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Enja Osman Saouma BouJaoude Hiba Hamdan 《International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education》2017,15(7):1257-1280
Lebanese educators claim that middle and secondary school students exhibit poor understanding of genetics due to misconceptions and difficulties that hinder progression in conceptual understanding of major genetics concepts and phenomena across different grade levels. They attributed these problems to Lebanon’s ill-structured genetics curriculum which needs a thorough revision in light of curricular reform models that take into account student misconceptions, cognitive abilities, and past experiences. Despite these claims, no empirical tests were done. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate G7-12 Lebanese students’ misconceptions and difficulties in genetics in an attempt to design a curriculum that would enhance student understanding of genetics. Using quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, we obtained an in-depth understanding of the nature of the misconceptions and difficulties encountered by students in grades 7–12, determined the level of students’ genetics literacy, and explored the progression of their level of conceptual understanding of major genetics concepts across grade levels. A questionnaire was administered to 729 students (G7-12) in 6 schools and was followed by semi-structured interviews with 62 students to validate the questionnaire results, gain further understanding of students’ misconceptions, and assess their level of genetics literacy. Findings showed that patterns of inheritance, the deterministic nature of genes, and the nature of genetic information were found to be among the most difficult concepts learned. Students also showed inadequate understanding of many basic genetics concepts which persist across grade levels. Furthermore, results indicated that students across all grade levels exhibited a low level of genetics literacy. Implications for practice and research are discussed. 相似文献
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Ravit Golan Duncan Hava Bresler Freidenreich Clark A. Chinn Andrew Bausch 《Research in Science Education》2011,41(2):147-167
Genetics is the cornerstone of modern biology and understanding genetics is a critical aspect of scientific literacy. Research
has shown, however, that many high school graduates lack fundamental understandings in genetics necessary to make informed
decisions or to participate in public debates over emerging technologies in molecular genetics. Currently, much of genetics
instruction occurs at the high school level. However, recent policy reports suggest that we may need to begin introducing
aspects of core concepts in earlier grades and to successively develop students’ understandings of these concepts in subsequent
grades. Given the paucity of research about genetics learning at the middle school level, we know very little about what students
in earlier grades are capable of reasoning about in this domain. In this paper, we discuss a research study aimed at fostering
deeper understandings of molecular genetics at the middle school level. As part of the research we designed a two-week model-based
inquiry unit implemented in two 7th grade classrooms (N = 135). We describe our instructional design and report results based on analysis of pre/post assessments and written artifacts
of the unit. Our findings suggest that middle school students can develop: (a) a view of genes as productive instructions
for proteins, (b) an understanding of the role of proteins in mediating genetic effects, and (c) can use this knowledge to
reason about a novel genetic phenomena. However, there were significant differences in the learning gains in both classrooms
and we provide speculative explanations of what may have caused these differences. 相似文献
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Michael S. C. Thomas Yulia Kovas Emma L. Meaburn Andrew Tolmie 《Mind, Brain, and Education》2015,9(2):72-80
This article explores the potential contribution of modern genetic methods and findings to education. It is familiar to hear that the “gene” for this or that behavior has been discovered, or that certain skills are “highly heritable.” Can this help educators? To explore this question, we describe the methods used to relate genetic variation to individual differences in high‐level behaviors such as academic skills and educational achievement. These methods include twin studies and genome‐wide association studies. We address the key question of what genetic data imply about the ability of educators to optimize educational outcomes for children across the range of abilities. 相似文献
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Introductory biology courses are frequently offered separately to biology majors and nonbiology majors, with the assumption that the two groups of students are different enough to merit different courses. To assess the evidence behind this assumption, we compared students in two different genetics classes at the University of Colorado–Boulder, one class for nonscience majors (nonmajors) and the other class for biology majors and students planning a biology-related career (majors), to see whether these two groups of students were fundamentally different in performance and attitudes. To measure content knowledge, we administered identical assessments to both groups of students during the semester: a validated pre- and postcontent assessment (Genetics Concept Assessment), ungraded quizzes after problem-solving sessions, and questions on each exam. We measured attitudes, study time, and study techniques through online surveys. Majors outperformed nonmajors on content assessments, finishing with significantly higher learning gains. Nonmajors and majors also differed in their motivation, interest, study time, and expert-level of beliefs. We suggest that focusing on the process of science and its connection to students'' lives will better engage and motivate nonmajors while still helping them learn the fundamental concepts of genetics. 相似文献
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Hava Bresler Freidenreich Nicole Shea 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(17):2323-2349
