The learning goals for the redesigned course are consistent with the Biology Department's overall learning goals. In order to achieve these goals, Introductory Biology will be redesigned around an extensive set of online resources for class preparation, quizzes, and supplemental instruction and tutoring. Faculty will create web pages to guide student preparation for class. Students will review learning objectives and key concepts listed on the web pages for each class meeting. Students also will review supplemental material from the publisher's web site, which may include figures, graphs, movies, or animations that emphasize key concepts.
Students then complete online quizzes to assess their preparation for class.
Quizzes provide instructor-generated, immediate feedback to students and provide data for instructors to assess student levels of competence with the material. As learning shifts outside of the classroom with the use of online materials and more frequent assessment, class meetings per week decrease from three to two and exams decrease from four to three. Online resources will allow one instead of two instructors to manage a larger group of students, thus reducing the number of instructors by half. Online resources also are more efficient for peer tutors who no longer have to attend the class in order to prepare to answer student questions. To address the goal of a consistent instructor base for the course and to help instructors become comfortable using the active learning format in large classes, an instructor apprenticeship program will be part of the redesign.