Abstract:

Queensborough Community College (QCC), part of the City University of New York public system, serves one of the most ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations in the country. QCC’s student body represent over 100 countries worldwide representing highest ethnic, racial and cultural diversity. Moreover, the level of college preparedness varies substantially across the student population. This setting renders the need to develop teaching strategies that cater to various learning styles, especially in STEM courses. The flipped classroom model, in which content is delivered outside the classroom to incorporate active learning in the classroom, is increasingly popular among educators. Our study investigates whether this model can improve conceptual understanding of challenging topics and improve engagement in gateway biology courses (General Biology I and Anatomy & Physiology I) at QCC. Our intervention aims to cater to multiple learning modalities. Before class, students complete assignments using an interactive tool, VoiceThread, which accommodates audio and visual learning modalities and holds students accountable. Subsequently, the in-class portion comprises of a one-minute paper, discussion, and hands-on modeling activity and serves tactile, kinesthetic, social, and reading/writing learners. Here, we present preliminary findings from our assessment data and approaches employed to improve this intervention.

Keywords:

Flipped model, Biology, Community college, Conceptual understanding.