This research extended and refined an in-service assessment model used in Project Genethics resulting in an evaluation of Project Genethics and a test of the model's utility. The model guided analyses of the correlational relationships between (a) teacher competency measured by a written 50-item validated posttest (Teacher 50), (b) the number of teaching strategies reported by the participant teachers (Strategy 20), and (c) student competency measured by a written 25-item validated posttest (Student 25) using a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient Lr). A multiple R statistic and stepwise linear regression with an F ratio were used to determine the association of Teacher 50 and Strategy 20 with the criterion, Student 25.The model is hierarchical. Subsets of test items and teaching strategies related to core genetics concepts (Mendelian genetics, mitosis and meiosis, pedigrees and probability, polygenic inheritance, and chromosome aberrations) were analyzed in teacher posttests, student posttests, and reported teaching strategies. Stepwise linear regression was used to determine the relative impact of the predictors on the criterion, Student 25.The research population consisted of 78 secondary biology teachers and 4,920 of their students. The teachers attend one of six Project Genethics workshops conducted in the summer of 1991, . funded by the National Science Foundation, and implemented by staff of the Human Genetics and Bioethics Education Laboratory (HGABEL).The researcher employed an ex g facto design. A summative data form was designed and used with project data for testing eight null hypotheses. A significant positive linear correlation was found between teacher competency and student competency and the number of strategies used in both full and subset analyses. No significant correlation was found between the number of strategies used and student performance in both full and subset analyses. The number of strategies used did not add significantly to the predictability of student competency after teacher competency was considered.The conceptual understanding of secondary students should be the ultimate criterion by which the effectiveness of in-service programs is measured provided the assessment items are congruent with the student conceptual level of understanding. Teacher knowledge was the most highly associated predictor of student concept attainment. / Department of Biology
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/178458 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Mendenhall, Gordon L. |
| Contributors | Hendrix, Jon R. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ii, 301 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us--- |
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