Benefits to Students
We have gathered a substantial amount of information regarding students’ attitudes of the BIGs program thus far. In addition to the assessments that are performed every year for each BIGs seminar course, student focus groups were convened for both the 2002 and 2003 BIGs to gain some understanding of the impact the BIGs program has had on the first year experience of biology students. A few resonant themes emerge with regard to the benefits students derive from BIGs. One is the formation of learning communities. Students indicate that by having a cohort of students enrolled in the same classes, they would have a community of other freshmen interested in biology. This is attractive to students who perceive the value of having others with whom to study and to express concerns related to their courses. In addition, the communities create a supportive environment in which students can form friendships and make their transition to a college setting easier. That the sense of community created by the BIGs experience was valuable to students is reflected in their comments:
- “Having the same people in every discussion and seeing them in every lecture... I feel like I know a lot more people, it’s going to be weird not having the exact same people in every lecture next semester.”
- “I would say a lot of the personal relationships that was what really stood out. Being able to work with these cool people, that was the best experience out of everything.”
- “I wanted a way to make some lasting contacts with people in the same area of study as me, and I was able to do that.”
- “It made meeting people and [finding] people to study with very easy.”
The sense of belonging and connectedness the students gained from the BIGs experience spilled over into their other courses and other parts of their life. They felt more secure in the knowledge that they had study partners for math and chemistry and had a “hand to hold” when preparing for exams. The BIGs students felt they put forth a “team effort” and really supported one another in getting through the first semester.
Another beneficial outcome is the opportunity to take control of their learning. Students are pleased with the types of learning experiences that are reflected in the course design. The benefits they identified were the freedom to work at one’s own pace, active participation in directing what they were learning and how they were learning, shared responsibility with the instructor in the direction of the course and a supportive environment within which to learn. Students commented that:
- “I thought it was an interesting part of the course that we didn’t always need the teacher to be giving us so much direction. He was there for questions, but he didn’t dominate our learning – we learned on our own.”
- “It was just a freer environment, more relaxed …. which is way more conducive to learning.”
- “…I learned what master’s students and … postdocs feel [when they do research].”
In 2005, we conducted a long-term assessment of the first group of students (BIG 2002) to complete the BIGs program. These students had just completed their third year at the UW. The data suggest that the BIGs program has had a marked impact on the students who participated. Through written comments, the students indicated that the program helped their transition to college, helped to pique their interest in biology, helped them to develop skills that, in retrospect, have been invaluable to college success, and helped them to understand and appreciate the value of study groups and learning communities. In a few cases, the BIGs program was instrumental in guiding students toward specific majors. In summary, the BIGs program helped to establish a firm foundation for the students’ subsequent years at the UW. Further insights gleaned from assessment data are found in the section on Assessment in the latter part of this compendium.
University of Wisconsin-Madison 
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