Course Context

I taught this course for the first time in Spring 2024. I used another instructor's course materials, as I'm still getting to know the material in depth. I don't usually make too many changes the first time around because I need to assess what's broken before fixing it. 

This course is cross-listed by Health Sciences (HSCI) and the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (MBB). It is taken by students in their final term before graduation, who are pursuing a Bachelor's degree in HSCI or in MBB. These students have already completed an introductory course in immunology, HSCI/MBB-326 which I also teach. This course can also be taken by graduate students as HSCI/MBB 727.

Classroom Innovation

• I used Socrative during class for live anonymous Q&A. Students appreciate the anonymity and convenience.

• I incorporated group paper presentations into the class as a form of assessment strategy. I also included questions related to these papers in the exams. While I encouraged the use of the five-step reading method, I did not provide detailed instruction on how to use it.

Feedback

I have received feedback from students via my survey system, which includes a midterm and an end-of-term survey. The most common requests were more opportunities to break up lectures, clearer alignment between lecture content and exams, and more chances to apply knowledge in the course. Overall, I am pleased with how the course went, especially since this was my first time teaching it, and much of the content was new. I developed a nice rapport with a group of regularly attending students.

Next Time I Teach This Course I will

• Use the case studies supplied with the text more systematically from the start of the term and have students write regular formative quizzes and provide more structured opportunities for in-class group discussions regarding the case studies.

• Assign one paper per module (instead of three) and have students present sections for an intense dive into the methods and results.

• Add more media such as videos and podcasts.

• Add more test-like questions during lectures.

• Present some more technical details from review articles.

• Ask some colleagues to speak to the class.

Course Feedback

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