This pilot study was aimed at investigating with the aid of a two-tier multiple choice questionnaire, the misconceptions held by pupils in standards 8 and 10 as well as first year Biology students in the area of senior secondary school genetics. It was found that certain of the children's preconceived ideas were altered by tuition while others were unaffected by either age or tuition and consequently warranted the name misconceptions. Four misconceptions were identified in this study and these were seen to be at the root of the difficulties experienced in genetics. They involved plants being seen to be unable to reproduce sexually, an inability to relate meiosis to genetics, a tendency to cling to the Punnett square algorithm when solving genetics problems despite a lack of understanding of the underlying processes and a failure to see the role of chance in genetics. These misconceptions were seen to have arisen because of certain preconceived ideas which hamper the formation of a suitable conceptual framework. The adoption of suitable teaching strategies appears to be the most likely method of rectifying the problem. However, before this can be regarded as conclusive, further research into the concept development of specific aspects such as sexual reproduction, needs to be done. Studies to investigate the most suitable teaching strategy should also be carried out as well as an investigation into the structure of the curriculum

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

No description available.

Modern science education reform includes the development of standards and recommendations for content as well as the development and evaluation of pedagogy, but demonstrates limited assessment of student knowledge. Student knowledge assessment is an important factor in measuring the scientific literacy of current students. Concept inventories have been developed and used for the past fourteen years to assess non-science major student conceptual understanding of a content area. Inventories have been developed in the fields of physics, astronomy, chemistry and biology. The development and evaluation of a Genetics Concept Inventory (GCI) is presented here. The reliability estimate of 0.62 is supported by a respected panel of genetics educators' revisions, no significant gender bias, and the ability of junior and senior biology majors to outperform the non-science majors. Pretest/Posttest comparisons show a significant increase in five of six genetics content areas as well as a 9% increase on the overall percent score for the instrument. Although the Genetics Concept Inventory presented here needs further modification and testing, it is the first step in the development of a quality assessment tool for genetics content. / Department of Biology

This study was designed to investigate whether or not Mendelian genetics instruction using human examples, in contrast to traditional genetic examples, would facilitate the acquisition and retention of four genetic concepts: (1) complete dominance, (2) incomplete dominance, (3) law of segregation, and (4) law of independent assortment. A pre/post/delayed-posttest was designed to assess the acquisition and retention of the concepts and the formation of misconceptions of genetic concepts. A written Piagetian Task Instrument (PTI) was employed to detect cognitive growth toward the formal operational level of thought.Eighty ninth-grade biology students from Marion High School, Marion, Indiana were used in the study. The students were assigned randomly to two control and two treatment groups. Students in the control groups. were instructed in Mendelian genetics using traditional genetic examples to explain the concepts. Students in the treatment groups were instructed in Mendelian genetics using only human examples to explain the concepts.Students who were instructed in Mendelian genetics using human examples acquired and retained those concepts better and acquired fewer misconceptions than students who were instructed using traditional examples.Students who were instructed in Mendelian genetics using human examples did not differ from those instructed via traditional examples with respect to their movement from concrete operational toward formal operational thought. / Department of Biology

The problem investigated was whether the human genetics content taught in higher education institutions throughout the United States correlates with the needs of the lay population, general studies students, and with the content offered in the human genetics courses at Ball State University. Questionnaires were sent nationwide to faculty who teach human genetics to determine the content currently being taught. Another form of the questionnaire was sent to a population of genetic counselors to determine the needs of the lay population concerning human genetics content. Additional data were collected from faculty of human genetics courses at Ball State University.Results and ConclusionsThe content of a typical human genetics course was determined from data obtained from the faculty questionnaire. The content needed in a human genetics course to produce a genetically literate lay population was determined from the data obtained from genetic counselors. The data obtained from the two populations were analyzed. Significant differences between the populations in recommended content for a human genetics course were found. These differences included variationsin: time allotments devoted to specific topics, inclusions of specific human genetics diseases/defects, and the teaching approach (i.e., faculty use various human genetics diseases/defects to emphasize the mode of transmission whereas genetic counselors stress the clinical aspects).Using the combined data obtained from both populations, the content of a model human genetics course was profiled. Topics included in the course, time allotments (mean of means), genetic diseases/ defects, and the teaching approach were determined.RecommendationsFaculty developing a human genetics course could use the model human genetics profile as a guide. However, the content in a human genetics course should be adapted to the students' needs.An additional study to determine the factors which genetic counselors consider when determining the importance of a genetic disease/defect, would be helpful.Since the knowledge base in human genetics is rapidly increasing, this study should be repeated every two or three years to maintain validity of the model profile.

