An “Avian” Strategy to Improve Biology Students’ Metacognition

Science coursework has a reputation for focusing on the acquisition of new knowledge without sufficiently training students to apply that knowledge in order to solve important problems of the 21st century. For example, students may take exams with questions that primarily address the lowest tiers of the pyramid known as “Bloom’s Taxonomy,” namely “Remember” and “Understand.” Without much experience at the higher tiers, students do not gain confidence in tasks such as critiquing others’ work (“Evaluate”) or designing their own experiments (“Create”), both of which are important in preparing to become professional scientists. To help address this potential gap in their training, a new initiative was developed for biology students to more explicitly practice the types of thinking associated with each tier of the pyramid. The practice occurs consistently throughout the semester and in an engaging context, namely, the biology of birds. Over the course of the semester, students complete a series of strategically designed worksheets that accompany the reading of primary articles related to course material but always in the context of birds. Anonymous surveys reveal a significant improvement in students’ comfort with tasks that require the types of thinking that will allow them to make contributions to the scientific community.