Course Redesign ePortfolio Showcase

BIOL 152 is one of a three-semester introductory sequence for Biology majors at Chico State. To improve student outcomes, I am redesigning the course to introduce online Adaptive Learning tools. Student performance will be evaluated using pre-post assessments and grade distributions.

This study will provide an opportunity to determine whether the implementation of the flipped classroom format facilitates deeper learning by introductory biology students in the laboratory setting. Pre-lab videos that provide background and instruction regarding each lab will be provided to a subset of lab sections each week in an effort to allow more time in lab for additional active learning experiences for these lab sections. Moreover, this study will allow us to evaluate whether the additional time provided during the laboratory session for additional active learning experiences will provide students with a better understanding of the link between the lab experience and specific conceptual content encountered in the lecture portion of the course.

Biology 203 is an introductory course in data analysis, designed specifically for students entering natural and life sciences. The concepts and skills taught in this class will form the foundation of students' understanding of quantitative data analysis and comprises a key component of their undergraduate science education. The course has been identified as a bottleneck course, both in terms of availability and student success. Therefore, in redesigning the course a key goal was to improve student retention and performance. The format chosen was a flipped approach, in which students view online lectures and complete online quizzes outside of the classroom, then attend regular class sessions where they complete exercises designed to reinforce learning and develop proficiency in basic statistical analysis. Outcomes from the first semester when the new course was implemented for two sections indicated that redesign was successful in both target areas. In those sections that were flipped (n = 48 students), all enrolled students completed the course, the failure rate fell from 18% to 4% and the overall performance improved by 6 percentage points.

The redesigned version of Biology 101 online was offered in Fall 2014. The main focus is to increase student persistence and thereby increase the student pass rate. The redesigned course attempts to a) increase student engagement with the course material, b) give students more guidance on learning the required material, and c) identify struggling students and offering assistance. I have compared the pass rate of students who took the class online from prior semesters to the percentage of students who passed the course this semester.

During Fall 2014, we will offer the redesigned version of Biology 101 online. Our main focus is to increase student persistence and thereby increase the student pass rate. The redesigned course attempts to a) increase student engagement with the course material, b) give students more guidance on learning the required material, and c) identify struggling students and offering assistance. We will compare the pass rate of students who took the class online from prior semesters to the percentage of students who pass the course this semester.

BIOL 204 (Introduction to Life Sciences) was redesigned as a Biology Boot Camp in Fall of 2014. The redesigned BIOL 204 was offered as a 40 hour course the week prior to the academic year (as a BIO 195). The target audience was students between their Freshman and Sophomore years who struggled to pass chemistry and math courses. The first offering was as a BIO 195 pilot. We have found that this population often fails the first core biology course, and thus this is a bottleneck to graduation. We explored ways to offer it as a hybrid or online and with virtual labs in order to prepare students for the real lab experiences, which are much more costly. The intent is for the students to form a learning community and to continue with Supplemental Instruction heading forward into the fall se
mester. We found that the students in the cohort performed slightly better than the class average (CHEM 210 class average 70% pass rate, cohort 71% pass rate), even though that population typically had an almost complete failure rate. All of the students passed at least one component (lab or lecture), and they also all passed the chemistry they were taking concurrently. Because of the success, we have implemented similar type of student discussion and support as BIO 295 going forward.

BIOL 1010 (Principles of Biology) is a 3-unit survey course in biology for non-majors, and meets the CSU Stanislaus general education requirement in area B2. In this course we cover cells and molecules, genetics, evolution and ecology. This is a large lecture course, capped at 119 students. Historically (e.g., AY 2008-09 - 2011-12) D/F/W rates averaged 41% across all sections. My sections (n=7) of the course, prior to interventions detailed in this ePortfolio, averaged a 33% D/F/W rate. The goal of this project was to significantly reduce the D/F/W rate in the course. In Fall 2014 I piloted nine new interventions in the course; that semester the D/F/W rate dropped to 26%. This 15-point drop in the D/F/W rate is encouraging, and I am repeating the same course structure and interventions in Spring 2015 to see if the same results occur.

