objectives and course goals compare in the majors and nonmajors courses, and 3) launch the first large-scale study of how and why college science faculty begin incorporating learning objectives into their courses. Widespread use of learning objectives has the potential to improve the design of introductory biology courses for majors and nonmajors, which nationally enroll over 500,000 students each year.Backward course design is a fundamental component of scientific teaching and begins with explicit lists of overall course goals and more-granular learning objectives. College biology faculty and students have already benefitted from the general course goals articulated by the 2011 Vision and Change Report and the BioCore and BioSkills Guides. This project will complement and extend this previous work by producing the first nationally validated set of learning objectives for majors and non-majors introductory biology courses. These learning objectives will be drafted, revised, and validated through an iterative process conducted with focus groups and national surveys designed to incorporate feedback from over 300 faculty members representing a diversity of institution types and locations. Once consensus learning objectives are established for each course, the project team will analyze how the goals of majors and nonmajors courses differ and use interviews, focus groups, and surveys to research how biology faculty at different types of institutions across the U.S. are using learning objectives in their courses. The goal is to open a new field of inquiry on 1) how faculty design their courses, and 2) how using learning objectives and other elements of backward course design affects student performance. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.