Biotechnology Program and Department of Plant Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
CBE Life Sci Educ. 2012 Fall;11(3):323-32. doi: 10.1187/cbe.11-10-0094.
The North Carolina State University Biotechnology Program offers laboratory-intensive courses to both undergraduate and graduate students. In "Manipulation and Expression of Recombinant DNA," students are separated into undergraduate and graduate sections for the laboratory, but not the lecture, component. Evidence has shown that students prefer pairing with someone of the same academic level. However, retention of main ideas in peer learning environments has been shown to be greater when partners have dissimilar abilities. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that there will be enhanced student learning when lab partners are of different academic levels. We found that learning outcomes were met by both levels of student, regardless of pairing. Average undergraduate grades on every assessment method increased when undergraduates were paired with graduate students. Many of the average graduate student grades also increased modestly when graduate students were paired with undergraduates. Attitudes toward working with partners dramatically shifted toward favoring working with students of different academic levels. This work suggests that offering dual-level courses in which different-level partnerships are created does not inhibit learning by students of different academic levels. This format is useful for institutions that wish to offer "boutique" courses in which student enrollment may be low, but specialized equipment and faculty expertise are needed.
北卡罗来纳州立大学生物技术项目为本科生和研究生提供实验室密集型课程。在“重组 DNA 的操作和表达”这门课程中，学生们在实验室部分被分为本科生和研究生组，但讲座部分则不是。有证据表明，学生更喜欢与同水平的人搭档。然而，在同伴学习环境中，当合作伙伴具有不同的能力时，对主要思想的保留程度更高。因此，我们测试了一个假设，即当实验伙伴具有不同的学术水平时，学生的学习效果会增强。我们发现，无论配对如何，两个层次的学生都达到了学习目标。当本科生与研究生配对时，每个评估方法的本科生平均成绩都有所提高。当研究生与本科生配对时，许多研究生的平均成绩也略有提高。与合作伙伴合作的态度发生了巨大转变，更倾向于与不同学术水平的学生合作。这项工作表明，提供创建不同层次合作关系的双层次课程并不会抑制不同层次学生的学习。这种模式对于那些希望开设“精品”课程的机构很有用，这些课程的学生人数可能较少，但需要专门的设备和教师专业知识。
