Optional 'What is Biology Good For?' essays achieved >75% weekly participation and >90% of students reported they made science relevance clear¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · designr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2004 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? In a given week, more than 75% of N100 students submitted responses to the optional Good For essays, worth only 30 of 600 semester points. → Marrs 2004
q2 i? Over 90% of students questioned (n = 170) reported the Good For assignments made them understand the relevance of science to their lives. → Marrs 2004 (2)
Evidence¶
Marrs 2004¶
Marrs, K.A., and Novak, G. (2004). Just-in-Time Teaching in Biology: Creating an Active Learner Classroom Using the Internet. Cell Biology Education 3, 49–61. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.03-11-0022
q2 · i? · design · r2
Participation report for the optional extra-credit Good For essays in Contemporary Biology N100, worth 3 points per question for a total of 30 of 600 semester points. The article reports more than 75% weekly submission despite the small credit value.
"In a given week, >75% of the students of the students submit responses to the optional Good For es- says, which are due the Friday after that week’s classes."
Marrs 2004 (2)¶
Marrs, K.A., and Novak, G. (2004). Just-in-Time Teaching in Biology: Creating an Active Learner Classroom Using the Internet. Cell Biology Education 3, 49–61. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.03-11-0022
q2 · i? · design · r2
Student rating survey of the Good For assignments in N100. The article reports over 90% of students questioned (n = 170) said the essays made them understand the relevance of science to their lives; no inferential test is printed.
"When asked to rate the Good For assignments, over 90% of the students questioned reported that the Good Fors made them understand the relevance of science to their lives (n = 170)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- JiTT implementation was associated with a decreased DFW rate in Contemporary Biology, from 27% to 20%
- Test questions reinforced by Warm Up questions or Cooperative Learning activities showed higher average normalized gains (~52%, ~60%) than questions discussed in class only (~15%)
- Students rated class discussions of Warm Up responses as very useful (87%, n = 485)
- Cooperative learning exercises were rated highly useful by >94% of students and were associated with roughly doubled class attendance — related
- Students in the style-informed EFL classes reported that the teaching procedure was useful and that their interests and motivation increased — related
- Students and teachers respond favorably to embedded aids: approximately 90% of students reported no difficulty understanding or using the aids, and over 75% wanted similar aids throughout the book. — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
good-for-essays-relevance-motivation |
title |
Optional 'What is Biology Good For?' essays achieved >75% weekly participation and >90% of students reported they made science relevance clear |
description |
Optional 'What is Biology Good For?' essays achieved >75% weekly participation and >90% of students reported they made science relevance clear |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2004 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — marrs-2004, marrs-2004-2 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.