Knowing is half the battle: Assessments of both student perception and performance are necessary to successfully evaluate curricular transformation

Student-centered pedagogies increase learning and retention. Quantifying change in both student learning gains and student perception of their experience allows faculty to evaluate curricular transformation more fully. Student buy-in, particularly how much students value and enjoy the active learning process, has been positively associated with engagement in active learning and increased learning gains. We hypothesize that as the frequency of students who have successfully completed the course increases in the student population, current students may be more likely to buy-in to the curriculum because this common experience could create a sense of community. We measured learning gains and attitudes during the transformation of an introductory biology course at a small, liberal arts college using our novel curriculum, Integrating Biology and Inquiry Skills (IBIS). Students perceived substantial learning gains in response to this curriculum, and concept assessments confirmed these gains. Over time, buy-in increased with each successive cohort, as demonstrated by the results of multiple assessment instruments, and students increasingly attributed specific components of the curriculum to their learning. These findings support our hypothesis and should encourage the adoption of curricular transformation using IBIS or other student-centered approaches.以学生为中心的教学法（Student-centered pedagogies）可有效提升学习成效与知识留存率。量化学生学习收获与学习体验感知的变化，能够帮助高校教职人员更全面地评估课程改革的实际效果。学生认同度（student buy-in），尤其是学生对主动学习过程的重视与喜爱程度，与主动学习参与度及学习收获提升呈显著正相关。我们提出如下研究假设：随着成功修完该课程的学生在在校生群体中的占比逐步提升，在读学生将更有可能认同该课程体系，这类共同的学习经历可营造社群归属感。本研究依托自研的《整合生物学与探究技能》（Integrating Biology and Inquiry Skills，简称IBIS）课程，在一所小型文理学院的入门生物学课程改革过程中，对学生的学习收获与学习态度进行了系统性测评。学生反馈通过该课程获得了显著的学习收获，相关概念测评结果也验证了这一结论。随着时间推移，多项测评工具的结果均表明，每一届学生的认同度均较上一届有所提升；同时，学生越来越多地将自身的学习进步归因于课程的特定组成模块。本研究结果验证了我们的初始假设，同时也将为采用IBIS或其他以学生为中心的教学方法开展课程改革提供实践参考与激励。