Beyond active learning: Using 3-Dimensional learning to create scientifically authentic, student-centered classrooms.

In recent years, much of the emphasis for transformation of introductory STEM courses has focused on "active learning", and while this approach has been shown to produce more equitable outcomes for students, the construct of "active learning" is somewhat ill-defined and is often used as a "catch-all" that can encompass a wide range of pedagogical techniques. Here we present an alternative approach for how to think about the transformation of STEM courses that focuses instead on what students should know and what they can do with that knowledge. This approach, known as three-dimensional learning (3DL), emerged from the National Academy's "A Framework for K-12 Science Education", which describes a vision for science education that centers the role of constructing productive causal accounts for phenomena. Over the past 10 years, we have collected data from introductory biology, chemistry, and physics courses to assess the impact of such a transformation on higher education courses. Here we report on an analysis of video data of class sessions that allows us to characterize these sessions as active, 3D, neither, or both 3D and active. We find that 3D classes are likely to also involve student engagement (i.e. be active), but the reverse is not necessarily true. That is, focusing on transformations involving 3DL also tends to increase student engagement, whereas focusing solely on student engagement might result in courses where students are engaged in activities that do not involve meaningful engagement with core ideas of the discipline.

Systemic advantage has a meaningful relationship with grade outcomes in students' early STEM courses at six research universities.

Background: Large introductory lecture courses are frequently post-secondary students' first formal interaction with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Grade outcomes in these courses are often disparate across student populations, which, in turn, has implications for student retention. This study positions such disparities as a manifestation of systemic inequities along the dimensions of sex, race/ethnicity, income, and first-generation status and investigates the extent to which they are similar across peer institutions. Results: We examined grade outcomes in a selected set of early STEM courses across six large, public, research-intensive universities in the United States over ten years. In this sample of more than 200,000 STEM course enrollments, we find that course grade benefits increase significantly with the number of systemic advantages students possess at all six institutions. The observed trends in academic outcomes versus advantage are strikingly similar across universities despite the fact that we did not control for differences in grading practices, contexts, and instructor and student populations. The findings are concerning given that these courses are often students' first post-secondary STEM experiences. Conclusions: STEM course grades are typically lower than those in other disciplines; students taking them often pay grade penalties. The systemic advantages some student groups experience are correlated with significant reductions in these grade penalties at all six institutions. The consistency of these findings across institutions and courses supports the claim that inequities in STEM education are a systemic problem, driven by factors that go beyond specific courses or individual institutions. Our work provides a basis for the exploration of contexts where inequities are exacerbated or reduced and can be used to advocate for structural change within STEM education. To cultivate more equitable learning environments, we must reckon with how pervasive structural barriers in STEM courses negatively shape the experiences of marginalized students. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40594-024-00474-7.

Characterizing college science instruction: The Three-Dimensional Learning Observation Protocol.

The importance of improving STEM education is of perennial interest, and to this end, the education community needs ways to characterize transformation efforts. Three-dimensional learning (3DL) is one such approach to transformation, in which core ideas of the discipline, scientific practices, and crosscutting concepts are combined to support student development of disciplinary expertise. We have previously reported on an approach to the characterization of assessments, the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol (3D-LAP), that can be used to identify whether assessments have the potential to engage students in 3DL. Here we present the development of a companion, the Three-Dimensional Learning Observation Protocol (3D-LOP), an observation protocol that can reliably distinguish between instruction that has potential for engagement with 3DL and instruction that does not. The 3D-LOP goes beyond other observation protocols, because it is intended not only to characterize the pedagogical approaches being used in the instructional environment, but also to identify whether students are being asked to engage with scientific practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. We demonstrate herein that the 3D-LOP can be used reliably to code for the presence of 3DL; further, we present data that show the utility of the 3D-LOP in differentiating between instruction that has the potential to promote 3DL from instruction that does not. Our team plans to continue using this protocol to evaluate outcomes of instructional transformation projects. We also propose that the 3D-LOP can be used to support practitioners in developing curricular materials and selecting instructional strategies to promote engagement in three-dimensional instruction.

Verbal final exam in introductory biology yields gains in student content knowledge and longitudinal performance.

