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1.
This study demonstrates a small, but significant, difference in prior understanding of basic biological concepts between students enrolled in majors' versus nonmajors' introductory biology courses. By the end of their respective courses, nonmajors demonstrated greater improvement in posttest scores than did majors. Furthermore, although initially students in the major course had a significantly more positive attitude towards science, especially in terms of personal comfort with science, by the end of the course this difference disappears. Following a semester of instruction, the attitudes of nonmajors generally improved, but student attitudes in the majors' classes declined in nearly all categories. We demonstrate a significant instructor effect in these results.  相似文献   

2.
There are widespread aspirations to focus undergraduate biology education on teaching students to think conceptually like biologists; however, there is a dearth of assessment tools designed to measure progress from novice to expert biological conceptual thinking. We present the development of a novel assessment tool, the Biology Card Sorting Task, designed to probe how individuals organize their conceptual knowledge of biology. While modeled on tasks from cognitive psychology, this task is unique in its design to test two hypothesized conceptual frameworks for the organization of biological knowledge: 1) a surface feature organization focused on organism type and 2) a deep feature organization focused on fundamental biological concepts. In this initial investigation of the Biology Card Sorting Task, each of six analytical measures showed statistically significant differences when used to compare the card sorting results of putative biological experts (biology faculty) and novices (non–biology major undergraduates). Consistently, biology faculty appeared to sort based on hypothesized deep features, while non–biology majors appeared to sort based on either surface features or nonhypothesized organizational frameworks. Results suggest that this novel task is robust in distinguishing populations of biology experts and biology novices and may be an adaptable tool for tracking emerging biology conceptual expertise.  相似文献   

3.
Interest in student conception of experimentation inspired the development of a fully validated 14-question inventory on experimental design in biology (BEDCI) by following established best practices in concept inventory (CI) design. This CI can be used to diagnose specific examples of non–expert-like thinking in students and to evaluate the success of teaching strategies that target conceptual changes. We used BEDCI to diagnose non–expert-like student thinking in experimental design at the pre- and posttest stage in five courses (total n = 580 students) at a large research university in western Canada. Calculated difficulty and discrimination metrics indicated that BEDCI questions are able to effectively capture learning changes at the undergraduate level. A high correlation (r = 0.84) between responses by students in similar courses and at the same stage of their academic career, also suggests that the test is reliable. Students showed significant positive learning changes by the posttest stage, but some non–expert-like responses were widespread and persistent. BEDCI is a reliable and valid diagnostic tool that can be used in a variety of life sciences disciplines.  相似文献   

4.
This study was conducted in an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of an educational card game we developed for learning human immunology. Two semesters of evaluation were included to examine the impact of the game on students’ understanding and perceptions of the game-based instruction. Ninety-nine senior high school students (11th graders) were recruited for the first evaluation, and the second-semester group consisted of 72 students (also 11th graders). The results obtained indicate that students did learn from the educational card game. Moreover, students who learned from playing the game significantly outperformed their counterparts in terms of their understanding of the processes and connections among different lines of immunological defense (first semester: t = 2.92, p < 0.01; second semester: t = 3.45, p < 0.01) according to the qualitative analysis of an open-ended question. They generally had positive perceptions toward the game-based instruction and its learning efficiency, and they felt the game-based instruction was much more interesting than traditional didactic lectures (first semester: t = 2.79, p < 0.01; second semester: t = 2.41, p < 0.05). This finding is evidence that the educational card game has potential to facilitate students’ learning of how the immune system works. The implications and suggestions for future work are further discussed.
Play is necessary for the development of higher intelligence; for if we were provided with perfected instincts, as insects are, life would be automatic and there would be no such thing as education and no increase of ability or intelligence, either in the individual or the species.— Mitchell and Mason, 1935 , 56–57
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5.
Understanding genetic drift is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of biology, yet it is difficult to learn because it combines the conceptual challenges of both evolution and randomness. To help assess strategies for teaching genetic drift, we have developed and evaluated the Genetic Drift Inventory (GeDI), a concept inventory that measures upper-division students’ understanding of this concept. We used an iterative approach that included extensive interviews and field tests involving 1723 students across five different undergraduate campuses. The GeDI consists of 22 agree–disagree statements that assess four key concepts and six misconceptions. Student scores ranged from 4/22 to 22/22. Statements ranged in mean difficulty from 0.29 to 0.80 and in discrimination from 0.09 to 0.46. The internal consistency, as measured with Cronbach''s alpha, ranged from 0.58 to 0.88 across five iterations. Test–retest analysis resulted in a coefficient of stability of 0.82. The true–false format means that the GeDI can test how well students grasp key concepts central to understanding genetic drift, while simultaneously testing for the presence of misconceptions that indicate an incomplete understanding of genetic drift. The insights gained from this testing will, over time, allow us to improve instruction about this key component of evolution.  相似文献   

