title: Peer learning and support of technology in an undergraduate biology course to enhance deep learning.
abstract: This study offers an innovative and sustainable instructional model for an introductory undergraduate course. The model was gradually implemented during 3 yr in a research university in a large-lecture biology course that enrolled biology majors and nonmajors. It gives priority to sources not used enough to enhance active learning in higher education: technology and the students themselves. Most of the lectures were replaced with continuous individual learning and 1-mo group learning of one topic, both supported by an interactive online tutorial. Assessment included open-ended complex questions requiring higher-order thinking skills that were added to the traditional multiple-choice (MC) exam. Analysis of students' outcomes indicates no significant difference among the three intervention versions in the MC questions of the exam, while students who took part in active-learning groups at the advanced version of the model had significantly higher scores in the more demanding open-ended questions compared with their counterparts. We believe that social-constructivist learning of one topic during 1 mo has significantly contributed to student deep learning across topics. It developed a biological discourse, which is more typical to advanced stages of learning biology, and changed the image of instructors from "knowledge transmitters" to "role model scientists."
authors.affiliation: Department of Education in Technology and Science, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel. tmasha@gmail.com
authors.forename: Masha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsaushu
authors.forename: Tali
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tal
authors.forename: Ornit
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sagy
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kali
authors.forename: Shimon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gepstein
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zilberstein
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D001695:Biology / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D010379:Peer Group; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D013334:Students; D013672:Technology / Q000193:education*