Development of dry lab curriculum for high enrollment introductory biology courses

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) is a public institution with a significant underserved population of students and 1000+ biology majors yearly. Due to high enrollment, it does not currently provide a lower-division, “wet-lab” curriculum and instead supports its lecture curriculum with highly heterogeneous discussion section activities. Forty percent of incoming undergraduate students at UCI leave STEM fields within the first two years of the program, and underserved students who begin in STEM programs are nearly 50% more likely to change majors compared to traditional students. Active learning disproportionately benefits underserved populations, and exposure to active learning and authentic scientific inquiry early in college improves student persistence. Thus, we sought to introduce dry lab modules that incorporate active learning in first year high enrollment biology courses with an immediate goal to increase student learning. Our long-term goal is to address retention gaps across demographic groups. Modules were developed with a backward design process, where learning goals were first identified, and modules structured to address these goals. Subject content reflected a diverse range of topics in introductory biology courses including the properties of water, osmosis, cell cycle, and properties of ecosystems. The hybrid modules were designed to be delivered to approximately 50 students in a one-hour block, remotely or in-person, with a teaching assistant as facilitator. Students participated in collaborative problem-solving including case discussion and data analysis. Attention was given to addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the learning modules. Here we summarize four dry lab modules created for the introductory biology courses at UCI and provide resources for implementation of these modules at other institutions.