Leadership

Background:

One thing a professor told my freshman introductory biology class that stood out to me was that there is a learning gap between high school biology and college biology. When she said that in the beginning of the semester, I did not fully understand what she meant. I had taken college preparatory (CP) high school biology which means it was supposed to prepare you for college biology. After the semester ended, I knew what she meant. I had learned the basics of biology in high school but not as in depth as I should have. I also had taken biology sophomore year of high school, so I had forgotten certain things I had to relearn. I thought back to what my professor said and realized that I probably was not the only student having this issue.

In my BIOL 101L class, I had to write a scientific research paper. The requirements of this paper included an introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, and works citied. I wrote my paper about the isotonic points of beets and zucchini. I had never written a scientific paper before, so I struggled. My professor said that we should have done this in high school, but I hadn’t, and a lot of my classmates hadn’t either. I knew then there was a disconnection between the high school curriculum and what college professors expected we had learned.

In the moment of these experiences, undergraduate research seemed scary and it seemed like you had to be a complete genius to participate in it. After I got caught up in my knowledge to where I should have been, I was excited to begin undergraduate research. I felt comfortable being in the labs and writing scientific reports. I believe my mentors (one in the chemistry department and one in the biology department) approached me about doing independent research in BIOL 399 because they saw this growth in me and saw that I was committed to learning, even if it was tough.

Problem:

Incoming college freshman are not as prepared as they should be for college-level science. In a study conducted by Montana State University, 39% of surveyed students (N=1826) said their biology background was poor and it felt like they were learning from scratch. Thirty-eight percent of the surveyed students felt they were fairly well prepared, but they thought they could have been better prepared (Toran, 31).

Solution:

Instead of jumping in head first, I should think of this of an experiment and use the scientific method to fix this. I have the problem and the question of how to fix this. I hypothesize that making high school students take biology their senior or junior year will help the information be fresh in their mind coming into college and that having teachers teach more in depth will help students better understand college biology. To test this, the South Carolina Superintendent of Education should move high school biology to the student’s choice of junior or senior year. She should also advise teachers to teacher more in depth and not teach to the end of course (EOC) testing (a standardized test in high school); it should be about the students understanding of the subject, not memorization. Considering what I have learned about reverse persuasion, I do understand the other side of this issue. I know that EOC testing is important because certain government funding programs decided where to send money based off the scores, but it also puts pressure on teachers to get the high, passing scores. After five years of this change, I would survey the students who had just taken their college freshman biology and ask if they seemed well-prepared. To draw conclusions from this, I would compare both surveys.

Thinking back to the USCL science fair, I thought about how well older students were able to explain their projects and include the principles of biology or chemistry they have learned. This made me think: what if high schools required senior students to participate in a science fair? Students would choose an approved topic and present it. I feel like this would help students completely grasp concepts like the zone of inhibition lab in BIOL 250 lab did for me. I did not have a science fair in high school, and I feel like it would have helped me a lot for these reasons.

When I helped the students at Andrew Jackson High School beyond the classroom with the Chemistry Club, they asked so many questions. Some questions they should have learned from the lecture part of class and other questions they just thought of as we went along with the lab. I answered their questions to the best of my ability and hoped they would remember for the future test and for college. Just like the science fair, I believe if students do things that they find enjoyable, they will remember it better. I realized not all high schools have the opportunity to work with college clubs like this. What if we were able to give more science high school students this experience by making more science clubs at colleges? Students at USCL could make a biology club that would work with high school biology students. Students at USCL could also create a STEM club which works which both biology and chemistry students. The college clubs would go into the local high schools and help the students with whatever they are learning. This would give high school students the opportunity to have experiences they will remember, ask all sorts of questions, and learn about the college students experiences as well. In a report published by Science, it was shown that if professors incorporated a moderate amount of active-learning exercises, students improved their performance compared to having heavy lectures (Haak et al., 1214).

Plan:

I would talk to local high school biology/chemistry teachers about what they feel should be fixed in the curriculum to help students. I would contact them by finding them on the high school’s science directory. Then I would talk to local college introductory biology/chemistry professors about where they think the learning gap is and how in depth they think the material should be taught in high school. If they don’t know the high school curriculum, I would show them the standards and tell them personal experiences. After I talked to the college professors, I would compare the two and make a list of the ideas that were most common.
I would also ask college students who have completed their first biology and/or chemistry course in college if they feel like high school science prepared them and why they felt that way. I would do this by conducting a study and taking surveys of every introductory biology/chemistry class in colleges around me (University of South Carolina, Lancaster, York Technical College and Winthrop University).
After I got these opinions, I would call the South Carolina Superintendent of Education and share with her the information I collected about the science learning gap, how we can help fix it, how the students feel, and give her my personal experience. I would ask her for her email so I could send her the results of all the information I had collected. Hopefully, she will be receptive and want to help students across South Carolina, but if she is not, I would keep calling back and also have biology/chemistry teachers/professors call as well. This would show her that this is an issue and it needs to be addressed.
To execute the science fair, I would call the same high school science teachers, as well as the high school administrators, and presentation the same information I presented to the South Carolina Superintendent. I would tell them about my experience with the USCL science fair and how students were retaining information when they enjoyed the topic they were learning about and how it will help encourage undergraduates to participate in undergraduate research early in their academic careers.
With my role as the president of the Chemistry Club, I would stress how important these labs with the high schools are to the members of the club and to the professors who help with the club, so they do not stop working with the high school. Then, I would talk to my biology friends and professors to see if they would be interested in starting a biology club. If they are, I would tell them my experiences with working with the high schools and how it can help them. Hopefully they would want to give the students a similar experience, so they reach out to high schools and begin to help the students as well.

Evaluation

After five years of this being implemented, a state-wide survey should be conducted to determine if this is helping students. This should be done by comparing the answers of the students survey five year prior to the ones collect in that year.

Toran, Marta L. (July 2011) “Mind the Gap: A Study into the Transition Between High School and College Biology.” https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1/2433/ToranM0811.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Haak, David C., et al. (3 June 2011) “Increased Structure and Active Learning Reduce the Achievement Gap in Introductory Biology.” Science, vol. 332, pages. 1213-1216. https://ceils.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/11/2P.2-Haak-et-al-2011_Active-learning-reduces-achievement-gap-in-intro-biology.pdf