ENHANCING ASSESSMENT IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES  

Assessment and learning outcomes are inextricably linked;

the question...
"how can we best assess student learning?"
quickly leads to ...
"what do we want our students to learn?"

For the biological sciences, the responses are various. The biological sciences span a diversity of discipline areas, and different courses of study have inherently different priorities and emphases.

During the course of this project we discussed learning outcomes with staff, recent graduates and employers. We asked academics what they believed biology graduates should know and be able to do, and we asked postgraduate students what learning they most valued from their undergraduate studies. In addition, we considered the views of employers from a range of fields.

I've talked this over with them (business leaders in the biological sciences) and their shopping list for graduates is basically generic attributes -  but it's a subset; ability to think critically; act independently but be an effective team member; ability to communicate effectively; and ability to engage in lifelong learning. [academic]

The type of graduate I look to recruit in my lab is practical, confident and competent with a good background in general science. The person may not have a background in some aspect of work so he/she needs to be able to research the background. The level of detail required depends on the position. Not a lot of technical skills are required but the applicant must have the ability to source information. Interviewers would like people with good presentation skills and good team work skills but in reality these are hard to define so their weighting in interviews is not high. [employer: Senior Research Scientist, Genomics Primary Industries Research]

Some of the most commonly cited learning outcomes for students in the biological sciences are:

• Written communication skills, including scientific writing;
• Teamwork skills, including the ability to work with diverse project groups;
• Critical appraisal skills, including the ability to read and interpret scientific literature;
• Knowledge of science as a process rather than a set of facts;
• Knowledge of biological organisation; and
• Analytical skills, including skills in quantitative data analysis.

Some desirable learning outcomes are generic and transferable, in that they are common to many disciplines and valued in many professions and workplaces. Others are more specific - specific to science, to the biological sciences, or to particular fields within the biological sciences.

Communication skills

The development of students' communication skills, specifically the development of written and oral communication skills, was given high priority by both staff and students. 

Written communication skills

• Academic writing, including: the importance of good, general writing skills in order to both clarify ideas and communicate them to others.
• Scientific writing - writing that is: logical and structured; objective and evidence-based; concise and precise; follows the conventions of scientific writing.

Oral communication skills

• Interpersonal communication skills, including: confidence to contribute to discussion and debate; listening skills; and empathy and respect for others.
• Science communication, including the ability to present and explain scientific ideas and concepts to a variety of audiences, in both informal and more formal settings.
• Formal presentation skills, including the confidence and skills to present in a seminar environment.

Some of the staff and students interviewed viewed oral presentation skills, particularly formal oral presentation, to be of secondary importance to written communication. They argued that oral presentation skills are best developed during postgraduate study, whereas the development of writing skills appropriate to the sciences needs to be an early priority for all students.

Team work skills

The importance of team work was highlighted by many of the staff interviewed.

Group based research and scientific activity is much more the norm now, and I think that's a shift that has happened over the past 20 years .... I never thought it was until I worked for CSIRO, where everything I did was in a group. I was never a single scientist. Even thinking through things - you were being asked to think on your feet in some cases - and you had to sell every intention and idea that you had to a group of at least 5 people. [academic]

The skills involved to successfully work as a team member include: skills of working collaboratively; team management skills, including working through 'difficult' situations; project coordination skills, including time management and communication strategies.

Critical thinking skills

The need for students in the biological sciences to develop skills in critical thinking was emphasised.

In times past, biology was a very descriptive discipline ... and students who did very well in biology were often those that had the best memory or who were able to assimilate a great number of facts which they could then regurgitate in some form of examination. Those days in biology are well and truly past. And just as in physics and chemistry, you have to make judgements, choose between different things, make critical appraisals - that's now an essential part of biology. [academic]

Critical thinking was variously described as an ability to: critically appraise information and ideas, including the ability to read and evaluate scientific papers; synthesise new information, including information from different discipline areas; and appreciate the distinction between critique and criticism.

I think university teachers these days clearly understand that you need more than just a few facts, you've got to be able to link them together, develop hypotheses, see if they're supporting or contradicting theories, interpreting biological information within the major paradigm which is the evolutionary paradigm. [academic]

Students have to have a certain library of information, a certain number of facts. You can't operate without a collection of knowledge. But the students should also have developed some specialized skills and some critical appraisal ability. And I suppose it would nice if they started to find ways to link together things that have been regarded as different, some sort of joining of disciplines, merging of different types of information. [academic]

Key concepts and knowledge

Given the diversity of degree types in the biological sciences field, it was not surprising to us that the specific knowledge most valued varied between individuals. However there were several themes which emerged repeatedly - either stated explicitly as learning outcomes, or implicitly in the design and criteria for assessment tasks. Generally, it was expected that students in the biological sciences should develop an understanding of:

• Organismal diversity - knowledge of the characteristics of the major taxa and the relationship between them;
• Levels of biological organisation - the ability to 'think across' levels (eg. molecular, cellular, tissues, organs) in order to understand biological processes;
• The inherent ambiguity of knowledge - an appreciation that knowledge is fluid, and that science involves questioning, challenging and testing current understandings; and
• The evolutionary paradigm - knowledge of the theory of evolution, and the ability to interpret information and observations within an evolutionary paradigm.

Specific skills and knowledge

In addition to the underpinning knowledge described above - of science as a process, and of biological organisation and relationships - a variety of specific skills and knowledge was seen to be important for graduates in the biological sciences:

• Scientific methodology, including the central role of hypothesis development and testing;
• Quantitative skills, 'because science is about measurement';
• Data analysis, including relevant IT skills and statistics;
• Observation skills, including the ability to record observations accurately;
• Understanding scientific conventions; and
• Familiarity with key techniques and methods as appropriate to the particular discipline area within the biological sciences, including practical skills.

To reference material from this site, please use:

Harris, K-L., Krause, K., Gleeson, D., Peat, M., Taylor, C. & Garnett, R. (2007). Enhancing Assessment in the Biological Sciences: Ideas and resources for university educators. Available at: www.bioassess.edu.au