General Biology 1 is a content-heavy foundational course for Biological Sciences majors and is also required for students in other STEM disciplines. While the lecture section is relatively large (96 students), in light of the high school experience of incoming freshmen, the lab sections (24 students) provide an opportunity for more individualized instruction. The course redesign strategies to be implemented in Fall 2014 include: a more direct emphasis on the development of effective study skills, metacognition and reflection; incorporating adaptive learning components to online homework assignments; mini-videos recorded by the lecture instructor to help students make the connections between lecture and lab material; and supplemental instruction. For students who actively engage in the course, these strategies should improve long-term success in meeting student learning outcomes, student preparation for advanced coursework, and pass rates in the course.

The pass rate in Biology 1150 may be improved if some of the content was delivered in a different way. Each semester students attend class, work in lab and complete online homework that was associated with and due before the lecture on that topic. The redesign includes a similar model, but by making a small change by adding in an adaptive follow-up could help students review and improve performance on their exams.

The purpose of this project was to incorporate a series of modules for students in the core genetics course at CSU Monterey Bay. Biology 311 is a gateway course for the Biology major at CSUMB, and required for all Biology majors. As such, the size has increased from 30 students to 75 students per semester. Therefore, we have implemented a series of modules that can be accessed before and after class to enhance student access to genetic principles and laboratory-like projects in a course that does not currently have a hands on component. These modules are discussed in the classroom in groups, allowing the instructor to incorporate more hands on learning in the course, and work with a "flipped classroom" model a few times during the semester. The strategy is to allow a large number of students access to different teaching/learning styles and enhance the overall retention of knowledge and a greater understanding of the application of genetic principles in this core Biology course.

BIOL 201 (Biology of Organisms) is the second course in a three-course sequence required for Biology majors. It is a large lecture class (230+ students) with multiple lab sections. Because of the size of the class and because the nature of the labs is so different from the more experimental labs in the preceding course (Biology of the Cell), students are often disoriented and do not study effectively. This project partially flips instructional delivery, implementing on-line pre-quizzes for labs to ensure that students understand material and can put lab material in perspective before being confronted with it, thereby making their lab experience more effective.

This course redesign project will implement a STEM specific model of Supplemental Instruction (SI) known as Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL). In addition to best practice strategies of Supplemental Instruction, PLTL tools and curriculum created by Sacramento State's National Science Foundation STEP (Science Talent Expansion Program) grant are implemented to increase student success and pass rates for Bio 131. Supplementary Instruction curriculum designed by faculty utilizes backward design, scaffolding, and active engagement strategies. Student peer facilitators are continuously trained, observed, and evaluated during the semester. Student peer facilitators also conduct research projects on the effectiveness of PLTL as part of their professional development as scientists and peer educators.

To address the General Biology bottleneck at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB), an interdisciplinary team of faculty members representing Biological Sciences, English, and the University Libraries are redesigning one highly enrolled foundational biology course for majors (BIOL 1403, Animal Biology) which has both lecture and laboratory components. This course, which involves an examination of basic concepts in biological diversity, animal anatomy and physiology, and species interactions, is the first of three "first-year" Foundations of Biological Sciences courses required first-time freshman biology majors, the preliminary target group for this initiative.

An interdisciplinary team of faculty are collaborating to redesign two frequently offered, heavily-enrolled non-majors' biology courses: Biology 1001, Introduction to Biology lecture, and Biology 1002, Introduction to Biology Lab/Activity section. These two biology courses primarily serve students fulfilling their lower division GE science (lecture and lab/activity) requirement. As is typical with science GE courses, students taking these courses show a wide range of scientific literacy and confidence in their scientific knowledge. This, in addition to large class sizes, non-coordinated laboratory instructors, non-alignment of lecture and laboratory, and curriculum consisting of didactic presentations and canned labs exercises, comprise just some of the challenges inherent to this course. The redesign of this course will address these and other issues and will result in greater engagement and learning in the courses, greater connection of the course material to the world and daily life, increased interest in STEM-related courses and fields, improved critical thinking, greater information literacy in the sciences, and improved reading and writing skills. These courses serve over 600 CSUEB students each academic year (AY) and a minimum of 150 students every quarter, and, thus, their redesign will have a significant impact on a large number of students.

