SUNY Canton
Course Title: Introduction to Biology
Contact: David Barnes
SUNY Canton plans to combine two developmental introductory biology courses into one course, Introduction to Biology. There is significant overlap in material between the two courses which currently enroll ~ 400 students annually in eight sections. The courses have historically been taught in a traditional lecture format, meeting three times a week, plus a weekly two-hour lab.
The traditional biology courses suffer from a common problem of low success rates. They average a 13% withdrawal rate, a 28% failure rate, and low average grades (1.63 on a 4.0 scale). These high failure and withdrawal rates result in students often taking the course multiple times.
SUNY Canton will redesign these courses using the Replacement Model, merging the two introductory level courses into one course and increasing section size from 60 to 80 students. One of the weekly lecture periods will be replaced with a weekly online tutorial. Students will be required to complete this monitored and graded tutorial which will introduce the major concepts to be covered in the subsequent lectures. Low stakes assessment will be embedded in the tutorials to identify problems that will then be addressed in the lecture. In the one weekly class meeting, students will be broken into smaller learning groups for discussions and problem-based learning activities. Peer tutors will provide individualized assistance, both online and face-to-face. A new course coordinator will be responsible for designing and running the online tutorials, monitoring student progress and working closely with the instructor to plan the lecture material based on student performance and online tutorial assessments.
The redesigned course will enhance the students’ educational experience by making them active and engaged learners. The online tutorials will provide immediate feedback, helping both students and faculty to focus on areas that need improvement. Tracking software will identify students in need of help. Introducing concepts through computer-assisted activities and creating small learning groups will provide opportunities for students to engage in more active learning and team based problem-solving.
The impact of the course redesign on student learning outcomes will be assessed using a common final examination developed by department faculty. In the pilot phase, performance data from traditional and redesigned sections will be compared. Students will be randomly assigned to either section. The data collected during the pilot phase will then be used as baseline data to assess student performance in the full implementation phase of the redesign. Student performance will also be tracked in subsequent higher level biology courses.
Cost reduction strategies include combining two courses into one, reducing the number of sections from eight to five and increasing section size from 60 to 80 students each. One full-time faculty member will be replaced with a lower-cost course coordinator position and eight undergraduate peer tutors. The cost-per-student for the two traditional courses is $107 and $153, or a weighted average of $120. The redesigned course cost-per-student will be $98, an 18% cost savings. The savings will be used to increase the science department’s course offerings.
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