Context; Research Problem

Research

1. Evaluation of community college student preparedness for upper-level coursework

Comparison of early course - late course knowledge retention in pre-requisite biology course:

Course: Principles of Biology Bio103; fulfills lab science requirement for non-science majors, also pre-requisite course for students without recent HS biology/chemistry background

Level: introductory

Enrollment: 200 students/semester; large lecture with 12 small lab sections. Majority of students (>60%) are non-science majors; remaining are pre-science or pre-Nursing.

Evaluation of student attitude/confidence in biology knowledge and understanding of biology core principles

Courses: Microbiology (Bio113); Human Anatomy and Physiology I (Bio107); Nutrition (Bio114)

Level: sophomore (at community college) or junior (at 4 year institution)

Enrollment: HAP I - 150 students Fall; 80 students spring (most are repeating after not achieving C+)
                   Nutrition - 40 students/semester; non-lab science
                   Microbiology - 60 students/semester; day and evening sections

Demographics: >55% of students are health science majors (Nursing); remaining are science majors

2. Assessment of inquiry-based laboratory project impact on student understanding of metabolism

Course: Microbiology (Bio113)

Scholar Implementation Plan

IRB (date filed)

Data collection complete (date)

Data Analysis (date)