Foundation Skills for Scientists: An Evolving Program

We have undertaken an integrated and collaborative approach to developing foundational skills of students in a first year, Introductory Biology course. The course is a large lecture and laboratory course with enrollments ranging from 800-1000 per year. Teaching and Learning experts were brought into the course as weekly ‘Foundation Skills for Scientists’ sessions were created. The initial challenges were to have effective knowledge exchange between collaborators and create an integrated course syllabus. Once effective sessions were created, the next challenge was to improve student valuation of them. High value was only achieved when the skill sessions were tightly linked to course assignments and activities and was delivered ‘just in time’. Even then, the challenge has been to motivate students to realize that the sessions are directly relevant to them. Overall, student performance has improved since the program was initiated as measured by rate of retention in the course, overall course marks and quality of writing.Nous avons utilise une approche inte gre e et collaborative pour approfondir les compe tences de base des e tudiants de premie re anne e qui suivent un cours d’introduction a la biologie. Il s’agit d’un cours magistral et en laboratoire, auquel s’inscrivent entre 800 et 1000 e tudiants par an. Ce cours a be ne ficie de l’apport d’experts en enseignement et en apprentissage afin d’appuyer le de veloppement de se ances hebdomadaires portant sur les compe tences de base en sciences. Les difficulte s initiales e taient de susciter un e change de connaissances efficace entre les collaborateurs et de cre er un plan de cours inte gre . Une fois les se ances organise es, la difficulte suivante a e te de faire en sorte que les e tudiants les appre cient davantage. Ces derniers les ont juge es tre s utiles uniquement lorsqu’elles e taient e troitement lie es aux ta ches et aux activite s et lorsqu’elles e taient offertes au moment opportun. Me me alors, le de fi a consiste a motiver les e tudiants afin qu’ils se rendent compte que les se ances leur sont directement pertinentes. Dans l’ensemble, la performance des e tudiants s’est ame liore e depuis le de but du programme comme l’indiquent les mesures du taux de perse ve rance dans le cours, les notes ge ne rales et la qualite de la re daction.