Engaging Students in Informed Design Case Studies that Reinforce Laboratory Content

 

Brian R. Shmaefsky

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2017, Volume 38

Abstract

This pedagogical strategy being demonstrated in this workshop models the Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education recommendations to highlight new and existing resources for effecting change in college biology teaching. The project uses student-centered-authentic applied investigations to reinforce laboratory content. In this informed design model, students work as teams on scenarios in which they apply biology laboratory content for designing sustainable ways of resolving a social need. Participants will learn to engage students in clarifying design specifications and constraints in a step-by-step progression that leads them to a final product that they can transfer to a real life application.

Keywords:  sustainability, team-based learning, critical thinking, student-centered learning, case study, effecting change, informed design

University of Houston (2016)