How have university educational experiences for secondary students impacted their performance and enrolment in tertiary biology coursework?
Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution, Science education and communication
Description:
Many universities offer on- and off-campus educational experiences to secondary students, frequently as tasters to make university study a viable and attractive proposition. At UQ's School of the Environment, these educational experiences are co-designed with secondary teachers to ensure that curriculum alignment and requirements are met. In the context of secondary biology, two key educational experiences are offered to secondary biology students:
1. Experience Ecology held annually in November attended by Year 11 biology students features field-based practical exercises to satisfy practical components of the Queensland Biology syllabus (Unit 3) and a data analysis and scientific writing workshop to complement a core written assessment task (Internal Assessment 2 Student Experiment). Experience Ecology has run annually since 2019 and has been attended by 21,015 Year 11 biology students to date.
2. Experience Genetics held annually in July attended by Year 12 biology students features an immersive laboratory-based experience which includes bacterial transformation, DNA extraction, PCR, and gel electrophoresis to satisfy practical components of the Queensland Biology syllabus (Unit 4). Experience Genetics has run annually since 2021 and has been attended by 3,543 Year 12 biology students to date.
There are a number of ways this research project might be undertaken. Some examples include:
- pedagogical description of learning activities and resources
- investigation of how secondary student performance has been influenced
- investigation of how these experiences have influenced the professional practice of secondary teachers
- investigation of how these experiences have contributed to enrolment in tertiary coursework
Approaches can include semi-structured interviews, focal groups, reflexive thematic analyses, analysis of secondary data (e.g. formal student evaluation scores and feedback), etc. There is scope for data triangulation techniques to be applied to these discrete datasets.
Additional Information:
This is an educational research project supervised by Dr Gurion Ang (SENV), with an opportunity for you to also develop your teaching practice by contributing to the delivery of Experience Ecology or Experience Genetics during your Honours research year. It would suit students interested in educational or pedagogical research and will provide a valuable experience if you plan to teach in secondary or tertiary settings in the future. Ideally, you completed your secondary studies in Queensland (including senior biology). If you'd like to focus your project on Experience Ecology, you must commence in Semester 2. If you'd like to focus your project on Experience Genetics, you must commence in Semester 1.
Contact: Dr Gurion Ang