A model for using a concept inventory as a tool for students' assessment and faculty professional development.

TitleA model for using a concept inventory as a tool for students' assessment and faculty professional development.
Publication TypeJournal Articles
Year of Publication2010
AuthorsMarbach-Ad G, McAdams KC, Benson S, Briken V, Cathcart L, Chase M, El-Sayed NM, Frauwirth K, Fredericksen B, Joseph SW, Lee V, McIver KS, Mosser D, B Quimby B, Shields P, Song W, Stein DC, Stewart R, Thompson KV, Smith AC
JournalCBE Life Sci Educ
Volume9
Issue4
Pagination408-16
Date Published2010 Winter
ISSN1931-7913
KeywordsCurriculum, Faculty, Models, Theoretical, Research, Students, Teaching
Abstract

This essay describes how the use of a concept inventory has enhanced professional development and curriculum reform efforts of a faculty teaching community. The Host Pathogen Interactions (HPI) teaching team is composed of research and teaching faculty with expertise in HPI who share the goal of improving the learning experience of students in nine linked undergraduate microbiology courses. To support evidence-based curriculum reform, we administered our HPI Concept Inventory as a pre- and postsurvey to approximately 400 students each year since 2006. The resulting data include student scores as well as their open-ended explanations for distractor choices. The data have enabled us to address curriculum reform goals of 1) reconciling student learning with our expectations, 2) correlating student learning with background variables, 3) understanding student learning across institutions, 4) measuring the effect of teaching techniques on student learning, and 5) demonstrating how our courses collectively form a learning progression. The analysis of the concept inventory data has anchored and deepened the team's discussions of student learning. Reading and discussing students' responses revealed the gap between our understanding and the students' understanding. We provide evidence to support the concept inventory as a tool for assessing student understanding of HPI concepts and faculty development.

DOI10.1187/cbe.10-05-0069
Alternate JournalCBE Life Sci Educ
PubMed ID21123686
PubMed Central IDPMC2995757
Grant List / / Howard Hughes Medical Institute / United States