Genetics is the cornerstone of modern biology and a critical aspect of scientific literacy. Research has shown, however, that many high school graduates lack fundamental understandings in genetics necessary to make informed decisions about issues and emerging technologies in this domain, such as genetic screening, genetically modified foods, etc. Genetic literacy entails understanding three interrelated models: a genetic model that describes patterns of genetic inheritance, a meiotic model that describes the process by which genes are segregated into sex cells, and a molecular model that describes the mechanisms that link genotypes to phenotypes within an individual. Currently, much of genetics instruction, especially in terms of the molecular model, occurs at the high school level, and we know little about the ways in which middle school students can reason about these models. Furthermore, we do not know the extent to which carefully designed instruction can help younger students develop coherent and interrelated understandings in genetics. In this paper, we discuss a research study aimed at elucidating middle school students’ abilities to reason about the three genetic models. As part of our research, we designed an eight-week inquiry unit that was implemented in a combined sixth- to eighth-grade science classroom. We describe our instructional design and report results based on an analysis of written assessments, clinical interviews, and artifacts of the unit. Our findings suggest that middle school students are able to successfully reason about all three genetic models. 相似文献
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Science & Education - This article focuses on students’ discursive moves and reasoning practices while engaged in a task that requires making explanatory links between sickle cell disease... 相似文献
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Umran Betul Cebesoy Ceren Oztekin 《International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education》2018,16(7):1247-1268
Teachers have a crucial role to play in raising future generations of citizens who are aware of issues in genetics literacy such as gene therapy, cloning, and stem cell research. Teachers’ teaching practices are influenced by their knowledge in genetics literacy and their attitudes towards different issues. Accordingly, this study explored the relationships among middle school science teachers’ background characteristics (gender, teaching experience, self-perceived interest in and self-perceived knowledge of genetics), their genetics literacy levels, their attitudes towards various issues in genetics literacy, and their perceptions of teaching issues in genetics literacy. Data were collected from 435 Turkish middle school science teachers by completing the Genetics Literacy Assessment Inventory, the scale for attitudes towards issues in genetics literacy and perceptions of teaching issues in genetics literacy. The results of canonical correlation analysis suggested that being female, having a high level of interest in genetics, and perceiving oneself as knowledgeable in genetics were associated with higher levels of knowledge in genetics literacy and holding favorable general attitudes. These teachers believed in the necessity of introducing genetics literacy and held higher self-efficacy teaching beliefs regarding the teaching of issues in genetics literacy in their classes. However, they tended to emphasize more impeding factors as well as hold unfavorable attitudes towards gene therapy and gene therapy applications, implying that their attitudes were context dependent. 相似文献
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While genetics has remained as one key topic in school science, it continues to be conceptually and linguistically difficult for students with the concomitant debates as to what should be taught in the age of biotechnology. This article documents the development and implementation of a two‐tier multiple‐choice instrument for diagnosing grades 10 and 12 students’ understanding of genetics in terms of reasoning. The pretest and posttest forms of the diagnostic instrument were used alongside other methods in evaluating students’ understanding of genetics in a case‐based qualitative study on teaching and learning with multiple representations in three Western Australian secondary schools. Previous studies have shown that a two‐tier diagnostic instrument is useful in probing students’ understanding or misunderstanding of scientific concepts and ideas. The diagnostic instrument in this study was designed and then progressively refined, improved, and implemented to evaluate student understanding of genetics in three case schools. The final version of the instrument had Cronbach’s alpha reliability of 0.75 and 0.64, respectively, for its pretest and the posttest forms when it was administered to a group of grade 12 students (n = 17). This two‐tier diagnostic instrument complemented other qualitative data collection methods in this research in generating a more holistic picture of student conceptual learning of genetics in terms of scientific reasoning. Implications of the findings of this study using the diagnostic instrument are discussed. 相似文献
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This study investigates Swedish biology teachers’ inclusion of proteins when teaching genetics in grade nine (students 15–16 years old). For some years, there has been a call to give attention to proteins when teaching genetics as a means of linking the concepts ‘gene’ and ‘trait’. Students are known to have problems with this relation because the concepts belong to different organizational levels. However, we know little about how the topic is taught and therefore this case study focuses on how teachers talk about proteins while teaching genetics and if they use proteins as a link between the micro and macro level. Four teachers were recorded during entire genetics teaching sequences, 45 lessons in total. The teachers’ verbal communication was then analyzed using thematic pattern analysis, which is based in systemic functional linguistics. The linguistic analysis of teachers’ talk in action revealed great variations in both the extent to which they used proteins in explanations of genetics and the ways they included proteins in linking genes and traits. Two of the teachers used protein as a link between gene and trait, while two did not. Three of the four teachers included instruction about protein synthesis. The common message from all teachers was that proteins are built, but none of the teachers talked about genes as exclusively encoding proteins. Our results suggest that students’ common lack of understanding of proteins as an intermediate link between gene and trait could be explained by limitations in the way the subject is taught. 相似文献
