Andrews University has been awarded a second National Science Foundation (NSF) grant totaling $54,112 to study the factors that contribute to the unusual success of the Biology Department's undergraduate students.
Students in the department were doing unexpectedly well, with freshmen graduation rates of more than 70 percent, rankings in the 90th percentile on Major Field Tests, and medical school acceptance rates of around 85%—more than twice the national average.
In 2003, biology professors John Stout and Gordon Atkins applied for a $490,600 NSF STEP Grant to figure out what was causing the students' unexpected success. After an evaluation of their study, however, the NSF urged for a different approach. "NSF said we were doing mechanical things, but that we needed to know what people who have gone through the program think is working," Stout explained.
With the guidance of Elaine Seymour, an expert in science education assessment, and the School of Education's Larry Burton, professor of teacher education, a whole new assessment plan was developed that would evaluate biology graduates as well as current students. Burton will serve as the principal investigator on this portion of the project.
Once the factors of the program's success have been determined, NSF plans to share the biology program's model with other universities around the country. "NSF considers our current biology program as one of the best models of transformational science education in the country," Stout said.
The evaluation process is already underway, and the project has a final completion goal of 2009.
Robert Moncrieff, student news writer, University Relations
