Student Perceptions of an Introductory Animal Sciences Course for High-Ability Students

摘要

As institutions recruit high-ability students through honors programs, greater offering of courses that satisfy program requirements at the departmental level are needed to meet the interest of students while promoting the desired outcomes of programinvolvement. The purpose of this study was to 1) describe, in detail, the development and implementation of an honors introductory animal sciences course; and 2) discuss the findings of the student evaluations of the course and course components. Duringits first offering autumn quarter 2009, students enrolled in Honors Introductory Animal Sciences were asked to complete a post-course questionnaire to assess student perceptions of the course. The course offered multiple teaching and learning methods. Lecture format was perceived most valuable by students, rating 4.85 ± 0.24 on a 5 point scale (P < 0.05). The scientific evaluation of the book Portrait of a Burger as a Young Calf, which required students to demonstrate reading comprehension and effective writing skills, received the lowest rating (3.85 ± 0.24) by students. Overall, students agreed that the course taught them a great deal about domesticated animal species (4.46 ± 0.24) and animal science disciplines (4.69 ± 0.24) and the enhanced learning experiences were recognized as valuable learning components.