Coteaching to Bridge the Gap Between Introductory-Level and Upper-Division Biology Courses at a Four-Year Institution

Instructors of upper-division STEM courses in college and university settings generally expect that prerequisite introductory courses will establish foundational knowledge, preparing students for their advanced courses. Too often, this expectation is held without an informed idea of what exactly is taught in gateway classes. Moreover, students in introductory courses tend to view learning in their introductory courses as primarily important for the class they are currently taking, rather than considering how it will carry forward to future classes. To bridge contexts between introductory-level courses and upper-division courses, we explored a coteaching model in which the prerequisite content for an upper-division course is taught in an introductory course by the instructors who teach the follow-on course, explicitly drawing connections between introductory and advanced courses. Using a nonequivalent control-group design, we compared student performance in iterations of the introductory course and performance in a follow-on course with and without coteaching involvement of the upper-division instructor. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate positive outcomes, including better performance in the follow-up course and positive student feedback on the coteaching experience.