Course Design Spotlights highlight innovative projects that members of the Teaching and Learning team work on with DCE faculty through the Teach Partnership program. This spotlight highlights a partnership with an introductory instructor to practice the chemistry concepts they need to succeed in class.
The Challenge
“Introductory” courses aren’t truly introductory. They typically assume students have a baseline subject matter knowledge from high school or another prerequisite. Dr. Casey Roehrig, the instructor of BIOS S-1a: Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Microbiology, noticed that many students struggle with the prerequisite chemistry knowledge. Every week of the course is packed with content to meet MCAT and pre-medical program requirements, so there’s little time for a student to catch up if they fall behind. This is the first pre-med course for many students, and a negative experience might lead them to pursue their studies elsewhere or not at all.
The Design
Dr. Roehrig collaborated with a course designer to create an optional, self-managed “Module Zero”. Available before the semester starts, Module Zero reviews six foundational chemistry topics that come up repeatedly in the course. For each topic, the module includes:
- 1–4 pages of review content; just enough to cover the basics.
- A video or interactive animation with guiding activities. Students follow the instructions, make and record observations, and check their answers against instructor-provided answers.
- A short quiz/assessment for students, to help students see how well they understand the topic.
- Specific recommendations for further review for students who still struggle.
All feedback is automated, so the module requires no instructor grading or review.
The Partnership
The instructor and course designer worked together to:
- identify key topics
- write and edit text content and instructions
- design interactive activities using media/animations
- create “check your understanding” quizzes with pre-written instructor feedback for each answer
- recommend resources for further study
Towards the end of the course, students who used the module were surveyed. Large majorities of respondents said they found the module “very useful” and that they “felt more prepared” as a result of using it. The feedback was positive across all topics and activities.
Interested?
If you’re interested in a Module Zero for your course, book a consultation with a Course Designer, and with their feedback, apply for a Design Partnership. If your application is accepted, you’ll work one-on-one with a designer for several months before the term starts to put the module together. You supply the content, the instructions, and quiz questions. The designer will help you get the materials into Canvas, and may have feedback about ways to reword or restructure the materials to increase student engagement and learning. At the end of the term, we will evaluate and potentially revise the module based on student and instructor feedback.
The Finished Product
View and explore Module Zero of BIOS S-1a: Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology.