General Biology Lab Manual OER Creation Project

Course ID: BIOL 1015

Instructor: Bryan Stevens, Instructor of the Practice in Biology

Abstract: Beginning summer 2021, the biology department invested time into a new OER project for their introductory biology lab course (BIOL 1015) along with a course redesign. The goal of the project was to reduce the cost to students, improve the quality of the instruction material, and create a learning experience with more efficient teaching and learning assessment approaches. Bryan Stevens was tasked with the creation of an OER lab manual to replace the current one. The new OER lab manual as well as the new course design was used for the first time during the Fall 2021 semester in all BIOL 1015 sections. 

  Peer Reviewed

Textbook Title: General Biology Laboratory Manual (Published soon)

Description: The creation of the new lab manual allowed faculty within the biology department to more accurately align lab course content in the BIOL 1010 lecture courses. This allowed students to continuously receive reinforcement for the concepts in both courses. 

Authors: Bryan Stevens, Utah Tech University

Formats: (Will be published soon) The lab manual will be available online via Pressbooks with downloads to various other formats. 

Cost savings: The original lab manual was required and was approximately $50. With an approximation of 200 students enrolled in all sections per semester, this equates to a cost savings for students of $10,000 per semester or $20,000 per academic year (fall and spring).

License: CC BY-NC

Description:  Lab course designed recommended but not required to accompany BIOL 1010. Students will have hands-on experience in a laboratory setting, including the use of microscopes, measurement and simple data analysis, observations of osmosis and diffusion, and other group activities in order to appreciate the true essence of science and the scientific process of acquiring knowledge through inquiry. 

Learning outcomes:  1. Use the scientific method to observe problems, ask questions, make predictions, formulate testable hypotheses, create experiments, and formulate reasonable conclusions. 2. Use a microscope to view and diagram cells and whole organisms, osmosis and diffusion, and the movement of chromosomes. 3. Diagram molecules, and perform experiments that demonstrate some of the functions of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. 4. Calculate simple statistics to determine the patterns of inheritance in Mendelian genetics. 5. Discuss the history and methods of classification, evolution, and ecological principles. 

Curricular changes: Along with the creation of a custom lab manual, an updated grading schema was created to include performance on the actual labs along with exit quizzes that replaced a previous method of assessment. The approach created a more active and participatory learning environment for the students, and a smoother course flow for faculty. 

Teaching and learning impacts: From data provided by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, a course grade distribution analysis was completed. The total number of students per letter grade was calculated and compared from Fall 2019, Fall 2020, and Fall 2021. A large improvement can be shown in the A grade category with an increase of 106% between 2019 and 2021. Even larger improvements can be seen comparing 2020 and 2021 with an increase of 218%. However, though helpful in comparison, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 grades has to be taken into consideration. Much of the grade improvements can be seen in the B+ to C+ range comparing 2019 and 2021. The majority of students moved from a lower grade to an A- or A letter grade when compared to 2019 to 2021 and 2020 to 2021. There were fewer students in the F and W categories especially compared from 2020 to 2021. Additionally, 96.9% of students responded that they rated the quality of the lab manual the same quality or better quality compared to texts in their other courses. 

OER Creation Process

The goal of the project was to reduce the cost to students, improve the quality of the instruction material, and create a learning experience with more efficient teaching and learning assessment approaches.

Institutional Support for OER:  The library's OER program provided a stipend fund as well as support in the creation, review, and publishing of this OER. 

Student feedback about using OER: 

Out of a total enrollment of 277 students, 133 voluntarily submitted a response to the survey. The purpose of this survey was to gain feedback on the quality of the material from a student perspective and its impact on the enrolled students. 

To pull some highlights, 96.9% of students responded that they rated the quality of the lab manual the same quality or better quality compared to texts in their other courses.