6.
This study assessed students' learning of evolution by natural selection within four different sections of an introductory biology course. Each section used a different combination of curricular materials (either traditional or historically rich materials) and instruction (either paired problem solving or traditional lecture). Students in the study completed pre- and postintervention evolution tests. Students' responses were analyzed to create variables for both correct and alternative conceptions of evolution. Pretest and posttest data were used to create difference scores that were compared both within and between teaching sections. Pre-to-post gains were expected in the correct (Darwinian Conception) scores, while pre-to-post losses were expected in the Alternative Conception scores. Also, students in the experimental sections were expected to perform better than those in the traditional sections. Pretest-to-posttest differences within each section showed gains in correct conceptions but few reductions in alternative conceptions. Comparisons between sections support the use of the paired problem-solving instructional strategy in conjunction with the historically rich curriculum. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  相似文献   

7.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science 2011 report Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education encourages the teaching of developmental biology as an important part of teaching evolution. Recently, however, we found that biology majors often lack the developmental knowledge needed to understand evolutionary developmental biology, or “evo-devo.” To assist in efforts to improve evo-devo instruction among undergraduate biology majors, we designed a concept inventory (CI) for evolutionary developmental biology, the EvoDevoCI. The CI measures student understanding of six core evo-devo concepts using four scenarios and 11 multiple-choice items, all inspired by authentic scientific examples. Distracters were designed to represent the common conceptual difficulties students have with each evo-devo concept. The tool was validated by experts and administered at four institutions to 1191 students during preliminary (n = 652) and final (n = 539) field trials. We used student responses to evaluate the readability, difficulty, discriminability, validity, and reliability of the EvoDevoCI, which included items ranging in difficulty from 0.22–0.55 and in discriminability from 0.19–0.38. Such measures suggest the EvoDevoCI is an effective tool for assessing student understanding of evo-devo concepts and the prevalence of associated common conceptual difficulties among both novice and advanced undergraduate biology majors.  相似文献   

8.
This study investigated the effectiveness of combining conceptual change text and discussion web strategies on students' understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants. Students' conceptual understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants was measured using the two-tier diagnostic test developed by Haslam and Treagust (1987, Journal of Biological Education 21: 203--211). The test was administered as pretest and posttest to a total of 233 eighth-grade students in six intact classes of the same school located in an urban area. The test of logical thinking was used to determine the reasoning ability of students. The experimental group was a class of 116 students received discussion web and conceptual change text instruction. A class of 117 students comprised the control group received a traditional instruction. After instruction, data were analyzed with two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) using the Test of Logical Thinking and pretest scores as covariate. The conceptual change instruction, which explicitly dealt with students' misconceptions, produced significantly greater achievement in understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plant concepts. Analysis also revealed a significant difference between performance of females and that of males in the favor of females, but the interaction of treatment with gender difference was not significant for learning the concepts.  相似文献   

9.
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10.
Despite the impact of genetics on daily life, biology undergraduates understand some key genetics concepts poorly. One concept requiring attention is dominance, which many students understand as a fixed property of an allele or trait and regularly conflate with frequency in a population or selective advantage. We present the Dominance Concept Inventory (DCI), an instrument to gather data on selected alternative conceptions about dominance. During development of the 16-item test, we used expert surveys (n = 12), student interviews (n = 42), and field tests (n = 1763) from introductory and advanced biology undergraduates at public and private, majority- and minority-serving, 2- and 4-yr institutions in the United States. In the final field test across all subject populations (n = 709), item difficulty ranged from 0.08 to 0.84 (0.51 ± 0.049 SEM), while item discrimination ranged from 0.11 to 0.82 (0.50 ± 0.048 SEM). Internal reliability (Cronbach''s alpha) was 0.77, while test–retest reliability values were 0.74 (product moment correlation) and 0.77 (intraclass correlation). The prevalence of alternative conceptions in the field tests shows that introductory and advanced students retain confusion about dominance after instruction. All measures support the DCI as a useful instrument for measuring undergraduate biology student understanding and alternative conceptions about dominance.  相似文献   

