ERIC Number: EJ1217734
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Jun
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1931-7913
EISSN: N/A
Characterizing Students' Ideas about the Effects of a Mutation in a Noncoding Region of DNA
Sieke, Scott A.; McIntosh, Betsy B.; Steele, Matthew M.; Knight, Jennifer K.
CBE - Life Sciences Education, v18 n2 Article 18 Jun 2019
Understanding student ideas in large-enrollment biology courses can be challenging, because easy-to-administer multiple-choice questions frequently do not fully capture the diversity of student ideas. As part of the Automated Analysis of Constructed Responses (AACR) project, we designed a question prompting students to describe the possible effects of a mutation in a noncoding region of DNA. We characterized answers from 1127 students enrolled in eight different large-enrollment introductory biology courses at three different institutions over five semesters and generated an analytic scoring system containing three categories of correct ideas and five categories of incorrect ideas. We iteratively developed a computer model for scoring student answers and tested the model before and after implementing an instructional activity designed to help a new set of students explore this concept. After completing a targeted activity and re-answering the question, students showed improvement from preassessment, with 64% of students in incorrect and 67% of students in partially incorrect (mixed) categories shifting to correct ideas only. This question, computer-scoring model, and instructional activity can now be reliably used by other instructors to better understand and characterize student ideas on the effects of mutations outside a gene-coding region.
Descriptors: Genetics, Scientific Concepts, Biology, Science Instruction, Large Group Instruction, Multiple Choice Tests, Student Attitudes, Undergraduate Students, Scoring, Computer Assisted Testing, Achievement Gains, Science Achievement, Reliability, Learning Activities
American Society for Cell Biology. 8120 Woodmont Avenue Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20814-2762. Tel: 301-347-9300; Fax: 301-347-9310; e-mail: ascbinfo@ascb.org; Website: http://www.ascb.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: DUE1323022