During Spring 2014, we will test several approaches that may enhance student learning in Biol 101. Those with positive effects on student performance will be introduced into other sections in the future. In Spring 2014, each of 7 course instructors will introduce one specific pedagogical change to their course section(s): (1) Supplemental Instruction, (2) frequent in-class assessment using clickers, (3) student pre-class preparation/mastery using online quizzes and self-tests associated with the textbook (Prep U©), (4) SoftChalk© tutorials on study skills and difficult course concepts, and (5) the flipped classroom model. We will assess the impacts on student performance by quantifying (a) pass rates and gpa, (b) exam scores, (c) student attitudes using the CLASS-BIO survey, (d) student understanding of key concepts using embedded questions on exams, and comparing the Spring 2014 classes with those taught by the same instructor in Fall or Spring 2013.

Course redesign to increase capacity, better articulate with transfer students, and improve student success by reducing the total number of units (10 to 8) while retaining an inquiry-based curriculum. Redesign occurred during 2013-14 academic year and courses were piloted during the 2014-15 academic year with full implementation to start in the fall of 2015.

This project seeks to redesign the Biology 1BL Lab course, which is part of the Introductory Biology sequence for Biology Majors, to incorporate more active-learning modules in combination with computer simulations to effectively engage students. Our goal is to increase student success within this class and help prepare students with relevant laboratory skills, a proper conceptual framework, and effective learning strategies to improve their progress throughout the Biology major.

In 2011 we started a program in our campus aimed at improving student success in STEM disciplines through a flipped classroom facilitated by Learning Assistants (LAs). Currently more than 400 students, and 30 learning assistants benefit from the program every semester. The results are impressive (statistics are provided in last year's eportfolio), and at the end of every semester we hear raving praise for the program from students and LAs. One of the goals of this proposal is, of course, to continue to improve and carefully grow the program by supporting faculty and LAs. At the end of each semester, the learning assistants frequently comment on how much better learners they have become through the program, and we often wonder how to extend these benefits as to reach all of our students. Our second goal in this proposal is exactly that: to build a learning skills website to provide resources that can help students improve their metacognitive skills, and learn how to learn. We are creating tools that students can freely access, as well as activities that can be assigned to students by any faculty member teaching a STEM class. Students will be able to document their work and turn it into their instructor for extra-credit or participation points. The website will also contain selected links to external resources; and a few short videos that where we model a productive and reflective dialog between two students. For example, one of the videos will show two students talking about what to do after they fail their first midterm.

We seek to introduce active learning and redesigned course content in Biology 1A, an introductory course for biology majors. We are aligning the content with the five core themes emphasized in Vision and Change in Biology Education published by American Association for the Advancement of Science. During this semester, we are introducing a module on "transformation of energy and matter" designed using backward design. We are using clicker questions for active learning and case studies which demonstrate applications of the key core concepts. In addition, we have incorporated adaptive testing modules available with the textbook to provide feedback to students about their learning. Lastly, we will also identify students at risk early in the semester and encourage these students to enroll in supplemental instruction. Our main goal is to increase student success rates in this class and provide the framework for future biology courses.

This project seeks to redesign the Biology 1BL Lab course, which is part of the Introductory Biology sequence for Biology Majors, to incorporate more active-learning modules in combination with computer simulations to effectively engage students. Our goal is to increase student success within this class and help prepare students with relevant laboratory skills, a proper conceptual framework, and effective learning strategies to improve their progress throughout the Biology major.

