Insight from Biology Program Learning Outcomes: Implications for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
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Program learning outcomes (PLOs) play a critical role, informing curricula, teaching, and assessment. Undergraduate biology PLOs were collected and analyzed to provide insight into how institutions may be using PLOs and uncover what skills and competencies are most frequently listed. Implications for biology programs and instructors are discussed.
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A recent survey of undergraduate biology program learning outcomes revealed that reading and analyzing PSL was the sixth most common competency among undergraduate biology programs in the United States.
“and a recent survey of undergraduate biology program learning outcomes revealed that reading and analyzing PSL was the sixth most common competency among undergraduate biology programs in the United States (Clark and Hsu, 2023).”
From Reading Primary Scientific Literature: Approaches for Teaching Students in the Undergraduate STEM Classroom (2023) · cites this paper as Clark and Hsu, 2023
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Goudsouzian, L. K., & Hsu, J. L. (2023) · CBE - Life Sciences Education · doi:10.1187/cbe.22-10-0211 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
“This paucity of pedagogical approaches developed for or tested at 2-year colleges is striking, given that about one-third of STEM students in the United States are currently enrolled in 2-year colleges (Varty, 2022), and calls into question the effectiveness of such techniques across a broader range of students and th…”
BackgroundSelf-citation
- Authors
- Clark, N., & Hsu, J. L.
- Affiliations
- Chapman University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hsu, Jeremy L.
- Venue
- CBE—Life Sciences Education
- Published
- 2023-03
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- ar5-ar5
- ISSN
- 1931-7913 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10074271
- OpenAlex
- W4315928179
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6
- FWCI
- 19.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- Locations
- CBE—Life Sciences Education (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Chapman University Digital Commons (Chapman University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Chapman University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Assessment and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › Engineering Education and Curriculum Development
- Keywords
- program learning outcomes, biology education, core competencies, quantitative reasoning, computational skills, research skills, student learning assessment, curriculum improvement
- MeSH terms
- Biology, Curriculum, Humans, Learning, Students, United States, Interdisciplinary Studies
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