This paper examines systematic improvements that were made to an Animal Anatomy and Physiology course and the extent to which those improvements could be meaningfully associated with an increase in students’ academic performance. The changes to the course were enacted with the hope that the curricular enhancements would pay dividends for student success in subsequent coursework within the discipline of animal science. The analysis was designed to uncover the extent to which the changes shared a pattern of association with students’ performance in courses that require Animal A and P as a prerequisite. Specifically, we assessed students’ ability to maintain or improve on their academic performance as measured by their grades in the prerequisite course and in subsequent courses. Examining the distribution of student grades in Animal A and P and subsequent coursework over several years, a chi-squared test of independence revealed a significant and substantive change in the proportion of students who were going on to maintain or exceed their academic performance, as rated by faculty who were not aware that the systematic changes had occurred. Specific course enhancements are discussed as being particularly promising for high-quality scientific courses with associated lab requirements.
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