Microbiology (BIOL 150) Pathogen Portfolios
Date: Summer 2008
Reflection written July 1, 2008
Standard: National Science Education Standards A-D. These standards state that science teachers will plan inquiry-based science programs that will guide and facilitate their students’ learning while providing students with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science. Additionally, science teachers will engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching.
Student Sample: In addition to the directions for the pathogen portfolios, I have included a sample from a student portfolio.
Description: Microbiology (BIOL 150) is taught every spring, and is required for all pre-nursing and pre-respiratory students. Students who are interested in physical therapy and dentistry also take the course, although they are in the minority. Class size ranges between 30-40 students, of which 90% are pre-nursing students.
In the spring of 2008, I read the book "Teaching Tips" (Druger et al, 2004). This book had a number of valuable suggestions for ways in which to engage students in course material. One suggestion was to use “pathogen portfolios” to encourage student learning of the numerous microorganisms covered in an undergraduate microbiology course. I adapted this idea for use in the Microbiology course; this assignment was used for the first time in the summer of 2008.
For this assignment, each week (twice weekly during the summer) students create a portfolio page for a microorganism of their choice. On each page they include information about the microbe: identifying information, pathogenicity, epidemiology, disease(s) caused by the microorganism, possible complications, and prevention and treatment. Although many students choose microorganisms that are covered in lecture, the creation of a portfolio facilitates student involvement in the material. When “their” microorganism is covered in lecture, I call on these students to share their information with the rest of the class. In this way, the students are engaging their classmates in the process of learning, which encourages students to own the material while allowing them to practice their oral communication skills.
Analyze: I chose to include this artifact in my portfolio since it demonstrates the interface between my investigation of various teaching methodologies and their application in my courses. I was trained using the classical Socratic method, so I find the active-learning strategies of great interest; however, they are not always easy to incorporate into my courses.
Additionally, this artifact demonstrates my competency with the NSES Standards A-D, similar to the small-group Microbiology research projects. These standards state that science teachers will plan inquiry-based science programs that will guide and facilitate their students’ learning while providing students with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science. Additionally, science teachers will engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching. This artifact illustrates how I have planned an inquiry-based program that guided students’ learning, while providing them with time, space, and the necessary resources to learn science. This artifact also illustrates my ongoing assessment of my teaching as I compare my current teaching methodologies with the current literature on effective teaching strategies.
Appraise: Given that there are so many potential pathogens, it is difficult to cover all of them in a single semester Microbiology course. Therefore the pathogen portfolios were helpful since they required students to interact with the pathogens outside of lecture time. However, it was difficult to assess whether the use of the portfolios resulted in improvements in grades since the number of students was very small in the summer Microbiology course. Despite this limitation, it did appear, based on the quality of the student work, that the portfolios were successful in guiding student learning while efficiently using time and resources.
Transform: Although I have only used this assignment in one course, I am intrigued by its potential. However, there are several changes that I would like to make before repeating the exercise. First, the students should be involved in determining the components to include in their portfolios; particularly, the students seemed confused by my terms of “identifying characteristics”, “epidemiology” or “pathogenicity”. Involving the students in the initial selection of portfolio components would allow them to create their own “portfolio language” which would be shared by all participants. This would eliminate confusion while enhancing student ownership of the learning activity. Second, the students should be involved in determination of a rubric for the assignment. As mentioned previously, a successful grading rubric was generated in collaboration with the Cell and Molecular Biology (BIOL 405) course in 2008. The collaborative nature of this rubric increased student ownership of the material while reinforcing the importance of the elements of written communication (neatness, clarity, promptness, adequate citations, etc). Similar benefits could be realized in the Microbiology course by allowing the students to create the grading rubric for the pathogen portfolios. Third, the students should be given at least one class period’s warning that they will be “presenting” their pathogen during the next class period. This is particularly important for the very quiet students who want the mental preparation time prior to speaking in front of their classmates. Although it is important for students to gain practice with oral presentations, it is also important for them to feel comfortable and respected; it is not my intention to embarrass those who do not wish to speak in public, or those who prefer some advance notice.
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For directions for the pathogen portfolios, click here.
To see a sample pathogen portfolio, click here.