Tinsley Heather N
Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics, University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL 35115.
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2016 Dec 2;17(3):380-388. doi: 10.1128/jmbe.v17i3.1135. eCollection 2016 Dec.
Despite the importance of scientific literacy, many foundational science courses are plagued by low student engagement and performance. In an attempt to improve student outcomes, an introductory biology course for nonscience majors was redesigned to present the course content within the framework of current events and deliberative democratic exercises. During each instructional unit of the redesigned course, students were presented with a highly publicized policy question rooted in biological principles and currently facing lawmakers. Working in diverse groups, students sought out the information that was needed to reach an educated, rationalized decision. This approach models civic engagement and demonstrates the real-life importance of science to nonscience majors. The outcomes from two semesters in which the redesign were taught were compared with sections of the course taught using traditional pedagogies. When compared with other versions of the same course, presenting the course content within a deliberative democratic framework proved to be superior for increasing students' knowledge gains and improving students' perceptions of biology and its relevance to their everyday lives. These findings establish deliberative democracy as an effective pedagogical strategy for nonmajors biology.
尽管科学素养很重要，但许多基础科学课程都存在学生参与度低和成绩不佳的问题。为了提高学生的学习成果，一门面向非科学专业学生的生物学入门课程进行了重新设计，以便在时事和协商民主活动的框架内呈现课程内容。在重新设计的课程的每个教学单元中，都会向学生提出一个基于生物学原理且目前立法者正在面临的广为人知的政策问题。学生们以不同的小组开展工作，寻找做出明智、合理决策所需的信息。这种方法模拟了公民参与，并向非科学专业学生展示了科学在现实生活中的重要性。将两个采用重新设计教学法的学期的成果与使用传统教学法授课的课程部分进行了比较。与同一课程的其他版本相比，在协商民主框架内呈现课程内容在增加学生知识收获以及改善学生对生物学及其与日常生活相关性的认知方面被证明更具优势。这些发现确立了协商民主作为非专业生物学有效教学策略的地位。
