Identifying the Learning Objectives of Biology Laboratories in the General Education Curriculum and Exploring Gaps Between Objectives and Practice

This project aims to serve the national interest in excellent undergraduate STEM education by exploring how biology laboratory courses produce important learning outcomes for non-majors. Nearly 80% of undergraduate degrees are awarded in non-science majors. However, no consensus currently exists about the purposes of science laboratory experiences in the general education undergraduate curriculum. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this a critical time to examine the value of laboratories for non-majors. As enrollment shrinks and financial strains grow, higher education institutions need to cut costs. This need places non-majors' laboratories at risk because of costs in student and faculty time, physical resources, equipment, and consumable supplies. The goal of this project is to identify the highest priority biology laboratory experiences for non-majors taking general education biology courses with laboratories and to examine gaps in practice. The results of this study can help shape the future of science and laboratory instruction in general education curricula.

The project will explore the research question, "What is the role of the biology laboratory in the general education curriculum?" The first phase will be completion of a Delphi study, which is a vetted consensus-building process. Through this study, the research team will engage a panel of disciplinary experts in a dialogue to identify the role and goals of laboratories for non-majors in general education biology courses. The outcome of the Delphi Study will be increased disciplinary engagement in the issue and an agreement about the role of biology laboratories for non-majors. The second phase will be a gap analysis in which the Delphi Study findings will be used as the "optimal state" to explore gaps between the expert ideal and current practices. The gap analysis will use data from syllabus reviews, practitioner surveys, and focus group interviews. The gap analysis process is expected to result in increased practitioner awareness of laboratory goals and objectives, thus informing practice. By focusing on the role of biology laboratories for non-majors, this project has the potential to advance a general framework for optimizing the role and objectives for science laboratories in the general education curriculum. In addition, the data could be used to create more meaningful and purposeful laboratory experiences. Consequently, the findings may be transformative for general education science curricula. The research findings will be disseminated to a broad audience via a combination of peer reviewed manuscripts and other communications, with the intention of making explicit the role of laboratory experiences in achieving a scientifically literate public. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.