Developing Skills in Second Year Biological Science Undergraduates

Figures & data

Table 1 The four components of the new Bioscience Skills module.

Component	Teaching methods	Assessments (percentage module marks shown were applicable)
Critical thinking	2 lectures	Review of scientific manuscript I
	6 hours of problem-based learning in small groups (n ≤ 9)	Literature searches
	Self-directed study	Précis of manuscripts
		Contribution to wiki and blog
		Group discussion and debate
		Engagement in group activities (10%)
		Review of scientific manuscript II (15%)
Scientific writing	3 lectures	Exercises in writing and referencing
	Self-directed study	Production of essay and abstract (25%)
Creative thinking	2 lectures	Formulating hypotheses
	6 hours of problem-based learning in small groups (n ≤ 9)	Planning experiments to test hypotheses
	Self-directed study	Group discussion and debate
		Production of group project plan (1 side A4) (12.5%)
		Individual oral presentation as part of group project (12.5%)
Project plan	2 lectures	Honours project plan (25%)
	3 meetings with potential project supervisor

Figure 1 Percentage achieved for student honours project plans in 2010–2011 (the old module) and the first two years of the new Bioscience Skills module (means with 95% confidence intervals).

Figure 2 Percentage achieved for student honours projects and dissertations by students before the new Bioscience Skills module, in comparison to marks achieved after the new module (means with 95% confidence intervals).