Maximizing Content Coverage and Learning in a Blended Biology Course

Perhaps the biggest challenge of face-to-face courses is covering content while simultaneously modeling scientific thinking. This session will address how this challenge can be overcome in a blended course. After half the seat time in a blended cell biology course was relinquished, all content was delivered online and lecturing was eliminated. Students were engaged in interactive (often collaborative) exercises in class, which required content knowledge and demanded critical, analytical thinking. Summative objective exams declined in value while assessments of the ability to "think like a scientist" increased. Examples will demonstrate how students can construct knowledge by interpreting data, framing hypotheses, and designing experiments.