Join us on Wednesday, October 9th, 2024 at 1:00 PM EASTERN for a conversation with Scott Freeman (University of Washington) and Kelly Hennessey about the NSF consensus study Nationally endorsed learning objectives to improve course design in introductory biology.
Can’t attend live? No problem! Register anyway, and we’ll send you the recording to watch at your convenience.
The National Science Foundation consensus study Nationally endorsed learning objectives to improve course design in introductory biology by Kelly Hennessey and Scott Freeman (University of Washington) was recently published in PLOS ONE.
This landmark study included input from over 800 biology instructors around the country to produce a nationally endorsed set of 163 lesson-level (or instructional) learning objectives for year-long introductory biology majors courses.
In this webinar, the authors of the study will discuss:
How the learning objectives from this study can be used to implement backward course design—aligning them with learning activities and with formative and summative assessments.
How adding more structure to your course can reduce grade inequities and give all students a greater chance of success.
How the learning objectives from this consensus study can liberate instructors from “the tyranny of content,” allowing them to re-focus their course on only essential vocabulary and concepts.
The authors will highlight some of the key literature that shows that high-structure courses can cut grade inequities by 40+%. They will also give a demonstration of how Codon’s platform can reduce this percentage even further by combining structure with key evidenced-based teaching and learning methods such as self-testing, spacing, and metacognition.
Dr. Scott Freeman is Lecturer Emeritus at the University of Washington. The recipient of a UW Distinguished Teaching Award, he has published research on how innovative approaches to teaching science benefit all students, but particularly students from disadvantaged backgrounds. He is the author of the textbooks Biological Science and Evolutionary Analysis, which have sold over 500,000 copies and been translated into multiple languages, and the popular book Saving Tarboo Creek, which is for general audiences. He is the course director of Codon’s Learning’s majors biology curriculum Introducing the Life Sciences.
Dr. Kelly Hennessey taught high school (International Baccalaureate) biology and chemistry for 17 years before earning a Ph.D in Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Washington. Upon completing her Ph.D., she joined Scott Freeman as a postdoctoral researcher to develop lesson-level learning objectives for introductory biology courses. She currently serves as an educational support specialist at Codon Learning where she helps faculty design and teach evidence-based courses. She is excited about assisting instructors who aim to enhance their students' metacognitive skills, significantly improve study habits, and enhance the overall learning experience.