Assessment of an activity that promotes community building, inclusion, and perseverance in introductory college biology courses

Abstract

Community, inclusion, and perseverance are essential for student success in STEM. To promote these values, we developed two discussion-based activities for implementation in introductory college STEM courses. Both activities incorporate watching videos that portray scientists telling the stories of their career trajectory, in-class discussions, and individual reflection. The first activity addresses community building and inclusion in the classroom, while the second activity focuses on perseverance and student definitions of success. These activities were fully implemented into sections of introductory biology during the 2020–2021 academic year. We assessed how effectively these activities addressed their learning goals through analysis of student written responses and a survey given before and after activities. Overall, the activities were successful helping students achieve learning goals related to community, inclusion and perseverance.