The Problem Defining the problem Students struggle with understanding the molecular genetics concepts of transcription and translation. These concepts are central to understanding the many applications of recombinant DNA in agriculture. While the majority of students had completed courses in biology and genetics, they still struggled with these concepts in the agricultural biochemistry course. Previous studies found wide variation in the understanding students brought to class even within groups of students with common previous coursework. Project Goals To document students’ related previous coursework, To characterize student understanding at the start of the course, and To determine the relationship between academic performance in previous related courses and pretest scores. Course Overview Agricultural Biochemistry (3 credits): 200 level class made up of sophomores through seniors with 40-60 students enrolled each semester. This class is required for most Animal Science, Dairy Science, Food Science, Crops, and Horticulture Majors.

Methodologies & Types of Evidence of Student Learning Gathered Data Collection All students in the fall 2007 and spring 2008 sections of agricultural biochemistry were invited to participate. The data collection instrument was distributed in class and class time provided to complete the questions. The project was approved by the UW-River Falls Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects. Data Collection Instrument Informed content statement Previous course information Pretest - Define the following terms messenger RNA transfer RNA ribosomal RNA transcription translation Data Analysis Students were grouped based on previous coursework. Group Course(s) 1 Biology 2 Biology & Genetics 3 Other Course grades were pulled from the campus student record system. Pretest responses were scored giving 2 points for a correct definition, 1 point for a partially correct definition, and 0 for incorrect or blank answers. A total score, ranging from 0 to 10, was recorded for each participant. Data were analyzed using SPSS 14 for Windows.

Project Summary My project underwent a variety of changes from wanting to measure knowledge gained by teaching method to student preference of teaching method to the end choice of impact of previous course grades on student retention and understanding. The end choice was necessary in order to better develop a study to compare teaching methods and student preference for the methods. Eventually I would like to be able to better understand if students prefer the pencil and paper method, the hands-on Lego building or a computer simulation of basic molecular biology concepts such as transcription and translation. My results from the comparsion of grades to understanding of the concepts showed little correlation. So the grade from a previous course is not a good predictor of the understanding of a specific content area within a course. This fiding will allow me to better group my students to compare their preceptions of teaching methodologies.

Annotated List of Helpful Resources & References Include as much bibliographical information as you can, and very briefly describe the purpose of each resource within your project. If you can provide links to these resources, great! Ongoing

Results, Conclusions, & Implications Students related previous coursework Most (88 of students had taken a biology course. A majority (67 had also taken a genetics course. Nearly all students had taken at least one previous course that included the topics of transcription and translation. Student understanding at the start of the course Student scores ranged from 0 to 10. Over half of the students (54 scored 2 or lower. Each group of students produced similar score distributions. Relationship between academic performance in previous related courses and pretest scores Both students biology and genetics grades have a weak positive relationship with the pretest score. Implications Students’ performance in previous related courses is related to their understanding of selected molecular biology concepts, but this relationship is weak. This finding means that these concepts need to be reinforced across multiple courses. The findings also support the need to explore the effectiveness of different instructional methods for increasing students understanding of molecular biology concepts.

Career Relevance & Impact The Teaching Scholar program has helped me to continue my SOTL work and focus on a specific project. The interactions with the other Scholars and Fellows was extremely worthwhile not only for working on my SOTL project but better understanding other campuses and getting ideas from different academic perspectives. The most beneficial aspects were the opportunities to brainstorm about our SOTL projects and teaching in general.