Practical Assessment of Basic Skills in High-Enrollment Biology Lab Courses

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2015, Volume 36

Aaron Coleman

Abstract

Authentic assessment in undergraduate biology courses should measure learning of widely applicable skills and concepts that benefit the student outside of the course in which that material is learned. This is particularly true in laboratory courses, which can provide the real-life, marketable skills required to engage in research and work in a laboratory setting. Practical assessment that directly tests physical laboratory skills, such as pipetting and microscope use, is widely accepted to be the most valuable measure in this regard. Despite the value of this approach, the logistical challenges involved can make lab practical assessment difficult to implement in a meaningful way. Lack of time, equipment, and feasible rubrics for measuring lab skills are problems that are compounded in high-enrollment lab courses with a low instructor to student ratio. We will present two lab practical exercises that measure routinely-used skills in the molecular biology laboratory. The first exercise assesses pipetting ability and dilution math, and the second assess the ability to use a microcentrifuge and work accurately with small pellets. Both of these exercises are currently used in our high-enrollment molecular biology and biochemistry lab course. They have been optimized to be high-throughput and easy to implement, while still providing valuable measures of these lab skills and being fun and engaging for the students. These exercises will be discussed in the broader context of expanding practical assessment use in undergraduate biology lab courses.

Keywords:  lab skills, lab practical

University of Oregon (2014)