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It examines effects on students’ content understanding using a pre-post content survey and gathers perspectives through interviews and classroom observations of lectures and laboratory sessions. Results indicate planned instruction, meaningful gains in science content, and support for modeling effective pedagogy.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/clarity-in-teaching-and-active-learning-in-undergraduate-microbiology-course-for-non-majors/595490/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/clarity-in-teaching-and-active-learning-in-undergraduate-microbiology-course-for-non-majors/595490.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Well Done","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What instructional goals guided the Microbes and Society course?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The course aimed to promote active learning and concentrate on clarity in teaching for non-majors and education majors.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did the study measure students’ content understanding?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Students’ understanding was assessed with a pre-post content survey.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What evidence did the researchers use to document teaching practices?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The researchers interviewed lecture and lab instructors and their students, and they also videotaped lectures and laboratory sessions for observation by university science educators.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},595490,1792192408,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":106,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},5909892210082,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/56001069da27c9f41e8?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1789614185077863061","Clarity in Teaching and Active Learning in Undergraduate Microbiology  \nCourse for Non-Majors  \nGili Marbach-Ad, J. Randy McGinnis, Rebecca Pease, Amy H. Dai, Kelly A Schalk,  \nand Spencer Benson  \nUniversity of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742  \nEmail: [gilim@umd.edu](gilim@umd.edu)  \nAbstract: We investigated a pedagogical innovation in an undergraduate microbiology course (Microbes and Society) for non-majors and education majors. The goals of the curriculum and pedagogical transformation were to promote active learning and concentrate on clarity in teaching. This course was part ofa longitudinal project (Project Nexus) which prepares, supports and sustains upper elementary and middle level specialist science teachers. We sought to understand the impact of the course in terms of students‘ content understanding and in terms of students‘ feedback to the course. To determine students‘ content understanding we used a pre-post content survey. To document the use of teaching innovative approaches in the class we interviewed all participants, including the lecture and the lab instructors and their students, to get their perspectives. Also, all lecture classes and laboratory sessions were videotaped and observed by three university science educators. Our findings suggested that the instructor taught in the way that he planned. Positively, while the course placed an emphasis on modeling good pedagogy and promoting teaching science as a career option, significant gain in science content was achieved by the students.  \nKey words: Non-major science course, active learning, clarity in teaching, microbiology.  \nINTRODUCTION  \nThe primary objectives of non-majors science courses are to introduce students to the process of scientific thinking, to help students gain an appreciation for how science is conducted, understand how science impacts daily lives and to provide a knowledge base in a particular scientific field that students can use as a foundation for lifelong learning in the sciences. In this study we investigated pedagogical innovation in an undergraduate microbiology course (Microbes and Society) for non-majors and education majors. For over five years the course, which weekly consisted of two lecture sessions and two laboratory sessions, had been under transformation by the same biology professor. The goals of the curriculum and pedagogical transformation were to promote active learning and concentrate on clarity in teaching. Studies have shown that student learning is enhanced when they are actively involved in the teachinglearning process (Allen, & Tanner, 2006, Ebert-May[et. al. 1997](et. al. 1997), [Johnson et. al. 1998](Johnson et. al. 1998), Udovic [et. al](et. al).  \n2002) . There are many different types of active learning, all of which involve the students being engaged with the material, rather than passively listening to lectures. Many active learning techniques involve some form of cooperative learning in which students work together in groups toward some goal (Slish, 2005). The Microbes and Society course active learning aspects included: encouragement of student questions, the use of multimedia (i.e., videotape films) and instructional technology, small  \ngroup activities, whole class discussions, student projects and the use of alternative assessments. All are best practice approaches for high-quality science teaching recommended by latest national standard reports (AAAS, 1993; NRC, 1996, 2007) and could be implemented in any science course for nonmajors.  \nClarity in teaching means teaching in a way that enables students to better understand the content, the processes, and their own learning. Research shows clarity to be a valid, distinct, and stable construct, unaffected by extraneous student or teacher variables (Hativa, 2000). Hativa (2000) reported that several dozen teacher behaviors were identified as components of clear teaching at the college level. Some of the main behaviors were: using examples and","cbCailKitlv0isKO","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailKitlv0isKO","pdf",420045,"English","# Introduction\n# Methods\n## Course Description","[{\"question\":\"What instructional goals guided the Microbes and Society course?\",\"answer\":\"The course aimed to promote active learning and concentrate on clarity in teaching for non-majors and education majors.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the study measure students’ content understanding?\",\"answer\":\"Students’ understanding was assessed with a pre-post content survey.\"},{\"question\":\"What evidence did the researchers use to document teaching practices?\",\"answer\":\"The researchers interviewed lecture and lab instructors and their students, and they also videotaped lectures and laboratory sessions for observation by university science educators.\"}]","Clarity in Teaching and Active Learning in Undergraduate Microbiology - Course for Non-Majors | PDF",1792081240,18]