Despite being very new, the Biology program is currently undergoing major changes. Led by Program Director Dr. Kenny Wong, the introductory course Biology and Biotechnology has gone through massive changes this spring semester. According to Wong, Stevens had initiated a program called the Foundations Project, an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). According to the NSF, Stevens was awarded a $2.7 million grant to fund “a major transformation in the education practices at Stevens Institute of Technology in the core courses in mathematics, science, and engineering taken by all engineering students in their first two years at Stevens Institute of Technology.” The changes currently being made to the introductory Biology classes at Stevens have recently been made to the Mathematics and Chemistry classes at Stevens as well.
Some of the key changes that have been implemented into Biology and Biotechnology this spring included creating more sections of the class to facilitate smaller sections and hiring teaching assistants and undergraduate “peer leaders,” who are students that have previously done well in the course, to work with the professor to engage students in group discussion and problem-solving. The goal of these changes is to allow students to develop their own learning styles so that they can use concepts learned in the class and apply them to new situations. This is especially significant since Biology and Biotechnology is taken by a wide variety of majors at Stevens, so it is important to allow students to learn the material in ways that both allows them to understand it and allows them to further utilize the information they learn.
To carry out these changes to the course format, Wong sought out the help of Gail Baxter, Co-Director for Research, who aided in providing resources related to evidence-based learning and the benefits of discussion-based class environments. Wong also cited Dr. Patricia Anne Muisener, the Program Director of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Interim Program Director of Biology, as a helpful resource in executing the changes to Biology and Biotechnology, as she had led similar changes to the classes General Chemistry I and II in recent years. Assembling the instructors, TAs, and peer leaders in the months before the changes were set to occur this spring was the final step in completing the changes to the course format.
Before the changes made to the Biology and Biotechnology course were made, the class previously operated on a lecture/recitation format where the designated professor would lecture in a larger classroom setting twice a week while students would break off into separate recitation settings once a week to review concepts in a group setting. However, according to Wong, this format was ineffective as it “encouraged memorization and regurgitation of the subject which is the lowest form of learning.” Wong cited Bloom’s Taxonomy to reason the effectiveness of the changes to the course structure. By prioritizing higher forms of learning such as creativity, debate, analysis, and application, the material can be better grasped and appreciated by students, he argued.
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