We studied gains in student learning over eight semesters in which an introductory biology course curriculum was changed to include optional verbal final exams (VFs). Students could opt to demonstrate their mastery of course material via structured oral exams with the professor. In a quantitative assessment of cell biology content knowledge, students who passed the VF outscored their peers on the medical assessment test (MAT), an exam built with 40 Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) questions (66.4% [n = 160] and 62% [n = 285], respectively; p < 0.001);. The higher-achieving students performed better on MCAT questions in all topic categories tested; the greatest gain occurred on the topic of cellular respiration. Because the VF focused on a conceptually parallel topic, photosynthesis, there may have been authentic knowledge transfer. In longitudinal tracking studies, passing the VF also correlated with higher performance in a range of upper-level science courses, with greatest significance in physiology, biochemistry, and organic chemistry. Participation had a wide range but not equal representation in academic standing, gender, and ethnicity. Yet students nearly unanimously (92%) valued the option. Our findings suggest oral exams at the introductory level may allow instructors to assess and aid students striving to achieve higher-level learning.

Analysis of student performance in large-enrollment life science courses.

This study examined the historical performance of students at Michigan State University in 12 life sciences courses over 13 yr to find variables impacting student success. Hierarchical linear modeling predicted 25.0-62.8% of the variance in students' grades in the courses analyzed. The primary predictor of a student's course grade was his or her entering grade point average; except for the second course in a series (i.e., Biochemistry II), in which the grade for the first course in the series (i.e., Biochemistry I) was often the best predictor, as judged by ß values. Student gender and major were also statistically significant for a majority of the courses studied. Female students averaged grades 0.067-0.303 lower than their equivalent male counterparts, and majors averaged grades were 0.088-0.397 higher than nonmajors. Grades earned in prerequisite courses provided minimal predictive ability. Ethnicity and involvements in honors college or science residential college were generally insignificant.

Gender performance differences in biochemistry.

This study examined the historical performance of students at Michigan State University in a two-part biochemistry series Biochem I (n = 5,900) and Biochem II (n = 5,214) for students enrolled from 1997 to 2009. Multiple linear regressions predicted 54.9-87.5% of the variance in student from Biochem I grade and 53.8-76.1% of the variance in student from Biochem II grade. Overall, the student's cumulative GPA has the primary influence on their biochemistry grade in Biochem I for all models whereas either cumulative GPA or Biochem I performance has the primary influence on Biochem II grade. These factors were far more influential than any other predictors as their ß values were larger (5-10 times larger depending on the model). However, the gender of the student was also statistically significant for Biochem I and more than half of our Biochem II models with female students always predicted lower than their equivalent male counterparts. Biochemistry majors were also found to perform better in Biochem I. Interestingly, grades earned in prerequisite courses such as introductory biology, chemistry, or organic chemistry and ethnicity provided no additional predictive ability about students' performance in biochemistry. Enrollment in an honors college or science residential college had little direct impact on performance in biochemistry.

Synthesis and characterization of hydrogen-bonded assemblies of W6S8L6 clusters.

Ligand-exchange reactions involving octahedral W6S8 clusters and a family of pyridine-based ligands (isonicotinic acid, isonicotinamide, 4-hydroxypyridine, 4-aminopyridine, 4-pyridineacetamide) have been explored with the goal of preparing compounds that crystallize in hydrogen-bonded arrays. Two new compounds, W6S8(4-pyridineacetamide)6.DMF.4-pyridineacetamide (1) and W6S8(4-aminopyridine)6.4DMF (2), were isolated and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Both compounds crystallize in the P2(1)/c space group with a = 16.461(1), b = 33.08(2), c = 13.165(10) A, beta = 103.270(15) degrees for 1 and a = 13.8988(5), b = 13.2791(5), c = 15.6293(6) A, beta = 108.5410(10) degrees for 2. Each compound was further characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy, elemental (CHN) analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis. Examination of the structures shows that 1 forms a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded network in which each 4-pyridineacetamide ligand interacts with ligands on neighboring clusters or with the free ligand of crystallization. This is the first hydrogen-bonded network formed from W6S8 clusters. In 2, the amino groups act as hydrogen-bond donors toward DMF molecules of crystallization, but an extended array is not formed. In addition, the binding strengths of these pyridine-based ligands to the W6S8 cluster were studied through quantitative 1H NMR studies of ligand-exchange reactions. A qualitative relationship was found between ligand binding strengths and Hammett substituent constants for this group of ligands.

C-H activation of ethers and alkanes by germylene-aryl halide complexes.

Regioselective, room-temperature C-H activation of alkanes and ethers by stable germylenes and aryl halides is reported. Germylenes, Ge[CH(SiMe3)2]2 and Ge[N(SiMe3)2]2, and aryl halides, PhI, PhBr, and PhCl, have been employed. High yields of C-H activation products can be obtained through the use of high-dilution techniques.