By making my class online, I am addressing the enrollment bottleneck of this General Education class. Any given quarter most classes are full to capacity, with many students still trying to add the course. With sufficient rooms available, there may be 1200 students enrolled each quarter. With an increasing student population space is always a concern. We frequently teach in rooms that are part of other colleges, so the reliability of those rooms being available is another concern. By making a course online, more students will be able to take the course without taking up classroom space. This is also beneficial for the students, many of which have work or family commitments, and for whom meeting regularly at a particular time may be inconvenient or impossible.

BIOL 102/102L Human Biology - looking at the transfer of pedagogy from a traditional undergraduate lab course, to a functional and successful online environment. The aim was to match and improve upon well-known tactics to deliver a lab course, using the redesign effort to create an interactive student experience.

In order to better understand the impact of course redesign elements on student performance in this and future coursework, I obtained Institutional Research Board approval to collect detailed data associated with participating students. The analysis includes three semesters of data from the redesigned course. Conclusions will inform future approaches to instruction in General Biology 1.

BIOL 201 (Biology of Organisms) is the second course in a three-course sequence required for Biology majors. It is a large lecture class (230 students) with multiple lab sections. Formative assessments play a critical role in informing instruction. However, the large number of students in classes such as this limits opportunities for giving traditional formative assessments (quizzes, student-teacher conversations, etc.), hence limits the instructor's ability to gauge student performance. This course redesign project is aimed at evaluating several modes of formative assessment with the goal of providing feedback on student readiness at critical juncture points of instruction.

In 2011, we started a program on our campus aimed at improving student success in STEM disciplines through a flipped classroom facilitated by Learning Assistants (LAs). Currently more than 400 students, and 30 learning assistants benefit from the program every semester. The results are impressive (statistics are provided in last year's eportfolio), and at the end of every semester we hear raving praise for the program from students and LAs. One of the goals of this proposal is, of course, to continue to improve and carefully grow the program by supporting faculty and LAs. At the end of each semester, the learning assistants frequently comment on how much better learners they have become through the program, and we often wonder how to extend these benefits as to reach all of our students. Our second goal in this proposal is exactly that: to build a learning skills website to provide resources that can help students improve their metacognitive skills, and learn how to learn. We are creating tools that students can freely access, as well as activities that can be assigned to students by any faculty member teaching a STEM class. Students will be able to document their work and turn it into their instructor for extra-credit or participation points. The website will also contain selected links to external resources; and a few short videos where we model a productive and reflective dialog between four students. In BIO2, we assessed a specific metacognitive activity, provided to students as an optional assignment at the beginning of the semester. Results from that study and samples of curriculum from our flipped course are provided on this website. We further show data indicating that students perceive the curriculum, including the use of Learning Assistants, as beneficial to their learning and engagement.

BIOL 104 (4) Principles of Biology: Human Emphasis Principles of cellular, organismal and population biology with primary representation relating to the human organism. Includes study of cells, tissues, and mammalian organ systems. Enrollment restricted to Kinesiology majors. Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory.

This course redesign aims to update and refresh material in the Human A&P series for non-majors.This class is a requirement for Nursing and other Health Science majors, and is in high-demand both for first time attendees and "re-takers." Due to the flux of instructional faculty through this series, material is sometimes not as current as it could be. This redesign is meant to update material both in content and delivery; online tutorials and in-class drawing exercises will be implemented to aid in student success.

The Biology major switched over to requiring iPads in Fall 2013. iPads breakdown many past constraints. We can present material that is rich in color photographs, videos, interactive widgets, and even little games. In a lecture class, students can quickly upload images and be quizzed in real-time. Apps as well as widgets can be produced that make learning the material more visual and engaging. In addition, we are taking the opportunity to redesign so as (i) to make the information more up to date, (ii) to take full advantage of campus organisms, and (iii) to have the students learn via doing small projects ("inquiry-based learning").

