scholarly journals Reflecting on Graphs: Attributes of Graph Choice and Construction Practices in Biology

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. ar53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aakanksha Angra ◽  
Stephanie M. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Student Difficulties ◽  
Competence Framework

Undergraduate biology education reform aims to engage students in scientific practices such as experimental design, experimentation, and data analysis and communication. Graphs are ubiquitous in the biological sciences, and creating effective graphical representations involves quantitative and disciplinary concepts and skills. Past studies document student difficulties with graphing within the contexts of classroom or national assessments without evaluating student reasoning. Operating under the metarepresentational competence framework, we conducted think-aloud interviews to reveal differences in reasoning and graph quality between undergraduate biology students, graduate students, and professors in a pen-and-paper graphing task. All professors planned and thought about data before graph construction. When reflecting on their graphs, professors and graduate students focused on the function of graphs and experimental design, while most undergraduate students relied on intuition and data provided in the task. Most undergraduate students meticulously plotted all data with scaled axes, while professors and some graduate students transformed the data, aligned the graph with the research question, and reflected on statistics and sample size. Differences in reasoning and approaches taken in graph choice and construction corroborate and extend previous findings and provide rich targets for undergraduate and graduate instruction.

scholarly journals GCAT-SEEKquence: Genome Consortium for Active Teaching of Undergraduates through Increased Faculty Access to Next-Generation Sequencing Data

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 342-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent P. Buonaccorsi ◽  
Michael D. Boyle ◽  
Deborah Grove ◽  
Craig Praul ◽  
Eric Sakk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Next Generation Sequencing Data ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Sequencing Data ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Active Teaching ◽  
Nextgen Sequencing ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Genome Consortium

To transform undergraduate biology education, faculty need to provide opportunities for students to engage in the process of science. The rise of research approaches using next-generation (NextGen) sequencing has been impressive, but incorporation of such approaches into the undergraduate curriculum remains a major challenge. In this paper, we report proceedings of a National Science Foundation–funded workshop held July 11–14, 2011, at Juniata College. The purpose of the workshop was to develop a regional research coordination network for undergraduate biology education (RCN/UBE). The network is collaborating with a genome-sequencing core facility located at Pennsylvania State University (University Park) to enable undergraduate students and faculty at small colleges to access state-of-the-art sequencing technology. We aim to create a database of references, protocols, and raw data related to NextGen sequencing, and to find innovative ways to reduce costs related to sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. It was agreed that our regional network for NextGen sequencing could operate more effectively if it were partnered with the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) as a new arm of that consortium, entitled GCAT-SEEK(quence). This step would also permit the approach to be replicated elsewhere.

scholarly journals Challenging Cognitive Construals: A Dynamic Alternative to Stable Misconceptions

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. ar34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia S. Gouvea ◽  
Matt R. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Student Thinking ◽  
Student Difficulties ◽  
Dynamic Perspective ◽  
Context Specific

In biology education research, it has been common to model cognition in terms of relatively stable knowledge structures (e.g., mental models, alternative frameworks, deeply held misconceptions). For example, John D. Coley and Kimberly D. Tanner recently proposed that many student difficulties in biology stem from underlying cognitive frameworks called cognitive construals ( CBE—Life Sciences Education, 11[3], 209–215 [2012]; CBE—Life Sciences Education, 14[1], ar8 [2015]). They argued that three such frameworks—teleology, anthropocentrism, and essentialism—cause undergraduate students to hold a range of misconceptions about the biological world. Our purpose in this article is to present an alternative perspective that considers student thinking to be dynamic and context sensitive. Using the example of cognitive construals, we argue that a dynamic perspective creates a burden of proof for claims of cognitive stability—to demonstrate that patterns of thinking are indeed stable across contexts. To illustrate our argument, we report on the results of a study designed to explore the stability of students’ apparent teleological, anthropocentric, and essentialist thinking. Our results are inconsistent with framework models. We propose instead that response patterns stem from students’ context-specific interpretations of the statements, consistent with dynamic models of cognition. Building on these preliminary findings, we discuss the implications of a dynamic view of cognition for biology education research and biology instruction.

scholarly journals Análisis descriptivo del perfil de los encuestados en estudio sobre cultura financiera en estudiantes de ciencias económicas administrativas

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
Carla Adriana Andujo-Ozuna ◽  
Altaytra Geraldine Beltrán-Ozuna ◽  
María Dolores Moreno-Millanes
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Descriptive ◽  
Experimental Design Methodology

Objective. The objective of this research is to analyze the profile of the students of the respondents in the study on financial culture in students of the area of administrative economics of a university in the Northwest of Mexico, as an empirical test a sample of 523 students was taken, through of a quantitative, descriptive investigation with a non-experimental design. Methodology. The type of research was descriptive, because the data shown is described as it was obtained from the respondents. Furthermore, it is non-experimental because the variables under study were not manipulated, they were statistically analyzed according to the answers obtained in the application of the instrument. Contribution. Within the descriptive analysis of the profile of the respondents, it was found that 59.8% of the participants are women and 41.2% are men; and 83.6% are undergraduate students and 16.4% are graduate students.

scholarly journals Development of the Neuron Assessment for Measuring Biology Students’ Use of Experimental Design Concepts and Representations

