Skip Navigation

EvoEdDL

Home Browse Resources Submission Instructions About Help Advanced Search

Use of an Inquiry-based Approach to Teaching Experimental Design Concepts in a General Ecology Course

The author of this TIEE Research Paper assessed student understanding of experimental design at the beginning and again at the end of a general ecology course in order to understand the impact of guided inquiry activities. Students participated in a series of labs in which they had increasing levels of responsibility for designing experiments or observational studies. Concepts of experimental design were also emphasized in inquiry-based components of the course lecture. Student understanding of experimental design was assessed using a pre- and post-test format (N = 46). Analysis of the pre-test results indicated that the best predictor of correct responses to questions about experimental design is whether the student self-reported participation in undergraduate research (p = 0.046). By the end of the course, all students improved on the post-test (mean 26%; p < 0.001) and there was no difference in post-test scores between groups of students with or without undergraduate research experience. The inquiry-based approach in the course may have provided experiences that were similar to some aspects of research for those students who lacked such experience. The author describes further changes in teaching strategies for the course based on the findings.
Associated files
Format
Resource Group TIEE
Resource Group Link https://ecoed.esa.org/index.php?P=SearchResults&F46=TIEE
Primary or BEN resource type
Discipline Specific Core Concepts
Life science discipline (subject)
Keywords research practitioner; TIEE; teaching as scholarship; pedagogy; student active; experimental design; inquiry-based; guided inquiry
Audience
Intended End User Role
Language
Educational Language
Pedagogical Use Category
Pedagogical Use Description The article is a useful resource for faculty who are teaching experimental design, since the author describes her results using guided inquiry to teach students the skills and concepts over a series of labs. The article is also a useful resource for faculty who are interested in using student-active teaching methods and assessing them, since the author describes her methods and provides some of the resources she used in the classroom on the TIEE website. This article was published in Volume 5 of TIEE.
Aggregation Level
Structure
Url http://tiee.esa.org/vol/v5/research/hane/article.html
Full Name of Primary Author Elizabeth Hane
Primary Author Controlled Name
Primary Author Affiliation Rochester Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biological Sciences
Primary Author email enhsbi@rit.edu
Added By Id
  • educationintern
Rights Copyright 2007 by Elizabeth N. Hane and the Ecological Society of America.
License
Publisher
Review type
Drought and Water Ecosystem Services Collection Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection Off
Big Data Collection Off
Editors Choice No
Resource Status
Date Of Record Submission 2007-10-23
I Agree to EcoEdDL's Copyright Policy & Terms of Use No
Date Of Record Release 2010-02-16 01:30:16
Last Modified By Id
  • educationintern
Date Last Modified 2018-07-25 11:10:18
Release Flag Published

Resource Comments

(no comments available yet for this resource)