Chan Wai Yu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-110). / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Abstract --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.viii / List of Figures --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter I --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1 --- Background to the study --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Purpose of the study --- p.3 / Chapter 3 --- Limitations of the study --- p.4 / Chapter 4 --- Significance of the study --- p.5 / Chapter Chapter II --- REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE / Chapter 1 --- Definitions of problem and major approaches in problem- solving research --- p.6 / Chapter 2 --- Information-processing theory of problem solving --- p.8 / Chapter 3 --- Cognitive theories and the acquisition of procedural knowledge in problem solving --- p.11 / Chapter (i) --- Anderson's ACT* theory --- p.12 / Chapter (ii) --- Schneider and Detweler's model --- p.16 / Chapter (iii) --- Research in skill acqusition --- p.23 / Chapter 4 --- Cognitive theories and transfer of problem-solving performance --- p.29 / Chapter (i) --- Transfer and Anderson's ACT* theory --- p.30 / Chapter (ii) --- Other studies and explanation about transfer --- p.32 / Chapter (iii) --- Research in transfer --- p.34 / Chapter 5 --- Research in genetic problem-solving --- p.38 / Chapter 6 --- Brief summary of literature review --- p.40 / Chapter Chapter III --- RESEARCH DESIGN / Chapter 1 --- Definition --- p.42 / Chapter 2 --- Hypotheses --- p.44 / Chapter 3 --- Sampling --- p.44 / Chapter 4 --- Subjects --- p.45 / Chapter 5 --- Materials --- p.45 / Chapter 6 --- Procedure / Chapter (i) --- Pilot studies --- p.47 / Chapter (ii) --- The main study --- p.48 / Chapter 7 --- Data analysis / Chapter (i) --- The practice schedule experiment --- p.55 / Chapter (ii) --- The protocol --- p.57 / Chapter Chapter IV --- ANALYSIS AND RESULT / Chapter 1 --- Statistically analysis of tests scores / Chapter (i) --- Reliability --- p.59 / Chapter (ii) --- Comparison of the problem solving test scores between the two groups --- p.61 / Chapter (iii) --- "Effects of treatment groups, test types and time conditions on the performance" --- p.65 / Chapter 2 --- Analysis of the protocols / Chapter (i) --- Problem-solving procedures --- p.72 / Chapter (ii) --- Problem-solving performance --- p.77 / Chapter 3 --- Discussion --- p.87 / Chapter (i) --- Acquisition --- p.87 / Chapter (ii) --- Retention --- p.89 / Chapter (iii) --- Transfer --- p.90 / Chapter (vi) --- General discussion --- p.93 / Chapter Chapter V --- CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS / Chapter 1 --- Conclusions --- p.95 / Chapter 2 --- Suggestion for further investigations --- p.97 / Bibliography --- p.99 / Appendix A The power law --- p.111 / Appendix B Figure8 --- p.112 / Appendix C Supplimentary note --- p.113 / Appendix D Pretest --- p.114 / Appendix E Practice schedule exercises --- p.115 / Appendix F Posttests --- p.125 / Appendix G Problems in the second protocol interview --- p.133 / Appendix H Transcripts of the protocols --- p.134

This study investigated the knowledge and skills that biology students may need to help them understand statistics/mathematics as it applies to genetics. The data are based on analyses of current representative genetics texts, practicing genetics professors' perspectives, and more directly, students' perceptions of, and performance in, doing statistically-based genetics problems. This issue is at the emerging edge of modern college-level genetics instruction, and this study attempts to identify key theoretical components for creating a specialized biological statistics curriculum. The goal of this curriculum will be to prepare biology students with the skills for assimilating quantitatively-based genetic processes, increasingly at the forefront of modern genetics. To fulfill this, two college level classes at two universities were surveyed. One university was located in the northeastern US and the other in the West Indies. There was a sample size of 42 students and a supplementary interview was administered to a select 9 students. Interviews were also administered to professors in the field in order to gain insight into the teaching of statistics in genetics. Key findings indicated that students had very little to no background in statistics (55%). Although students did perform well on exams with 60% of the population receiving an A or B grade, 77% of them did not offer good explanations on a probability question associated with the normal distribution provided in the survey. The scope and presentation of the applicable statistics/mathematics in some of the most used textbooks in genetics teaching, as well as genetics syllabi used by instructors do not help the issue. It was found that the text books, often times, either did not give effective explanations for students, or completely left out certain topics. The omission of certain statistical/mathematical oriented topics was seen to be also true with the genetics syllabi reviewed for this study. Nonetheless, although the necessity for infusing these quantitative subjects with genetics and, overall, the biological sciences is growing (topics including synthetic biology, molecular systems biology and phylogenetics) there remains little time in the semester to be dedicated to the consolidation of learning and understanding.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

This dissertation describes the design, development and formative evaluation of an educational adventure game entitled Food for Thought to address student misconceptions in genetics within the context of a development research paradigm, and reflects on the lessons learnt during the process. The current investigation was a response to an assessment of learning misconceptions in genetics. Several factors were identified as contributing to these problems with a focus on the abstract nature of the subject and the decontextualised manner in which students encounter these concepts. The tenacity of the problem suggested the need for of a novel intervention. A constructivist concept of learning emphasises active learners internally constructing their own meaning in rich complex environments. While not a theory of teaching, it offers a number of principles to guide the design of learning environments. Elements from computer based adventure games embody aspects of these principles and offer possibilities of developing a tool to address student misconceptions. Here, learners may explore biological concepts as they engage in contextual problems embedded in the narrative structure of a detailed and immersive virtual world. The implementation of the design was guided by a number of conceptual models, namely the Game Object Model (GOM) and Game Achievement Model (GAM) which clarify the relationship between pedagogical principles and game design elements. The identification of specific learning misconceptions provided the basis for developing a set of learning objectives for the game which were used as a foundation for the design of the environment, which was then created using a combination of commercial and proprietary 3D graphic and image editing software. Both the GAM and GOM are effective tools for categorizing a variety of different components in a very complex development. A formative evaluation of the game was undertaken probing both expert and user (student) responses through post-gameplay questionnaires and interviews. The game was favourably received, with feedback and suggestions on improvements. Most notable was the need for greater guidance in the game environment. In addition Activity theory was employed as framework of analysis. Activity systems for both players and the designer were developed and contradictions within and between them analysed. These were used to modify the original designer activity system and in so doing refine the practice of game design in the context of the development research paradigm. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2008.