Peggy Brickman
Research in my group focuses on developing and measuring the effectiveness of curriculum and instructional strategies utilized in college science classrooms. In particular, I focus on examining the acquisition of scientific literacy skills in biology courses designed to fulfill general science graduation requirements. I am most interested in the following three questions:
- What motivates students to dig in to do the hard work of learning and how does collaboration influence student motivation? To address this, I have developed and utilized instruments designed to measure student motivation to learn science in different courses.
- Do students actually make gains in scientific literacy skills as a result of taking general education science courses? I have developed an instrument called the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) that is aligned with science policy recommendations to test scientific literacy skills. Using this instrument, I was able to show greater gains for students taking a project-based curriculum compared to students in more traditional courses. I am currently interested in how to be disseminate this curriculum to current and future faculty.
- What role does instructional feedback play in the willingness of faculty to change their teaching practices?
