Using Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences

Educators must often measure the effectiveness of their instruction. We designed, developed, and preliminarily evaluated a multiple-choice assessment tool that requires students to apply what they have learned to evaluate scientific abstracts. This examination methodology offers the flexibility to b...

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Autores principales:	Rebecca Giorno, William Wolf, Patrick L. Hindmarsh, Jeffrey V. Yule, Jeff Shultz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2013
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e9ae9bd12a3e493d94ce01aae24c8c1e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e9ae9bd12a3e493d94ce01aae24c8c1e2021-11-15T15:18:40ZUsing Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences10.1128/jmbe.v14i2.6331935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/e9ae9bd12a3e493d94ce01aae24c8c1e2013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v14i2.633https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885Educators must often measure the effectiveness of their instruction. We designed, developed, and preliminarily evaluated a multiple-choice assessment tool that requires students to apply what they have learned to evaluate scientific abstracts. This examination methodology offers the flexibility to both challenge students in specific subject areas and develop the critical thinking skills upper-level classes and research require. Although students do not create an end product (performance), they must demonstrate proficiency in a specific skill that scientists use on a regular basis: critically evaluating scientific literature via abstract analysis, a direct measure of scientific literacy. Scientific abstracts from peer-reviewed research articles lend themselves to in-class testing, since they are typically 250 words or less in length, and their analysis requires skills beyond rote memorization. To address the effectiveness of particular courses, in five different upper-level courses (Ecology, Genetics, Virology, Pathology, and Microbiology) we performed pre- and postcourse assessments to determine whether students were developing subject area competence and if abstract-based testing was a viable instructional strategy. Assessment should cover all levels in Bloom’s hierarchy, which can be accomplished via multiple-choice questions (2). We hypothesized that by comparing the mean scores of pre- and posttest exams designed to address specific tiers of Bloom’s taxonomy, we could evaluate the effectiveness of a course in preparing students to demonstrate subject area competence. We also sought to develop general guidelines for preparing such tests and methods to identify test- and course-specific problems.Rebecca GiornoWilliam WolfPatrick L. HindmarshJeffrey V. YuleJeff ShultzAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 14, Iss 2, Pp 275-276 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Rebecca Giorno William Wolf Patrick L. Hindmarsh Jeffrey V. Yule Jeff Shultz Using Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences
description	Educators must often measure the effectiveness of their instruction. We designed, developed, and preliminarily evaluated a multiple-choice assessment tool that requires students to apply what they have learned to evaluate scientific abstracts. This examination methodology offers the flexibility to both challenge students in specific subject areas and develop the critical thinking skills upper-level classes and research require. Although students do not create an end product (performance), they must demonstrate proficiency in a specific skill that scientists use on a regular basis: critically evaluating scientific literature via abstract analysis, a direct measure of scientific literacy. Scientific abstracts from peer-reviewed research articles lend themselves to in-class testing, since they are typically 250 words or less in length, and their analysis requires skills beyond rote memorization. To address the effectiveness of particular courses, in five different upper-level courses (Ecology, Genetics, Virology, Pathology, and Microbiology) we performed pre- and postcourse assessments to determine whether students were developing subject area competence and if abstract-based testing was a viable instructional strategy. Assessment should cover all levels in Bloom’s hierarchy, which can be accomplished via multiple-choice questions (2). We hypothesized that by comparing the mean scores of pre- and posttest exams designed to address specific tiers of Bloom’s taxonomy, we could evaluate the effectiveness of a course in preparing students to demonstrate subject area competence. We also sought to develop general guidelines for preparing such tests and methods to identify test- and course-specific problems.
format	article
author	Rebecca Giorno William Wolf Patrick L. Hindmarsh Jeffrey V. Yule Jeff Shultz
author_facet	Rebecca Giorno William Wolf Patrick L. Hindmarsh Jeffrey V. Yule Jeff Shultz
author_sort	Rebecca Giorno
title	Using Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences
title_short	Using Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences
title_full	Using Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences
title_fullStr	Using Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences
title_full_unstemmed	Using Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences
title_sort	using scientific abstracts to measure learning outcomes in the biological sciences
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/e9ae9bd12a3e493d94ce01aae24c8c1e
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Using Scientific Abstracts to Measure Learning Outcomes in the Biological Sciences

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