Concept-Centered Teaching

Calendar

SES #	TOPICS	In Class ActivitIES
1	Introduction - The Importance of Scientific Teaching and Mentoring
2	Reforming Undergraduate Biology Education	Ask the students to brainstorm a list of individuals they would want included on an undergraduate biology curriculum panel. Compare and contrast their list and the panel involved in Bio2010. Discuss the pros and cons of each individual.
3	Confronting Student Misconceptions	Ask the students to come up with a concept taught in introductory-level biology. Write the concept on the board and have the class break the statement down into individual concepts. Discuss how students in an intro class can get confused by complex ideas that we take for granted and the levels of understanding it takes to explain the original concept.
4	Teaching Complex Material as a Series of Basic Concepts	Activity 1 Ask the class to come up with a list of topics they feel are vital for students to learn in introductory biology. Write down all topics on the board whether or not everyone agrees. Go through the list one by one and discuss whether or not the entire class agrees on the inclusion of the topic. Discuss how this exercise represents the problems faced when establishing a national curriculum. Activity 2 (Time Permitting) The shape game.
5	Multiple Intelligences	Go around the room and ask each student to decide which intelligence most accurately reflects them. Encourage them to give multiple categories if they think their personality is reflected by more than one. Write all the categories on the board. Discuss as a class any trends observed in the categories and whether or not they feel biology majors tend to be a particular intelligence.
6	Usability Testing
7	Cooperative Learning	Ask the students to think of the different ways they were assigned to groups and write down the methods on the board. Discuss the pros and cons of each method and what their personal impressions were of each style.
8	Case Studies	Have the students brainstorm possible topics in biology that would lend themselves to case study format. Make the students choose one topic and design a scenario for it in the classroom.
9	Concept Mapping	Ask the students to develop a crude concept map using the basic concepts of biology under the headings “Genetics”, “Biochemistry”, and “Molecular Biology.” Discuss the possible impact of such maps on student understand of the big picture in introductory biology.
10	Concept-based Laboratories and Lecture Connections	Ask the students to brainstorm the different ways in which a laboratory could be incorporated into a school curriculum as a stand alone class, in addition to lecture, as a project lab, etc. Discuss the pros and cons of each format. Ask the class to come to a consensus as to which is the best method.
11	Predictors of Success in College Science	Ask the class to brainstorm topics we covered in high school physics. Discuss what we do and don’t remember and discuss if asking college students to remember high school is the best way to assess predictors of college success.
12	Assessment	Ask the students to brainstorm the different ways in which they have been graded in the past. Discuss the type of class in which these methods were used and which method they feel was most effective in determining how much they learned.
13	Student Self-assessment	Have the students grade a mock exam of all types of questions including true/false, multiple choice, short answer, matching, fill in, etc. Have the students evaluate each type of question for clarity, ease of grading, and assessment of concept knowledge.
14	Teaching Evolution	Have the students design their own end-of-term evaluation sheet. Have them copy the evaluation down and submit it after class. Be sure to emphasize that all points of view are important and valid!
15	Wrap-up