Spillover Effects: A Comparison of Course and Institutional Outcomes for Traditional and Intensive Introductory Biology

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Thirteen
  In Roundtable Session: Centering STEM in Student Assessment (Table 6)

Abstract

We explore the restructuring of a 2-semester introductory biology course into a 1-semester intensive by comparing 1,457 and 908 students who took the first and second courses in the sequence, respectively, to 1,231 who took the intensive. We report outcomes before and after the restructure, including outcomes in the focal course, in concurrently enrolled courses, in subsequent biology courses, and in university retention. Overall, students in intensive courses perform comparably in all outcomes, challenging notions that students prioritize intensive courses to the detriment of other classes. We find intensive courses have a positive impact on the overall number of classes students take. However, as we only study outcomes observable in institutional databases, other potential non-academic spillover effects merit further inquiry.

Authors

• Dayna J. DeFeo, University of Alaska - Anchorage
  Presenting Author

• Brett Watson
  Non-Presenting Author

• Trang C. Tran, University of Colorado - Boulder
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Gerken, University of Alaska
  Non-Presenting Author