Activities and strategies used to engage students in team discussions and analysis of the concepts learned
Post-lecture assignments consisted of team activities that allowed students to apply the concepts learned. We also used Articulate Storyline 360 to implement these team assignments which included tRATs and Team Application & Analysis. With this tool, the students had the option to answer until correct whenever they encountered a multiple choice question in the team assignments. We also developed other team activities where we wanted students to expand on their discussion and have a record of the students reasoning. For those activities we used VoiceThread (https://voicethread.com), an online tool that allows for asynchronous commentary through text, audio, or video recordings on a set of slides. We asked all students to post their first comment by Wednesday and then to build the discussion by replying to another team member comment after that. By the end of the week, all students had at least one comment on each slide, the team had an agreement on their final answer and posted the final answer. In the assignment instructions, we emphasized that we only grade the final answer for correctness but participation points are awarded individually depending on engagement.
Finally, most section activities were individual worksheets with problem sets. Phylogeny building and interpretation was required in several case studies exploring issues related to health, biodiversity, and conservation throughout the term. Application of population genetics and natural selection modules relied on students interpretations of simulations or conservation case studies. Students were allowed to discuss these exercises with their teams but each student was required to submit their own worksheet. Except for one section activity where the students used VoiceThread to discuss a primary literature paper with their team, followed by an individual Canvas quiz. We also used virtual tours to familiarize students with the university’s entomological collection and plant conservatory. All of these activities were developed to revise previous course content and provide a space for the students to learn about how evolution and biodiversity principles are used beyond the classroom.