11.
Direct teaching of problem-solving methods to high school physics students met with little success. Expert problem solving depended upon an organized knowledge base. Concept mapping was found to be a key to organizing an effective knowledge base. The investigation of the effect of the degree of concept mapping on achievement was the purpose of this study. Six intact high school physics classes, taught by this investigator, took part in the study. Two classes were control groups and received standard instruction. Four classes received six weeks of concept-mapping instruction prior to the unit under study. Two of these four classes were the low-level treatment group and were required to submit concept maps at the conclusion of the instruction. The other two classes were the high-level treatment group and were required to submit concept maps at the beginning and at the conclusion of the unit under study. One class from each treatment group took a pretest prior to instruction. An analysis of the posttest results revealed no pretest sensitization. A one-way analysis of covariance indicated a significant main effect for the treatment level at the p < 0.05 level. A pair of single-df comparisons of the adjusted treatment means resulted in significant differences (p < 0.05) between the control group and the average of the treatment means as well as between the two experimental groups. It can be concluded that for this sample (upper-middle-class high school physics students) mapping concepts prior to, during, and subsequent to instruction led to greater achievement as measured by posttest scores.  相似文献   

12.
In this quasiexperimental study, the authors investigated the effects of university within school partnership model, within which faculty members acted as teacher-researchers to improve fractional knowledge among middle school (Grades 5–8) students. Students in nine Grade 6 mathematics classes from two public middle schools in Turkey were assigned to two conditions: University within school model instruction and traditional instruction. Pre- and posttest data showed that the students exposed to instruction through the university within school partnership model significantly outperformed their traditional instruction peers on the fractions test. Results indicated that students made significant gains in fractional knowledge in the experimental classrooms and in different subgroup populations. It was suggested that a substantial amount of mathematical infusion through partnership could have a positive impact on middle school students' fractional knowledge. The educational implications of the study were also discussed.  相似文献   

13.
The purpose of this study was to identify misconceptions concerning chemical equilibrium concepts and to investigate the effectiveness of instruction based on the constructivist approach over traditional instruction on 10th grade students' understanding of chemical equilibrium concepts. The subjects of this study consisted of 71 10th grade students from two chemistry classes of the same teacher. Each teaching strategy was randomly assigned to one class. The data were obtained from 32 students in the experimental group taught with instruction informed by the constructivist approach and 39 students in the control group taught with traditional instruction. The data were analysed using analysis of covariance. The results indicated that the students who used the constructivist principles-oriented instruction earned significantly higher scores than those taught by traditional instruction in terms of achievement related to chemical equilibrium concepts. In addition, students' previous learning and science process skills each made a significant contribution to the achievement related to chemical equilibrium concepts. In light of the findings obtained from the results, an additional misconception of chemical equilibrium concepts was determined in addition to the misconceptions in related literature. This misconception is that when one of the reactants is added to the equilibrium system, the concentration of the substance that was added will decrease below its value at the initial equilibrium.  相似文献   

14.
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15.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the conceptual change text oriented instruction over traditionally designed instruction on ninth grade students’ understanding of the human circulatory system concepts, and their retention of this understanding. The subjects of this study consist of 73 ninth grade female students from two classes of a basic school in Jordan. One of the classes was randomly assigned as an experimental group in which conceptual change text oriented instruction was implemented, and the other class was randomly assigned as a control group in which students were instructed by traditionally designed biology instruction. Results showed that students exposed to conceptual change oriented instruction had better understanding of the human circulatory system concepts than those exposed to traditional instruction. The results also showed that the conceptual change text oriented instruction was significantly better than the traditional instruction in retention of this understanding.  相似文献   

16.
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cooperative learning based on conceptual change approach instruction on ninth-grade students’ understanding in chemical bonding concepts compared to traditional instruction. Seventy-two ninth-grade students from two intact chemistry classes taught by the same teacher in a public high school participated in the study. The classes were randomly assigned as the experimental and control group. The control group (N?=?35) was taught by traditional instruction while the experimental group (N?=?37) was taught cooperative learning based on conceptual change approach instruction. Chemical Bonding Concept Test (CBCT) was used as pre- and post-test to define students’ understanding of chemical bonding concepts. After treatment, students’ interviews were conducted to observe more information about their responses. Moreover, students from experimental groups were interviewed to obtain information about students’ perceptions on cooperative work experiences. The results from ANCOVA showed that cooperative learning based on conceptual change approach instruction led to better acquisition of scientific conceptions related to chemical bonding concepts than traditional instruction. Interview results demonstrated that the students in the experimental group had better understanding and fewer misconceptions in chemical bonding concepts than those in the control group. Moreover, interviews about treatment indicated that this treatment helped students’ learning and increased their learning motivation and their social skills.  相似文献   