The Biology major switched over to requiring iPads in Fall 2013. iPads breakdown many past constraints. We can present material that is rich in color photographs, videos, interactive widgets, and even little games. In a lecture class, students can quickly upload images and be quizzed in real-time. Apps as well as widgets can be produced that make learning the material more visual and engaging. In addition, we are taking the opportunity to redesign so as (i) to make the information more up to date, (ii) to take full advantage of campus organisms, and (iii) to have the students learn via doing small projects.

BIO121 (Molecular Cell Biology), an upper division course required for almost all biology majors, has suffered from a failure rate of 30-40% since its inception. This content dense, fast-paced course builds on foundational concepts, so students who fall behind early tend to stay behind. I plan to use online learning modules as pre-assignments to introduce foundational concepts (with text, figures and videos) in advance of lecture. Each module will include an online quiz with synthesis level questions to encourage active thinking about the module content, as well as to provide the students with immediate feedback. Online discussion boards associated with each module will be used to facilitate peer instruction.

Functional Human Anatomy is a non-majors course with an annual enrollment of over five hundred students and, at present, no prerequisite courses to prepare the students for the demanding subject matter. Although course redesign was begun over three years ago, there is still a great deal to be done: implement a modified-flipped format in the laboratories (currently in progress Fall 2015), create web-based learning activities to complement the face-to-face components of the course (currently in progress Fall 2015), and record movies to facilitate studying outside of the classroom. In addition, web-based and face-to-face components need to be redesigned to interact pedagogically so that the advantages of both enhance student learning. Recording lectures and anatomy laboratory demonstrations for online dissemination, development of interactive powerpoints in addition to those already in use, and restructuring the course to facilitate transference to the Fresno State tablet initiative are necessary.

BIOL 361 at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) is taken by Biology majors and other students preparing for health professions programs and has an annual enrollment of 144-200 students. Most students who enroll in this course are interested in a health professional career; they must master gross anatomy, anatomical structures and landmarks, and be able to think critically to answer clinical application questions. The laboratory component of the course is designed to integrate hands-on exploration of anatomical landmarks and dissection; however, students struggle to link the material learned in lab (based on cat dissections) to their own bodies. The restructure of the laboratory component of BIOL 361 is focused on incorporating two human cadavers to promote student understanding of the location and structure of human anatomical features and on developing a more interactive approach in which students use virtual 3D materials from home to help them study and reduce dependence on text-only learning. Students quiz themselves prior to the class meeting, allowing better use of in-class time for learning anatomical principles, hopefully leading to improved student success. In the lecture component of BIOL 361, case studies and real world experience (guest speakers) were added to develop students' ability to apply the material, to think critically, and to make links between lecture and laboratory components.

The focus of the 2015-16 redesign is to build on the efforts that were initiated during the the 2013-14 redesign project. Due to turnover in the faculty involved in the original redesign, some elements from the original project have expanded (in particular the use of Supplemental Instruction sections), but others have not. A full-time Biology 101 Coordinator started in Fall 2015, and this project is supporting her efforts to support the current Biology 101 instructors, and to expand the redesign effort across all Biology 101 sections.

Redesign of the biology majors genetics course was stimulated by Fresno State's launch of the DISCOVERe (tablet computer-based instruction) initiative. The incorporation of mobile technology, in the hands of the instructor and students, provides opportunities to: engage students in new ways; provide more authentic experiences in the discipline (Hunter et al. 2007, Jones et al. 2010); improve their quantitative analysis and information literacy skills.

Critically, both students and the instructor benefited as a result of the redesign: student grades improved; percent of repeatable grades decreased; marginal improvement occurred on a validated genetics assessment; course management efficiency dramatically improved with the integration of course management and student polling software.

Introductory Genetics is historically an impacted course with a high rate of students obtaining repeatable grades of F/D/W for the course. Some of the issues cited by students as barriers to better performance in the course included the abstractness of the concepts and lack of relevancy of the course content. To help address these challenges, students will be given the opportunity to analyze their own DNA results following genetic testing provided by a company called 23andMe. Key concepts covered in the class will be integrated with the exploration of genetic variations that students will find in their own DNA results (e.g. genes associated with pharmacological drug metabolism).

