Principles of Biology 101 An introduction to critical thinking in the biological sciences Bryan M. Dewsbury Department of Biological Sciences University of Rhode Island

13,000 undergraduate students 56% RI, 44% out-of- state 20% minority

~300 students Multiple majors 6 teaching assistants 3 graduate students 3 undergraduate leaders (SI leaders) Home assignments Pop quizzes Interrupted lecture Problem-solving Fridays Support structures for students Class as a community

Goals To understand the structure of the building blocks of life (building blocks) To understand the basic processes that allow these structures to interact with each other in a functional way (basic processes) To understand the flow of information and matter (info flow) To learn HOW to learn biology (metacognition) To contextualize biology in everyday life (context) To understand the value of a community of learners (community)

AssessmentExplanationPercentage Group participationCOMMUNITY5 Survey assessmentsCOMMUNITY, BASIC PROCESSES, METACOGNITION4 In-class assignmentsCOMMUNITY, METACOGNITION, CONTEXT6 Summative ExamsBUILDING BLOCKS, INFORMATION FLOW, BASIC PROCESSES, CONTEXT Mix of higher order questions on exams 60 QuizzesBUIILDING BLOCKS, INFORMATION FLOW, COMMUNITY10 Homework assignmentsCOMMUNITY, BUILDING BLOCKS, INFORMATION FLOW, BASIC PROCESSES, METACOGNITION, CONTEXT Creative design project Star Genetics problem set ( Article review ( nine-days) 15 TOTAL 100

Learning Outcomes Taxonomy Level/Category Learning ActivitiesFormative AssessmentsSummative Assessment To apply the laws of thermodynamics to tonicity Application 1.IL in biophysics 2.Problem analysis 3.Soccer ball demo 1.Quiz question 2.SI problem set 3.Practice Exam 1. Exam question (A plant cell placed in a hypotonic soln gets turgid but does not explode (unlike an animal cell) explain…. To be a dependable team member Caring 1.Group assignment 2.In-class activities 3.Economics activity 1.Group evaluation w/ feedback and counseling 2.Group quizzes 1.Final group evaluation 2.CCS (research)

In-Class Activities: Econ activity Intros Syllabus quiz What is life, Nat sec (IL) PSF 1 (Each one teach one) Red Bull gives you wings! (IL) POP quiz Bond, chem bond (IL) PSF (Kahoot!) Out-of-Class Activities: Syllabus rev Chap Video lec Chap 2 Video lec Chap 3 Video lec Adap learning assign SI session Chap Video lec SI session Exam ques writing ex SI session M M WFWF PRE CLASS ACTIVITIES Survey Mindset and study skills write up Video on active learning communitybuilding blocksmetacognition group assessments, group assignments, (CCS) Formative and summative exams Long answers, predicting scores