QBIC General Biology Lab

1. QBIC General Biology Lab

2. Learning Activities Students do fictional search on given literature topic Summer before schoolyear Library session on finding scientific resources in the school library From the beginning of the fall Students exposed to different kinds of science literature in Journal Club Students read, analyze and present peer-reviewed papers In-class session on ‘how to write a good lab report’ Students provided paper, relate each section to requirements Second week of lab In-class and homework writing assignments Periodically until lab report assignment given Students provided data set, write conclusions paragraph

3. Formative Assessments In-class and homework assignments where students analyze ‘results’ sections and write brief conclusions, essentially practicing writing different parts of a lab report. Students given, graph and asked to analyze. Same is done with different parts of a published paper Weekly until lab report assignment Students are given example lab report with indications on appropriate writing style First draft is extensively reviewed by me, but not graded. Each student mandatorily meets with me to go over corrections. The meeting with me is one-on-one and covers grammar, structure and scientific writing styles Two weeks before final draft is due

4. Summative Assessments Lab Report on nutrient flow in a contained ecosystem written in the style of the journal ‘Ecology’. Three lab reports are written per semester worth 35% of the final grade. Part of lab report grading rubric

5. Timeline Re-analyze unit objectives in the context of the ‘Pentagon’ (the classes that the lab is connected to) July 2012 Create objectives/concept map linking all objectives and course activities to each other and other courses in the Pentagon July 2012 Apply backward design approach to Genetics Journal Club August 2012 Fidelity assessments of freshman and sophomore courses to QBIC program and standardized exam objectives FALL 2012