Supplemental instruction, digital homework and adaptive learning were implemented - for the second year- in the first quarter (of a 3 quarter series) of general biology course. The SI model adopted was the UKMC model, digital homework and adaptive learning were mandatory part of the course and we utilized the package provided by the publisher of the textbook used in the course. Both SI and digital homework benefited the students. Students with higher incoming GPA who attended the majority of SI sessions achieved the higher grades than students who had lower GPAs and did not attend a significant number of SI sessions.

It is currently not clear how effective the traditional 50-minute lecture format is with regard to student success. New pedagogical techniques will include the adoption of iClicker technology to have real-time measurements of student understanding, video-recorded lectures so students can review in an alternate format than textbook.

The purpose of this redesign is to increase student engagement and course outcomes in an introductory genetics class. This will be achieved through flipping the classroom, active learning, and the introduction of new instructional videos and tournament play.

My goal is to create a course that excites students about molecular biology, encourages them to deeply learn the content, builds on their ability to collaborate with their classmates, stimulates more critical thinking in the classroom, inspire life-long learning, and decrease my non-passing rate to 15% or lower. Team-Based Learning (TBL) is the pedagogical approach that can foster this multifaceted development, especially in students who are from disadvantaged environments and at high-risk for not completing their college education. I have piloted BIO 220 in Spring 2016 as TBL but found the need to make significant adjustments to the course to improve its impact. This CRT project allowed me the resources to 1) modify the structure of my TBL course, 2) improve the effectiveness of my team exercises, and 3) research the vast collection of science educational videos on the internet to identify those that are suitable to supplement my course material. At the conclusion of my redesigned BIO 220 course in Spring 2017, I had successfully lowered my non-passing rate to 8%.

We want to maximize the number of students we are able to accommodate each semester, while ensuring active learning and skill building for students. We will be introducing the GIS wetland mapping project technology for the students to learn, which is a real world tool. The course will be flipped using videos and online assignments in order to allow more in class time for discussion and small group work to enhance student success.

This course is one of four required lower-division biology courses for all of our biology and biotechnology majors, and the second in a two-semester sequence that covers core biological concepts (Biology 210 and 211). Biology 211 is also taken by many other science majors including biochemistry and chemistry. This course, along with Biology 210, is a severe bottleneck because of an exponential growth of majors with limited facilities for lab courses, and conceptual roadblocks leading to high repeatable grades. We would like to use this redesign opportunity to introduce more interactive lecture lessons and draw upon the vast number of newer techniques now available to increase student engagement and reduce the DFW rate. In addition, sections of this course are also being taught by an increasing number of lecturer faculty so another goal will be to create a formal Course Guide for lecturers, accompanied by a library of teaching modules (i.e., videos, interactive activities, quizzes, etc.).

Biol 211 prepares the new Bio majors for their upper-division core classes (as well as their electives), as most of the Program SLOs are introduced to the students for the first time and subsequently reinforced throughout the rest of their academic careers. It has historically, been largely delivered in a stand-up, in-person lecture format, along with a lab section where students get hands-on access to organisms and concepts (via prepared microscope slides, preserved specimens, anatomical models, some live organisms, and computer-based simulations).

This project aims to reduce the passive information absorbing nature of the course via large lecture, and to inrease the level of interaction between students, as well as, between students and their instructors. The course is an extremely information heavy course; old study habits that students may have learned (that may well have been successful in other classes, e.g., rote memorization, being able to put off serious studying until the last second) don't work here. New study techniques will be developed and presented to the students. Course materials (e.g., lectures) will be recorded and posted to the online LMS. Some instructional modules will be recorded to videos, posted to the LMS for students to watch on their own, and then followed up with in-class discussion and quizzes.

