Using Clickers to Engage a Large Lecture Organismal Biology Course

BIOL 201 (Biology of Organisms) is the second course in a three-course sequence required for Biology majors. It is a large lecture class (230 students) with multiple lab sections. Formative assessments play a critical role in informing instruction. However, the large number of students in classes such as this limits opportunities for giving traditional formative assessments (quizzes, student-teacher conversations, etc.), hence limits the instructor's ability to gauge student performance. This course redesign project is aimed at evaluating several modes of formative assessment with the goal of providing feedback on student readiness at critical juncture points of instruction.