scholarly journals A Problem-Sorting Task Detects Changes in Undergraduate Biological Expertise over a Single Semester

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. ar21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Hoskinson ◽  
Jessica Middlemis Maher ◽  
Cody Bekkering ◽  
Diane Ebert-May
Keyword(s):  
Sorting Task ◽  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Disciplinary Expertise ◽  
Novices And Experts ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

Calls for undergraduate biology reform share similar goals: to produce people who can organize, use, connect, and communicate about biological knowledge. Achieving these goals requires students to gain disciplinary expertise. Experts organize, access, and apply disciplinary knowledge differently than novices, and expertise is measurable. By asking introductory biology students to sort biological problems, we investigated whether they changed how they organized and linked biological ideas over one semester of introductory biology. We administered the Biology Card Sorting Task to 751 students enrolled in their first or second introductory biology course focusing on either cellular–molecular or organismal–population topics, under structured or unstructured sorting conditions. Students used a combination of superficial, deep, and yet-uncharacterized ways of organizing and connecting biological knowledge. In some cases, this translated to more expert-like ways of organizing knowledge over a single semester, best predicted by whether students were enrolled in their first or second semester of biology and by the sorting condition completed. In addition to illuminating differences between novices and experts, our results show that card sorting is a robust way of detecting changes in novices’ biological expertise—even in heterogeneous populations of novice biology students over the time span of a single semester.

scholarly journals Differences in Metacognitive Regulation in Introductory Biology Students: When Prompts Are Not Enough

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. ar15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Dangremond Stanton ◽  
Xyanthe N. Neider ◽  
Isaura J. Gallegos ◽  
Nicole C. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Metacognitive Knowledge ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Metacognitive Development ◽  
Metacognitive Regulation ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

Strong metacognition skills are associated with learning outcomes and student performance. Metacognition includes metacognitive knowledge—our awareness of our thinking—and metacognitive regulation—how we control our thinking to facilitate learning. In this study, we targeted metacognitive regulation by guiding students through self-evaluation assignments following the first and second exams in a large introductory biology course (n = 245). We coded these assignments for evidence of three key metacognitive-regulation skills: monitoring, evaluating, and planning. We found that nearly all students were willing to take a different approach to studying but showed varying abilities to monitor, evaluate, and plan their learning strategies. Although many students were able to outline a study plan for the second exam that could effectively address issues they identified in preparing for the first exam, only half reported that they followed their plans. Our data suggest that prompting students to use metacognitive-regulation skills is effective for some students, but others need help with metacognitive knowledge to execute the learning strategies they select. Using these results, we propose a continuum of metacognitive regulation in introductory biology students. By refining this model through further study, we aim to more effectively target metacognitive development in undergraduate biology students.

scholarly journals Development of the Biology Card Sorting Task to Measure Conceptual Expertise in Biology

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia I. Smith ◽  
Elijah D. Combs ◽  
Paul H. Nagami ◽  
Valerie M. Alto ◽  
Henry G. Goh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Deep Feature ◽  
Biological Concepts

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.

scholarly journals Student Association of Lecture Content with the Five Core Concepts of Biology: Novel Results from an Introductory Biology Course

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyriaki Chatzikyriakidou ◽  
Marie-Janelle Tacloban ◽  
Kassandra Concepcion ◽  
John Geiger ◽  
Melissa McCartney
Keyword(s):  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Introductory Biology Course ◽  
Student Association

Challenges in integration of concepts persist among undergraduate biology students. The 5 core concepts (5CCs) of biology presented in Vision and Change provide a comprehensive, concept-based description of the knowledge of biology, summarized in five main biological scales and five overarching principles that dictate natural biological phenomena and processes.

scholarly journals Using the Biology Card Sorting Task to Measure Changes in Conceptual Expertise during Postsecondary Biology Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. ar14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Bissonnette ◽  
Elijah D. Combs ◽  
Paul H. Nagami ◽  
Victor Byers ◽  
Juliana Fernandez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Cross Sectional Design ◽  
Biology Majors

While there have been concerted efforts to reform undergraduate biology toward teaching students to organize their conceptual knowledge like experts, there are few tools that attempt to measure this. We previously developed the Biology Card Sorting Task (BCST), designed to probe how individuals organize their conceptual biological knowledge. Previous results showed the BCST could differentiate between different populations, namely non–biology majors (NBM) and biology faculty (BF). In this study, we administered the BCST to three additional populations, using a cross-sectional design: entering biology majors (EBM), advanced biology majors (ABM), and biology graduate students (BGS). Intriguingly, ABM did not initially sort like experts any more frequently than EBM. However, once the deep-feature framework was revealed, ABM were able to sort like experts more readily than did EBM. These results are consistent with the conclusion that biology education enables advanced biology students to use an expert-like conceptual framework. However, these results are also consistent with a process of “selection,” wherein students who persist in the major may have already had an expert-like conceptual framework to begin with. These results demonstrate the utility of the BCST in measuring differences between groups of students over the course of their undergraduate education.

Effects of Success and Failure with Institutionalized Mentally Retarded Adults

1966 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 779-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
William I. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Mentally Retarded ◽  
Adolescents And Young Adults ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Partial Failure ◽  
Failure Group ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Total Failure ◽  
Success Group

Institutionalized mentally retarded adolescents and young adults ( N = 80) performed on a card-sorting task immediately preceding and following a series of neutral, success, total failure or partial failure experiences. As predicted, the success group demonstrated an increment in performance, the total failure group showed no change in performance, and the partial failure group showed a decrement in performance.

scholarly journals Preparing for Class: Actions and Resources of Introductory Biology Students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina M. Ballard ◽  
Sabah Sattar ◽  
Kendra D. Wright ◽  
Jaime L. Sabel ◽  
Heather E. Bergan-Roller
Keyword(s):  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Class Actions

Instructors want students to be prepared for class. There are several different resources and activities available to help students prepare for class, but very little is known about how students choose to prepare for class in the context of undergraduate biology.

Investigating Issues in the Laboratory

2014 ◽  
Vol 76 (9) ◽  
pp. 609-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krissi M. Hewitt ◽  
Lori J. Kayes ◽  
David Hubert ◽  
Adam Chouinard
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Population Biology ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Invasive Crayfish ◽  
Recent Reform ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

Recent reform initiatives in undergraduate biology call for curricula that prepare students for dealing with real-world issues and making important links between science and society. In response to this call, we have developed an issues-based laboratory module that uses guided inquiry to integrate the concepts of animal behavior and population biology into an issue of both local and global relevance. The issue associated with this module is “What should be done about invasive crayfish?” Students investigate plausible reasons why crayfish are often successful invasive species through hypothesis testing, collection of behavioral data on live crayfish, and quantitative reasoning. Students also consider economic and environmental impacts of invasive species on local and global ecosystems. We implemented this module in a large introductory biology course and conducted survey research to evaluate the module’s potential to serve as an interesting and valuable learning experience for undergraduate biology students.

Spatiotemporal analysis of feedback processing during a card sorting task using spatially filtered MEG

2006 ◽  
Vol 410 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Bayless ◽  
William C. Gaetz ◽  
Douglas O. Cheyne ◽  
Margot J. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Spatiotemporal Analysis ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Feedback Processing ◽  
Card Sorting Task
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