Foundation Skills for Scientists: An Evolving Program

dc.creator	Elaine Khoo
dc.creator	Nancy Johnston
dc.creator	Sarah Fedko
dc.creator	Teresa Dawson
dc.creator	Sarah King
dc.date	2010-06-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-08-12T11:21:28Z
dc.date.available	2015-08-12T11:21:28Z
dc.identifier	http://dx.doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2010.1.7
dc.identifier	1918-2902
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/8f25f6b5dc5f4521850cd2d1565706b9
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/28967
dc.description	We have undertaken an integrated and collaborative approach to developing foundational skills of students in a first year, Introductory Biology course. The course is a large lecture and laboratory course with enrollments ranging from 800-1000 per year. Teaching and Learning experts were brought into the course as weekly ‘Foundation Skills for Scientists’ sessions were created. The initial challenges were to have effective knowledge exchange between collaborators and create an integrated course syllabus. Once effective sessions were created, the next challenge was to improve student valuation of them. High value was only achieved when the skill sessions were tightly linked to course assignments and activities and was delivered ‘just in time’. Even then, the challenge has been to motivate students to realize that the sessions are directly relevant to them. Overall, student performance has improved since the program was initiated as measured by rate of retention in the course, overall course marks and quality of writing.Nous avons utilisé une approche intégrée et collaborative pour approfondir les compétences de base des étudiants de première année qui suivent un cours d’introduction à la biologie. Il s’agit d’un cours magistral et en laboratoire, auquel s’inscrivent entre 800 et 1000 étudiants par an. Ce cours a bénéficié de l’apport d’experts en enseignement et en apprentissage afin d’appuyer le développement de séances hebdomadaires portant sur les compétences de base en sciences. Les difficultés initiales étaient de susciter un échange de connaissances efficace entre les collaborateurs et de créer un plan de cours intégré. Une fois les séances organisées, la difficulté suivante a été de faire en sorte que les étudiants les apprécient davantage. Ces derniers les ont jugées très utiles uniquement lorsqu’elles étaient étroitement liées aux tâches et aux activités et lorsqu’elles étaient offertes au moment opportun. Même alors, le défi a consisté à motiver les étudiants afin qu’ils se rendent compte que les séances leur sont directement pertinentes. Dans l’ensemble, la performance des étudiants s’est améliorée depuis le début du programme comme l’indiquent les mesures du taux de persévérance dans le cours, les notes générales et la qualité de la rédaction.
dc.language	English
dc.language	French
dc.publisher	Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
dc.relation	http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol1/iss1/7
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1918-2902
dc.source	Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning , Vol 1, Iss 1 (2010)
dc.subject	self-efficacy
dc.subject	curriculum alignment
dc.subject	scaffolding
dc.subject	skill development
dc.subject	collaborative approaches
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Foundation Skills for Scientists: An Evolving Program
dc.type	article