A Hierarchical Mentoring Program Increases Confidence and Effectiveness in Data Analysis and Interpretation for Undergraduate Biology Students

Autor/inn/en	Sorte, Cascade J. B.; Aguilar-Roca, Nancy M.; Henry, Amy K.; Pratt, Jessica D.
Titel	A Hierarchical Mentoring Program Increases Confidence and Effectiveness in Data Analysis and Interpretation for Undergraduate Biology Students
Quelle	In: CBE - Life Sciences Education, 19 (2020) 3, Artikel 23 (12 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1931-7913
DOI	10.1187/cbe.19-10-0201
Schlagwörter	Mentors; Program Effectiveness; Data Analysis; Data Interpretation; Undergraduate Students; Ecology; Biology; Science Instruction; Competency Based Education; Critical Thinking; Communication Skills; Science Process Skills; Content Area Writing; Self Efficacy; State Universities; Research Papers (Students); Scientific Attitudes; Student Characteristics; English (Second Language); Skill Development; California (Irvine) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Auswertung; Data evaluation; Datenauswertung; Ökologie; Biologie; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Education; Competence; Competency; Competency-based education; Unterricht; Kompetenzorientierte Methode; Kritisches Denken; Kommunikationsstil; Schriftliche Übung; Self-efficacy; Selbstwirksamkeit; Staatliche Universität; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung
Abstract	Science instructors are increasingly incorporating teaching techniques that help students develop core competencies such as critical-thinking and communication skills. These core competencies are pillars of career readiness that prepare undergraduate students to successfully transition to continuing education or the workplace, whatever the field. Course-based undergraduate research experiences that culminate in written research papers can be effective at developing critical-thinking and communication skills but are challenging to implement as class size (and student-to-instructor ratio) grows. We developed a hierarchical mentoring program in which graduate student mentors guided groups of four to five undergraduate students through the scientific process in an upper-level ecology course. Program effectiveness was evaluated by grading final research papers (including previous year papers, before the program was implemented) and surveys (comparing to a course that did not implement the program). Results indicated that primary benefits of hierarchical mentoring were improvements in perceived and demonstrated ability in data analysis and interpretation, leading to a median increase in paper score of ~10% on a 100-point scale. Future directions indicated by our study were a need to incorporate more approaches (e.g., low-stakes writing exercises) and resources into a revised program to improve outcomes for students whose primary language is not English. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Society for Cell Biology. 8120 Woodmont Avenue Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20814-2762. Tel: 301-347-9300; Fax: 301-347-9310; e-mail: ascbinfo@ascb.org; Website: http://www.ascb.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01