Enhancing the quality of first-year Biology teaching at the University of Stellenbosch

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Transformation in biology teaching is inevitable. There is a global concern about thequality of undergraduate biology teaching, especially when considering the growth inthe fields of biotechnology and the molecular sciences. Programmes of learning haveto be market orientated, and the contents of curricula have to equip students forentrance into a specific career.At the University of Stellenbosch the School for Biological Sciences has developed aninterdisciplinary approach to first-year biology teaching. The new programmes inBiological Sciences, implemented in 2000, contain first-year curricula that introducestudents to the disciplines of genetics, botany, zoology, microbiology, biochemistryand statistics. This involves participation by six departments, and lecture facilitation intwo languages for up to 600 students. As contact sessions between lecturers andstudents are limited, self-study is becoming increasingly important, and lecturesshould be fully exploited to obtain deep learning. This study investigated various waysto enhance the teaching and learning process for first-year biology students in amodule fraught with growing pains and problems.The influence of software support on student learning was evaluated, while theintroduction of an innovative approach to teaching statistics to first-year students wasanalyzed. Supplementing the statistics section with video-recordings of the lectureswas further considered as a possible way of overcoming various obstacles inespecially this section of the module. The application of a practical laboratory courseto enhance the quality of the theoretical lectures was also investigated and evaluated.It can be concluded that no simple solution could be found to solve the variety ofproblems that arose with implementation of the new programmes of learning.Technology proved to be invaluable, but should be applied after thorough needsassessment and impact studies have been performed. Provision of IT tools andfacilities do not necessarily imply their application and effect, and innovation andinspiration still proved to be most effective in enhancing biology teaching.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University