University of Maryland Host Pathogen Interaction Teaching Group, 2008 1 A Faculty Team Works to Develop a Concept Inventory that Measures Understanding of Microbiology Relevant to Host Pathogen Interactions.

Our goal was to establish bridges among seven Host Pathogen Interaction (HPI) undergraduate courses in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics allowing students to develop depth in the area of host pathogen interactions. Our group of faculty and graduate teaching assistants met monthly to focus on reviewing the curriculum of each class, to identify learning goals, choose common microbial systems to highlight, and create a system of shared resources. We designed an assessment tool that includes 18 multiple-choice questions with open-ended explanations. This tool was distributed via WebCT to 200 students in General Microbiology (introductory class) and 60 students in Bacterial Genetics (one of our HPI advanced classes). The student responses were collated and reviewed by our HPI faculty as a group. We met for one day (9am – 4:30pm) to score student responses for alternate conceptions and then to develop a Concept Inventory which includes 18 multiple-choice questions that use commonly held alternate conceptions as distractors. Through Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 we distributed the Concept Inventory before and following six of our HPI courses (we collected total of 477 surveys). The surveys were analyzed once again in a full day group meeting. The findings allowed us to evaluate students ’ meaningful learning and specifically evaluate our courses to examine if we are covering all the concepts that we believe are required for understanding HPI at a level of sophistication appropriate for microbiology majors. Since we are implementing innovations in our courses, the concept inventory will allow us to monitor the effects of our curriculum reform