Nonmajors' Shifts in Attitudes & Perceptions of Biology & Biologists Following an Active-Learning Course:An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study examined the impacts of a student-centered, active-learning course on nonmajors' attitudes and perceptions of biology and biologists. Results revealed changes along various measured attitude variables. Most notably, participants saw significant positive shifts in their perceptions of biology as a scientific field that contrasted with their relatively stable perceptions of biologists as scientists. Implications are discussed in the context of the impacts of nonmajors biology courses on future K–12 science instructors and potential influxes of students into the science pipeline.