17.
As other countries vigorously promote rapid advancement in science, optimizing the participation of all students in the United States in science is imperative. This study focused on African American students and examined their science achievement in relation to Black Cultural Ethos (BCE), a construct rooted in psychology. Via qualitative and quantitative data obtained from a non‐random control group design, the study addressed three questions: (1) With respect to BCE, what characterizes the natural instructional contexts of two middle school science teachers? (2) What characterizes the achievement of African American students in contexts that incorporate BCE and contexts that do not? (3) What achievement patterns, if any, exist in BCE and non‐BCE instructional contexts? With regard to the natural contexts, the teachers did not incorporate BCE even when the opportunities were available to do so. Within these non‐BCE contexts, the group's mean scores on the study‐specific test that aligned with instruction decreased from pretest to posttest with approximately one‐third of the students' scores improving. When a context was altered with a moderate effect size of 0.47 to include BCE, the group's mean scores on the aforementioned test increased from pretest to posttest with two‐thirds of the students' scores improving. An illustration of the interplay between BCE and context and a consideration of the interplay as a mediating factor in research involving African American students encapsulate the significance and implications of the study's findings. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 665–683, 2008  相似文献   

18.
Limited research is available on the effectiveness of remedial college courses. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of two instructional approaches for developmental reading courses at a community college in the southwestern United States. The instructional approaches were traditional textbook-based instruction and strategic-reading instruction. The sample consisted of 64 participants. Half (n = 32) of the participants were in the control group (n = 32) and received traditional textbook-based instruction; the other half (n = 32) were in the experimental group and received strategic-reading instruction. All participants completed the Nelson-Denny Reading Form G at the beginning of the semester and then again 12 weeks later, at the end of the semester. The data were then statistically analyzed to identify any relationships between the type of instruction and the differences between the students’ pretest and posttest scores. The null hypotheses for H1 and H2 were rejected because the results of the paired t tests indicated that both traditional textbook-based instruction and strategic-reading instruction have a statistically significant positive effect on students’ performance on the test. A one-way ANOVA was conducted to determine whether the pretest/posttest difference scores varied based on the type of instruction. The findings showed that both methods of instruction were equally effective in improving the reading comprehension skills of community college students in a developmental reading course. Based on the findings, community college leaders are encouraged to assess the effectiveness of the instructional methods used in developmental courses to ensure at-risk community college students are receiving the most beneficial instruction.  相似文献   

19.
This investigation compared the use of traditional instruction with that of classwide peer tutoring using materials containing embedded mnemonic strategies to provide strategic information and supplemental practice of important content. Eight inclusive seventh grade social studies classes with 186 students, of whom 42 were classified with mild disabilities, were randomly assigned to treatment and traditional conditions, delivered over 10 weeks of instruction. All students were given a pretest, three unit tests, and a posttest. Overall findings revealed that experimental condition classes statistically outperformed comparison condition classes on content learned; this was true for target content (taught directly in the experimental condition) as well as nontarget content (related information not included in the experimental condition). Implications for inclusive content area instruction are provided.  相似文献   

20.
This study investigated the effect of conceptual change text-oriented instruction over traditional instruction on students' understanding of solution concepts (e.g., dissolving, solubility, factors affecting solubility, concentrations of solutions, types of solutions, physical properties of solutions) and their attitudes towards chemistry. The sample of this study consisted of 87 undergraduate students from two classes enrolled in an introductory chemistry course. One of the classes was assigned randomly to the control group, and the other class were assigned randomly to the experimental group. During teaching the topic of solution concepts in the chemistry curriculum, a conceptual change text-oriented instruction was applied in the experimental group whereas traditional instruction was followed in the control group. The results showed that the students in the experimental group performed better with respect to solution concepts. In addition, it has been found that there was no significant difference between the attitudes of students in the experimental and control groups towards chemistry.  相似文献   

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