Table 4.
Assessment of cell and molecular biology (CMB) lab experience
| Question | Former students (n = 62) | Current students (n = 55) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Over the course of the semester in CMB, do you feel your ability to work effectively in the lab improved in terms of | ||
| a. technique/competence | 4.1 ± 0.7 | 4.4 ± 0.5 |
| b. writing lab reports | 4.0 ± 0.9 | 3.6 ± 0.8 |
| c. understanding of technical/scientific terms | 4.2 ± 0.8 | 3.9 ± 0.6 |
| d. making flow charts | 3.6 ± 1.2 | 4.2 ± 1.1 |
| e. use of standard curves | 3.4 ± 1.0 | 3.9 ± 0.8 |
| 2. Please rate the following aspects of your experience in CMB lab in terms of their usefulness in other courses you have taken. | ||
| a. writing lab reports | 4.0 ± 1.0 | NA |
| b. ability to graph and interpret data | 3.9 ± 1.0 | NA |
| c. understanding of technical/scientific terms | 4.2 ± 0.7 | NA |
| d. lab technique | 4.5 ± 0.7 | NA |
| e. making flow charts | 3.2 ± 1.3 | NA |
| 3. In CMB, the lab experiences were focused around two sets of lab sequences, each of which took several weeks. Did this arrangement | ||
| a. make it easier to understand that scientific research requires sequential linked experiments, as opposed to isolated experiments? | 4.0 ± 0.8 | 4.0 ± 0.9 |
| b. increase your appreciation of the link between experimental work and scientific knowledge (e.g., information presented in textbooks)? | 3.9 ± 0.9 | 3.7 ± 1.1 |
| 4. Were you more likely to concentrate on using better lab technique when your results from one week were needed for the next week's experiment? | 4.2 ± 1.0 | 4.0 ± 1.1 |
| 5. CMB students are presently required to turn in advance drafts of their Introduction, Materials and Methods, graphs, and tables. Do you feel this process allowed you to do a better job than you would have if the only due date was for the final complete report? | 4.4 ± 0.9 | 4.7 ± 0.6 |
| 6. Looking back on the CMB laboratory, was this overall a useful experience? | 4.2 ± 1.3 | 4.0 ± 0.9 |
Mean responses ± SD are shown. Questions from evaluations are listed. Instructions on the surveys read, “Please circle your choice; scale (unless otherwise specified) is 1, least or not at all … 5, most or very much.” NA, not applicable.