Developing and Implementing a Mnemonic Device for Teaching Biological Organisms in STEM Education

Lawrence O. Flowers

Abstract: Developing useful STEM pedagogical strategies is a constant goal for STEM instructors at institutions of higher learning. Analysis of empirical evidence illustrating retention rates and graduation rates among college students in STEM highlights the need for approaches to improve content engagement and learning. This article presents and describes using a mnemonic device to teach students about key features of living (e. g., bacteria) and non - living (e. g., viruses) organisms. The acronym TEDDI D. SMUB can be useful for analyzing parasitic, pathogenic, and free - living organisms. TEDDI D. SMUB is an abbreviation for taxonomy, epidemiology, diseases, drugs, immunology, diagnostics, symptoms, morphology, unique features, and biology. In addition to using this approach to learn about one organism, this approach is great for comparative organismal analysis. The article also introduces individual instructional assessments (IIA) that proffer a method to reduce plagiarism and better evaluate student understanding of discipline - based laboratory skills and cognitive skills. Additional mixed methods research studies are needed to validate the efficacy of the TEDDI D. SMUB mnemonic device to improve student educational outcomes and STEM department objectives.

Keywords: instructional, learning, biology, mnemonic, assessment