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The Relationship between Perceptions of Instructional Practices and Student Self-Efficacy In Guided-Inquiry Laboratory Courses.

ABSTRACT: Science self-efficacy, a student's confidence in being able to perform scientific practices, interacts with science identity and outcomes expectations, leading to improved performance in science courses, persistence in science majors, and ultimately, the pursuit of advanced training in the sciences. Inquiry-based laboratory courses have been shown to improve undergraduate student self-efficacy, but the mechanisms involved and specific components of instructional practices that lead to improved self-efficacy are not clear. In the current study, we determined whether student and faculty perceptions of laboratory instructional practices (scientific synthesis, science process skills, and instructor-directed teaching) were related to postsemester self-efficacy across 19 guided-inquiry laboratory courses from 11 different institutions. Self-efficacy related to science literacy increased significantly from the beginning of the semester to the end of the semester. Variation in individual student perceptions of instructional practices within a course were significantly related to differences in student self-efficacy at the end of the semester, but not average student perceptions or faculty perceptions of their own practices across courses. The importance of individual student perceptions suggests that faculty should engage with students during curricular development. Furthermore, faculty need to use noncontent talk to reinforce the science practices students are engaging in during inquiry-based laboratory courses.

SUBMITTER: Beck CW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8108504 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The gut microbiome and its physiological impacts on human and animal health is an area of research emphasis. Microbes themselves are invisible and may therefore be abstract and challenging to understand. It is therefore important to infuse this topic into undergraduate curricula, including Anatomy and Physiology courses, ideally through an active learning approach. To accomplish this, we developed a novel tactile teaching tool with guided-inquiry (TTT-GI) activity where students explored how the gut microbiome ferments carbohydrates to produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). This activity was implemented in two sections of a large-enrollment Human Anatomy and Physiology course at a research intensive (R1) university in the Spring of 2022 that was taught using a hyflex format. Students who attended class in person used commonly available building toys to assemble representative carbohydrates of varying structural complexity, whereas students who attended class virtually made these carbohydrate structures using a digital learning tool. Students then predicted how microbes within the gut would ferment different carbohydrates into SCFAs, as well as the physiological implications of the SCFAs. We assessed this activity to address three research questions, with 182 students comprising our sample. First, we evaluated if the activity learning objectives were achieved through implementation of a pre-and post-assessment schema. Our results revealed that all three learning objectives of this activity were attained. Next, we evaluated if the format in which this TTT-GI activity was implemented impacted student learning. While we found minimal and nonsignificant differences in student learning between those who attended in-person and those who attended remotely, we did find significant differences between the two course sections, which differed in length and spacing of the activity. Finally, we evaluated if this TTT-GI approach was impactful for diverse students. We observed modest and nonsignificant positive learning gains for some populations of students traditionally underrepresented in STEM (first-generation students and students with one or more disabilities). That said, we found that the greatest learning gains associated with this TTT-GI activity were observed in students who had taken previous upper-level biology coursework.

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The Relationship between Perceptions of Instructional Practices and Student Self-Efficacy In Guided-Inquiry Laboratory Courses.

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