Biology is not a boring topic. So why are students falling asleep during my fascinating lecture?

I’ve been teaching General Biology courses here at Seattle University for 30 years. I taught the same way I was taught. Teachers lecture, students take notes and then go home and apply what they’ve learned to an assignment (homework). It worked just fine.

The pandemic led me to convert all of my course material into video lectures that students could watch on their own time so that class time (Zoom) could be devoted to group work, providing opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding and be guided in their learning. When in fall 2021, we were finally able to meet face to face in the classroom I felt compelled to maximize student interaction.

The isolation had taken its toll. I couldn’t fathom the idea of asking students to sit quietly and take notes while I talked. Instead, I kept the basic model, with students watching the lectures on their own time, and coming to class for enrichment. Being in a classroom greatly enhanced the possibilities for how we could use class time. I use many different types of activities, often involving props and models. For example to teach how genetic diversity is achieved during the development of sperm and eggs, student groups manipulated pairs of homologous chromosomes to create new combinations of genes. Next, the entire class assembled their chromosomes in a 20-foot-long line and demonstrated the remaining steps of the process that would generate 4 genetically unique gametes. No students were left behind. All students took part. Not a sleeper among them. Are they learning? Is it working? I don’t know. I don’t have enough objective data to analyze this yet. The best I can do now is ask students. I spoke with two current students, Lucas Hill, a Junior, working towards a BS in Chemistry and Nicole Teola, a freshman working towards a BS in Criminal Justice with a specialty in forensic science. Both students appreciated the pre-recorded lectures. Lucas likes to be able to speed them up and Nicole appreciates access to the lectures for exam prep. Lucas pointed out a downside of not being able to ask questions during the lecture as he would do in a live lecture. Nicole on the other hand said that during live lectures she’s too busy writing notes to understand the material. Both students found the class activities engaging. Nicole thinks these helped solidify her knowledge. Both students felt that they learned best when they gave presentations to their classmates. Lucas stated that the flipped model will be most beneficial for freshman making the transition to college. Both Lucas and Nicole said they would like to take more flipped classes.