Perceptions and Performance of Students in a Required No-lecture Biology Course
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Presenter: Neil Sabine, Ph.D.
Abstract
In 1999, Dr. Sabine began a radical change in his teaching. He began not lecturing at all in his introductory biology classes. This was a learning experience and students helped improve the technique over the next few semesters. Dr. Sabine became interested in seeing if the initial student perceptions of students changed over the semester in his no-lecture classes. He collected data from 2002 to 2009 on student performance and student perceptions in his introductory biology classes. He also compared student performance in no-lecture classes to over 10 years of student performance in classes where he had primarily lectured. Analysis of student perceptions in no-lecture introductory biology classes and a comparison of student performance in lecture and no-lecture formats in these classes will be presented, the results of a six-year study on student perceptions and performance in a no-lecture introductory biology course. This is a content-intensive course; directed reading, group discussion, and question-answer session were the principal components of instruction in no-lecture classes. Significant shifts in student perceptions about science were seen in the no-lecture classes.
Biographical Statement
Neil Sabine has been teaching a wide variety of biology courses since arriving at Indiana University East in 1991. He has been honored for teaching at the campus level (Helen Lees, Student Choice Award for Outstanding Teacher) and at the university level (Erv Boschman Award, Frederic Bachman Lieber Award, and Trustee’s Award for Excellence in Teaching). His most notable contribution to FACET (Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching) was serving as Chair on the Statewide Selection Committee for applicants wanting to join FACET.
Most of Dr. Sabine’s career has been as a field biologist where his studies have concentrated on bald eagles and turkey vultures. More specifically, he has been interested in roosting behavior, migratory patterns, and foraging behavior of these birds.