Meeting Abstract

57.1  Saturday, Jan. 5  Combining art and science in creative projects to assess student learning in biology DAVIS-BERG, E. C.; Columbia College Chicago edavis@colum.edu

Teaching non-majors at an arts and media college poses the challenge of keeping students interested and involved in learning material outside their majors. Not all students perform well on traditional forms of assessment such as quizzes and in-class tests. Creative projects, worked on outside of classroom time, allow students to present their understanding of science through the lens of their majors or interests (film, illustration, sculpture, etc.). Creative projects enable students to gain more experience with their chosen medium as well as to demonstrate applied knowledge of the topics taught in class. Examples will be presented of both directed topic projects (used as part of a midterm assessment) and open topic projects (used as part of a final assessment). Directed topic projects involve creatively answering specific scientific questions through non-traditional means (e.g. explaining ecological principles through a board game). Open topic projects allow students to explain a scientific principle within the course and creatively demonstrate their understanding of the topic (e.g. marine bioluminescence). There will be examples of projects from courses including Marine Biology, Human Reproduction, and Biomechanics. Grading rubrics will be discussed along with some of the advantages and disadvantages of using creative projects as a tool for assessment of learning. Also, the addition of a two-page paper accompanying the creative assessment will be evaluated to determine if it improved overall student success.