Assessment has long played an important role as a measurement tool of student mastery over course content. However, testing has also been shown to be an effective learning tool. Cumulative testing, ...in which all material from the entire learning period is covered, has been assumed to be effective, yet few studies have explicitly tested its effectiveness compared to non-cumulative testing. Studies in psychology and mathematics courses suggest that cumulative final exams increase long-term retention of information, and cumulative testing during the semester can increase cumulative final exam performance and long-term retention. Because frequent testing has also been shown to increase student learning, the purpose of this quasi-experimental study is to investigate the effects of cumulative versus non-cumulative midterms on student learning in a course that uses frequent assessment. In this study, one section of an introductory biology course for non-majors was given seven cumulative midterms, with about half of the questions drawn from previous units and the rest covering the current unit. The other section was given seven non-cumulative midterms that focused on current material while other course characteristics were held constant. Student performance on a common, cumulative final exam and a retention exam five months later were compared. Midterm format had no effect on final exam performance, contradicting the few studies done in psychology and mathematics courses. Thus, there may be no additional benefit of cumulative testing if exams are given frequently. Cumulative midterms appeared to increase retention after five months, but only for students who entered the course with low reasoning skills. Interestingly, students with high reasoning skills appeared to retain more from the course if they were given non-cumulative midterms. Possible explanations and ideas for future research are discussed.
To increase equity and inclusion for underserved and excluded Indigenous students, we must make efforts to mitigate the unique barriers they face. As their knowledge systems have been historically ...excluded and erased in Western science, we begin by reviewing the literature on the inclusion of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in biology education and describe best practices. Next, to better understand how Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) students integrate into the scientific community, we used Social Influence Theory as a framework to measure NHPI student science identity, self-efficacy, alignment with science values, and belonging. We also investigated how students feel their ethnic and science identities interact. We found that NHPI students do not significantly differ from non-NHPI students in these measures of integration, and that NHPI students are varied in how they perceive their ethnic and science identities interact. Some students experience conflict between the two identities, while others view the two as having a strengthening relationship. Next, we describe a lesson plan created to include Hawaiian TEK in a biology class using best practices described in the literature. This is followed by an empirical study on how students were impacted by this lesson. We measured student integration into the science community using science identity, selfefficacy, alignment with science values, and belonging. We found no significant differences between NHPI and non-NHPI students. We also looked at student participation, and found that all students participated more on intervention days involving TEK and other ways of knowing than on non-intervention days. Finally, we describe qualitative findings on how students were impacted by the TEK interventions. We found students were predominantly positively impacted by the inclusion of TEK and discuss future adjustments that could be made using their recommendations.The last chapter describes how we used remote sensing to investigate land cover in a fenced and unfenced region of the Koʻolau Mountains on the island of Oʻahu. After mapping the biodiversity hotspot Management Unit of Koloa, we found that there is slighlty more bare ground, grass, and bare ground/low vegetation mix in fenced, and thereby ungulate-free areas, than those that were unfenced and had ungulates. This could be indicative of faster growing species recolonizing after ungulate removal, but further research is needed. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Indigenous students are underrepresented in science, and researchers have called for integration of TEK into Western science. We summarize practical suggestions and caution from the literature for ...undergraduate biology instructors who want to make their course more equitable for Indigenous students.
Indigenous students are underrepresented in science, and the exclusion of Indigenous knowledge from Western education may be a contributor. Recently, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers have called for a better integration of Indigenous knowledge systems into Western science. One suggestion from the literature is to integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), or the diverse intimate knowledges and practices that relate to the environment that are commonly held by Indigenous peoples around the world, into our classrooms. However, this approach can be daunting and unfamiliar for undergraduate biology instructors, and they may be hesitant to attempt to include TEK in their classrooms. In this essay, we summarize practical suggestions and caution from the literature on how to include TEK in biology courses for instructors who are interested in increasing Indigenous student belonging using this approach. Suggestions include exploring other ways of knowing, teaching holistically, establishing a classroom culture of respect, explicitly including TEK, consulting Indigenous experts, incorporating Indigenous languages, and using other evidence-based teaching practices. Implementing these practices in biology classrooms may be messy, but engaging in this difficult process is important as we strive for more inclusivity in biology education. We end the essay with suggestions for future research.
Understanding the experiences of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) students in science courses can help us foster inclusivity and belonging for these often excluded and unacknowledged ...students. Using social influence theory as a framework, we investigated the intersection between ethnic-racial identity and science identity in NHPI students to better understand their experiences in undergraduate Biology courses. We collected both quantitative and qualitative data and used concurrent triangulation design in our mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data include measures of student pre- and post-course science identity, self-efficacy, alignment with science values, sense of belonging, environmental concern, strength of ethnic-racial identity, and the interaction between ethnic-racial and science identity. We measured environmental concern because NHPI cultures often have strong connections with the environment that may overlap well with environmental science values. Qualitative data included short responses to survey questions that asked students to describe the interaction between their science identity and their ethnicity. We found that NHPI and non-NHPI students do not significantly differ in any construct we measured, nor do they experience different gains across a semester when comparing pre- and post-scores. We also found that NHPI students' feelings concerning the intersection of their ethnic and science identities are varied and complex, with some students expressing feelings of conflict and many others expressing a strengthening relationship between those identities. We discuss implications for instructors and encourage them to acknowledge the community culture of wealth NHPI students bring to the classroom because of their ethnic-racial identities.
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