Background ContextIntro to majors biology, cell and molecular

500 students a year

I teach one semester in fall

Pre-professional, secondary ed

Challenge

• STEM retention

• Students do not see why biology class relates to their lives –> no motivation until too late to recover

Research QuestionDoes providing popular media of biological concepts improve student outcomes in introductory majors biology?

Outcomes

• Retention

• Content knowledge

• Grades

• Attitudes

• Interest

Why is it Interesting?(to anyone other than me)

STEM Retention

Method anecdotally works, but little hard research in biology

Contemporary format/media to engage students where science meets their lives (me meeting them where they are, not the other way around)

Eating, Cooking (Alton Brown), CSI mystery, Science career, Human Interest/Justice, Agriculture/Plant, Animal

Research Design6 units of material

Unit 2 - Introduce pop. media to whole class (no assn.)

Units 3, 4 - Random ½ gets intervention, other ½ normal, switch

Quantitative

• Pre, Post, Embed MC (factual knowledge, comprehension, concept familiarity)

• Grades, decreased dropping of class

Qualitative

• Interview random 7 (?) of each half

• 1 page, open-ended, self-reporting paper