Molecules and Cells: A model for addressing the needs of students with varied backgrounds and diverse learning styles

Students in "Molecules and Cells" completed a survey to assess their learning preferences. Almost two-thirds of the students were multimodal, learning through a combination of visual, aural, read/write, or kinesthetic modes. This supported our view that a diverse learning environment with a variety of learning modalities would make a significant contribution to the students' understanding and retention of the material. These methods included: lectures with class demonstrations, team based learning, formative assessments through "clicker questions", simulations, peer instruction, informal and formal group discussion, case studies, and a variety of online resources. A majority (93%) of students believed they benefitted from this approach, a view that was supported quantitatively: 90% of the 126 students enrolled in the course attended class even though each lecture was available on-line.