Teaching introductory biology courses can be challenging because many students possess misconceptions about core concepts prior to confronting material in a formal learning environment. Diagnostic Question Clusters (DQC's) are one tool that can be used to identify these misconceptions and help instructors modify teaching approaches to more effectively address difficult content. Andy Anderson and colleagues at Michigan State University developed Biology DQC's and invited biology instructors from a wide variety of institutions to workshops at the 2008 and 2009 ESA Meetings. These workshops titled, “Using DQC's to Improve Introductory Biology Teaching” familiarized participants with DQC's and how to use them in conjunction with active learning strategies to help students overcome common misconceptions in environmental biology. I used a DQC as a pre- and post-test in conjunction with active learning techniques in my Fall 2009 (N = 28) and Spring 2010 (N = 22) Environmental Studies - Physical Perspectives courses to evaluate students understanding of carbon cycling and climate change. This course is an introductory environmental science course taken by first-year students in Rowan University’s Environmental Studies Program.  

Results/Conclusions

In general, few students (<10%) were able to answer all multiple-choice questions correctly and provide well-reasoned written responses on pre-tests, but this proportion more than doubled on the post-test. When provided with a simple carbon cycle diagram on the pre-test, a majority (74%) of students recognized that atmospheric carbon is not at a steady state, but only 35% of students were able to provide a reasonable explanation for why this is the case. Student performance changed dramatically in the post-test with significant increases in both measures.  Students were also asked to identify the cause of increasing global temperatures. On the pre-test, 23% of students incorrectly stated that deterioration of the ozone layer was the major cause of this phenomenon, but only 7% of students indicated this mechanism on the post-test. Students involved in a learning-by-teaching outreach activity in a local middle-school scored considerably better on the post-test than students who received in-class instruction only. These results suggest that certain active learning approaches are particularly effective in helping students understand mechanisms underlying climate change. Using DQC’s in conjunction with active learning techniques can help focus instruction and improve student learning.