The changes made to the course, specifically to the laboratory sections, were time consuming and required an additional time commitment for faculty and staff compared with previous year. Based on this, I wanted to determine the efficacy of the course at increasing student interest and curiosity in studying Animal Sciences. We designed a questionnaire to investigate the relationship between self-reported curiosity in animal science and the perceived impact of seven learning activities.
The questionnaire was administered the last week of the fall semester to 238 students (93.2% response rate; n=22). Likert-scale questions prompted students to rate pre- and post-course levels of curiosity in animal sciences, and to rate the impact of each of the following learning activities on their interest in studying animal science: case studies, think-pair-share, exam review sessions, laboratory stations, laboratory handouts, iClicker questions, and laboratory critical reflections. The majority of the students indicated their pre- and post-course levels of curiosity in animal sciences as very high or extreme (67.1% and 65.3%, respectively).
Student interest in pursuing a career in Animal Sciences remained high from the beginning of the semester to the end (76.7% and 73.5% responding very probable or definitely, respectively). The percentage of students responding that they would probably, very probably, or definitely continue studying Animal Sciences remained high throughout the semester (91.5%, 85.2%).
Paired t-tests indicated no change in curiosity in animal sciences over the course of the semester.
At the beginning of the semester, 95.5% of students rated their curiosity level in animal sciences as moderate, very much, or extreme. This value remained high at the end of the semester with 93.2% of students rating their curiosity as moderate, very much, or extreme. Based on these data, it appears that the majority of students entered the course with a high level of interest in the subject area and had intention of studying animal science with the ultimate goal of a career in the discipline. At the completion of the course, these values remained high with the majority of students still preparing for a career in Animal Science.
So, if student interest remained high throughout the semester, were there certain activities that promoted this interest and curiosity more than others? My next question was to determine if there was a correlation between the seven identified learning activities and the end-of semester curiosity level. Pearson correlation coefficients showed a strong positive relationship between end-of-semester curiosity level and the perceived impact of each of the learning activities on interest. Of the learning activities, case studies and laboratory stations were most strongly related to end-of-semester curiosity (r = 0.373, 0.377). Lecture short answers and sharing ideas with a partner was also positively correlated (r = 0.328).
These results indicate that active learning strategies stimulated more interest in students with higher levels of curiosity in animal sciences and suggest that interactive, group-based instructional methods like case studies and laboratory stations are beneficial for this group of students. Case studies and laboratory stations are both time intensive. Case studies take additional time out of the lecture, but encourage student interaction and provide an opportunity for students to exercise their synthesizing / critical thinking skills. Stations in the lab allowed students to break into smaller learning groups.
Students participated in 13 labs throughout the semester. We asked students to rank each lab session in the order in which it helped you learn course material. Students listed the reproductive tract dissection, zoo management, and meat process lab as the top three. Both the dissection and meat processing lab provided a hands-on experience for students. The zoo management lab included a tour of the local zoo and students were allowed to interact and touch some of the animals.
The questionnaire was administered the last week of the fall semester to 238 students (93.2% response rate; n=22). Likert-scale questions prompted students to rate pre- and post-course levels of curiosity in animal sciences, and to rate the impact of each of the following learning activities on their interest in studying animal science: case studies, think-pair-share, exam review sessions, laboratory stations, laboratory handouts, iClicker questions, and laboratory critical reflections. The majority of the students indicated their pre- and post-course levels of curiosity in animal sciences as very high or extreme (67.1% and 65.3%, respectively).
Student interest in pursuing a career in Animal Sciences remained high from the beginning of the semester to the end (76.7% and 73.5% responding very probable or definitely, respectively). The percentage of students responding that they would probably, very probably, or definitely continue studying Animal Sciences remained high throughout the semester (91.5%, 85.2%).
Paired t-tests indicated no change in curiosity in animal sciences over the course of the semester.
At the beginning of the semester, 95.5% of students rated their curiosity level in animal sciences as moderate, very much, or extreme. This value remained high at the end of the semester with 93.2% of students rating their curiosity as moderate, very much, or extreme. Based on these data, it appears that the majority of students entered the course with a high level of interest in the subject area and had intention of studying animal science with the ultimate goal of a career in the discipline. At the completion of the course, these values remained high with the majority of students still preparing for a career in Animal Science.
So, if student interest remained high throughout the semester, were there certain activities that promoted this interest and curiosity more than others? My next question was to determine if there was a correlation between the seven identified learning activities and the end-of semester curiosity level. Pearson correlation coefficients showed a strong positive relationship between end-of-semester curiosity level and the perceived impact of each of the learning activities on interest. Of the learning activities, case studies and laboratory stations were most strongly related to end-of-semester curiosity (r = 0.373, 0.377). Lecture short answers and sharing ideas with a partner was also positively correlated (r = 0.328).
These results indicate that active learning strategies stimulated more interest in students with higher levels of curiosity in animal sciences and suggest that interactive, group-based instructional methods like case studies and laboratory stations are beneficial for this group of students. Case studies and laboratory stations are both time intensive. Case studies take additional time out of the lecture, but encourage student interaction and provide an opportunity for students to exercise their synthesizing / critical thinking skills. Stations in the lab allowed students to break into smaller learning groups.
Students participated in 13 labs throughout the semester. We asked students to rank each lab session in the order in which it helped you learn course material. Students listed the reproductive tract dissection, zoo management, and meat process lab as the top three. Both the dissection and meat processing lab provided a hands-on experience for students. The zoo management lab included a tour of the local zoo and students were allowed to interact and touch some of the animals.