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Providing learners with opportunities to engage in activities similar to those carried out by scientists was addressed in a web-based research simulation in genetics developed for high school biology students. The research simulation enables learners to apply their genetics knowledge while giving them an opportunity to participate in an authentic genetics study using bioinformatics tools. The main purpose of the study outlined here is to examine how learning using this research simulation influences students’ understanding of genetics, and how students’ approaches to learning using the simulation influence their learning outcomes. Using both quantitative and qualitative procedures, we were able to show that while learning using the simulation students expanded their understanding of the relationships between molecular mechanisms and phenotype, and refined their understanding of certain genetic concepts. Two types of learners, research-oriented and task-oriented, were identified on the basis of the differences in the ways they seized opportunities to recognize the research practices, which in turn influenced their learning outcomes. The research-oriented learners expanded their genetics knowledge more than the task-oriented learners. The learning approach taken by the research-oriented learners enabled them to recognize the epistemology that underlies authentic genetic research, while the task-oriented learners referred to the research simulation as a set of simple procedural tasks. Thus, task-oriented learners should be encouraged by their teachers to cope with the scientists’ steps, while learning genetics through the simulation in a class setting. 相似文献
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Shuster M 《CBE life sciences education》2011,10(2):216-221
In recognition of the entry into the era of personalized medicine, a new set of genetics and genomics competencies for nurses was introduced in 2006. Since then, there have been a number of reports about the critical importance of these competencies for nursing practices and about the challenges of addressing these competencies in the preservice (basic science) nursing curriculum. At least one suggestion has been made to infuse genetics and genomics throughout the basic science curriculum for prenursing students. Based on this call and a review of the competencies, this study sought to assess the impact of incorporation of genetics and genomics content into a prenursing microbiology course. Broadly, two areas that address the competencies were incorporated into the course: 1) the biological basis and implications of genetic diversity and 2) the technological aspects of assessing genetic diversity in bacteria and viruses. These areas address how genetics and genomics contribute to healthcare, including diagnostics and selection of treatment. Analysis of learning gains suggests that genetics and genomics content can be learned as effectively as microbiology content in this setting. Future studies are needed to explore the most effective ways to introduce genetics and genomics technology into the prenursing curriculum. 相似文献
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Eunice Mthethwa-Kunene Rian de Villiers 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(7):1140-1165
This study explored the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and its development of four experienced biology teachers in the context of teaching school genetics. PCK was defined in terms of teacher content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of students’ preconceptions and learning difficulties. Data sources of teacher knowledge base included teacher-constructed concept maps, pre- and post-lesson teacher interviews, video-recorded genetics lessons, post-lesson teacher questionnaire and document analysis of teacher's reflective journals and students’ work samples. The results showed that the teachers’ individual PCK profiles consisted predominantly of declarative and procedural content knowledge in teaching basic genetics concepts. Conditional knowledge, which is a type of meta-knowledge for blending together declarative and procedural knowledge, was also demonstrated by some teachers. Furthermore, the teachers used topic-specific instructional strategies such as context-based teaching, illustrations, peer teaching, and analogies in diverse forms but failed to use physical models and individual or group student experimental activities to assist students’ internalization of the concepts. The finding that all four teachers lacked knowledge of students’ genetics-related preconceptions was equally significant. Formal university education, school context, journal reflection and professional development programmes were considered as contributing to the teachers’ continuing PCK development. Implications of the findings for biology teacher education are briefly discussed. 相似文献
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María Pilar Jiménez-Aleixandre 《Science & Education》2014,23(2):465-484
In the last two decades science studies and science education research have shifted from an interest in products (of science or of learning), to an interest in processes and practices. The focus of this paper is on students’ engagement in epistemic practices (Kelly in Teaching scientific inquiry: Recommendations for research and implementation. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, pp 99–117, 2008), or on their practical epistemologies (Wickman in Sci Educ 88(3):325–344, 2004). In order to support these practices in genetics classrooms we need to take into account domain-specific features of the epistemology of genetics, in particular issues about determinism and underdetermination. I suggest that certain difficulties may be related to the specific nature of causality in genetics, and in particular to the correspondence between a given set of factors and a range of potential effects, rather than a single one. The paper seeks to bring together recent developments in the epistemology of biology and of genetics, on the one hand, with science education approaches about epistemic practices, on the other. The implications of these perspectives for current challenges in learning genetics are examined, focusing on students’ engagement in epistemic practices, as argumentation, understood as using evidence to evaluate knowledge claims. Engaging in argumentation in genetics classrooms is intertwined with practices such as using genetics models to build explanations, or framing genetics issues in their social context. These challenges are illustrated with studies making part of our research program in the USC. 相似文献
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Genetics is assuming an increasingly important role in medicine. As a result, the teaching of genetics should also be increased proportionally to ensure that future physicians will be able to take advantage of the new genetic technology, and to understand the associated ethical, legal and social issues. At the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, we have been able to incorporate genetic education into a four-year medical curriculum in a fully integrated fashion. This model may serve as a template for other medical curriculum still in development. 相似文献
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Rachmatullah Arif Reichsman Frieda Lord Trudi Dorsey Chad Mott Bradford Lester James Wiebe Eric 《Journal of Science Education and Technology》2021,30(4):511-528
Journal of Science Education and Technology - This study examined students’ genetics learning in a game-based environment by exploring the connections between the expectancy-value theory of... 相似文献