BIOL 10 is one of the largest courses at Fresno State and is experiencing bottleneck issues due to the limitation on seating in the laboratory portion of the course. A hybrid model of virtual and physical labs will alleviate those seating constraints as well as allow us to shift some of the Teaching Assistants into the large lection classes to facilitate the inclusion of active learning techniques.

The fully online sections of this course have a high rate of repeatable grades, in large part due to a student persistence issue. In an attempt to increase the number of students completing the entire course, the class is being converted from fully online to a hybrid. The hybrid sections of the course will meet one time per week for active learning activities.

The goal of this project is to create a hybrid version of a non-majors introductory biology course. By using a flipped model of classroom instruction we are hoping to increase student persistence and attitudes towards biology and reduce the number of students receiving repeatable grades.

Human Anatomy (BIOL 208) is a non-majors course with an annual enrollment of 700-800 students. For many of these students, this rigorous class represents the first science course they have taken since high school, and many are not accustomed to the level of rigor anatomy requires. Our restructure is focused on making the course an interactive learning experience. We have removed the hour-long lectures that accompanied the laboratory portion of the class and replaced them with a three part learning system: 1) multiple short videos describing every anatomical part students need to know*, to be watched at home, 2) a readiness assurance quiz each week on both review and new material covered in the videos, but not in class#, and 3) in class interactive laboratory stations where students use critical thinking and inquiry skills to investigate anatomical materials and make key learning connections#. These techniques have decreased the number of D grades and increased student understanding beyond the rote memorization typically associated with anatomy.

NSCI (Introduction to Living Systems) is designed to be a G.E. biology hybrid class. Students learn the course material online, attend a one hour discussion and then a two hour lab activity to interpret the lessons. The online component includes test assessments in addition to weekly homework assignments. In-class meetings sections have 144 students and incorporate in-class discussions with dynamic PowerPoints that include video clips and iClicker participation. The online and in-class discussions are accompanied with 24-student lab sessions, which include hands-on learning activities that correlate with learning goals for each week. This course has three sections and a total of 432 students. We focus on three major biology themes during the semester: Evolution; Ecology; and Human Disease and Genetics. Each theme is covered over a five week period. At the end of each theme an online exam is administered. Student surveys are accessed each semester.

Students earning poor or failing grades in introductory major's coursework are left to choose from continuing with upper level courses ill prepared, repeating courses with prior poor performance, or changing their major. Too often these students go on only to fail again. Their continued struggle can present a bottleneck within the curriculum for a degree program and / or lead to extended times to graduation. Previously we identified poor study habits among students in our freshmen course including low numbers of hours per week spent in study. Among new pedagogical tools recently developed we are interested in those that may encourage student engagement with coursework material. In an attempt to increase student engagement with course material we will test efficacy of adaptive learning software assignments paired to course lecture topics. In evaluation we will examine student perceived study times, software provided measures student required time for completion, and performance on biology concept inventory assessments.

We redesigned a GE biology course by using existing web-based software to replace traditional wet labs. Two new modes of lab instruction were compared to the traditional offering: (1) all labs online with a "drop-by" help center and (2) a hybrid "flipped lab" model with two tracks of online and in-person labs alternating every week. Both modes included a face-to-face lecture. Engaging inquiry-based exercises were developed around each online activity where students are provided background information, guided though a series of basic experiments, encouraged to design their own experiments, and required to produce a simple scientific report that is delivered electronically. A rubric was designed so that graduate assistants can grade reports. The course offerings with online labs were piloted during the 2013/14 academic year. Formative assessment involved the tracking of students' attitudes and performance. Summative assessment compared student performance for the online, hybrid and traditional modes.

We are redesigning and flipping these four lower division science courses so that in class time is spent in group problem solving, discussion, and other research-based high engagement activities. Our ultimate goal is to increase student learning and overall success in STEM disciplines. This proposal is supporting faculty in these efforts and because these are large enrollment classes it relies heavily on students who work as Learning Assistants (LAs) in the classroom. The program has been shown to improve student understanding of content knowledge, engage faculty in course transformation, and to increase the number and quality of future high-school science teachers.