TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY AND ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY

All too often biology courses over-emphasize trivial and easy-to-test activities that ask students only to recall, recognize, describe, or "compare and contrast" information that has been memorized. I have observed this weakness on the exams of major universities. Alfred Whitehead noted that "So far as the mere imparting of information is concerned, no university has had any justification for existence since the popularization of printing in the fifteenth century." This is no less true today with the availability of the Internet. The introductory course should incorporate a diversity of learning outcomes, and this diversity should be reflected both in classroom activities and in student assessment protocols. The proposal will also make a case for the urgent development of an online student-centered learning environment, including possible activities that would be included in the course. A combination of multiple teaching approaches is necessary for changing students learning from surface learning to deep learning, passive learning to active learning, over-dependent learning to independent learning, and developing students in the ‘generic skills’ oaf scientist and the skills for ‘lifelong’ learning including problem solving skills, communication skills, and cooperative skill. www.asrongo.org/doi:3.2016.1.1.6