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. ar10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annwesa P. Dasgupta ◽  
Trevor R. Anderson ◽  
Nancy J. Pelaez
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Assessment Design ◽  
Group Data ◽  
And Control

Researchers, instructors, and funding bodies in biology education are unanimous about the importance of developing students’ competence in experimental design. Despite this, only limited measures are available for assessing such competence development, especially in the areas of molecular and cellular biology. Also, existing assessments do not measure how well students use standard symbolism to visualize biological experiments. We propose an assessment-design process that 1) provides background knowledge and questions for developers of new “experimentation assessments,” 2) elicits practices of representing experiments with conventional symbol systems, 3) determines how well the assessment reveals expert knowledge, and 4) determines how well the instrument exposes student knowledge and difficulties. To illustrate this process, we developed the Neuron Assessment and coded responses from a scientist and four undergraduate students using the Rubric for Experimental Design and the Concept-Reasoning Mode of representation (CRM) model. Some students demonstrated sound knowledge of concepts and representations. Other students demonstrated difficulty with depicting treatment and control group data or variability in experimental outcomes. Our process, which incorporates an authentic research situation that discriminates levels of visualization and experimentation abilities, shows potential for informing assessment design in other disciplines.

scholarly journals Summit of the Research Coordination Networks for Undergraduate Biology Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. mr1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Diaz Eaton ◽  
Deborah Allen ◽  
Laurel J. Anderson ◽  
Gillian Bowser ◽  
Mark A. Pauley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Coordination Networks ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
National Science ◽  
Effective Network ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Science Educators

The first summit of projects funded by the National Science Foundation’s Research Coordination Networks for Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) program was held January 14–16, 2016, in Washington, DC. Sixty-five scientists and science educators from 38 of the 41 Incubator and Full RCN-UBE awards discussed the value and contributions of RCNs to the national biology education reform effort. The summit illustrated the progress of this innovative UBE track, first awarded in 2009. Participants shared experiences regarding network development and growth, identified best practices and challenges faced in network management, and discussed work accomplished. We report here on key aspects of network evaluation, characteristics of successful networks, and how to sustain and broaden participation in networks. Evidence from successful networks indicates that 5 years (the length of a Full RCN-UBE) may be insufficient time to produce a cohesive and effective network. While online communication promotes the activities of a network and disseminates effective practices, face-to-face meetings are critical for establishing ties between network participants. Creation of these National Science Foundation–funded networks may be particularly useful for consortia of faculty working to address problems or exchange novel solutions discovered while introducing active-learning methods and/or course-based research into their curricula.

Crossing Boundaries in Undergraduate Biology Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 045 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Vanderklein ◽  
Mika Munakata ◽  
Jason McManus
Keyword(s):  
Biology Education ◽  
Undergraduate Biology

Advocating for Transgender and Non-Binary Affirmative Spaces in Graduate Education

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Knutson ◽  
Em Matsuno ◽  
Chloe Goldbach ◽  
Halleh Hashtpari ◽  
Nathan Grant Smith
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Success ◽  
Post Secondary Education ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Social Ecological

Nearly 50% of graduate students report experiencing emotional or psychological distress during their enrollment in graduate school. Levels of distress are particularly high for transgender and non-binary graduate students who experience daily discrimination and marginalization. Universities and colleges have yet to address and accommodate the needs and experiences of transgender and non-binary graduate students. Given the multitude of challenges these students may face, educational settings should not present additional barriers to educational success and well-being. In an effort to improve graduate education for transgender and non-binary students, we add to the existing scholarship on affirming work with transgender undergraduate students by addressing the unique concerns of graduate students. We utilize a social-ecological model to identify sources of discrimination in post-secondary education and to provide transgender- and non-binary-affirming recommendations at structural, interpersonal, and individual levels. For practitioners who wish to do personal work, we provide guidance for multicultural identity exploration. A table of recommendations and discussion of ways to implement our recommendations are provided.

scholarly journals Crossing Boundaries: Steps Toward Measuring Undergraduates’ Interdisciplinary Science Understanding

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. ar8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brie Tripp ◽  
Sophia A. Voronoff ◽  
Erin E. Shortlidge
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Interdisciplinary Science ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Assessment Development ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Science Understanding ◽  
Interdisciplinary Framework ◽  
Undergraduate Science

A desired outcome of education reform efforts is for undergraduates to effectively integrate knowledge across disciplines in order to evaluate and address real-world issues. Yet there are few assessments designed to measure if and how students think interdisciplinarily. Here, a sample of science faculty were surveyed to understand how they currently assess students’ interdisciplinary science understanding. Results indicate that individual writing-intensive activities are the most frequently used assessment type (69%). To understand how writing assignments can accurately assess students’ ability to think interdisciplinarily, we used a preexisting rubric, designed to measure social science students’ interdisciplinary understanding, to assess writing assignments from 71 undergraduate science students. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 of those students to explore similarities and differences between assignment scores and verbal understanding of interdisciplinary science. Results suggest that certain constructs of the instrument did not fully capture this competency for our population, but instead, an interdisciplinary framework may be a better model to guide assessment development of interdisciplinary science. These data suggest that a new instrument designed through the lens of this model could more accurately characterize interdisciplinary science understanding for undergraduate students.

A checklist to help students analyze published articles in basic medical sciences.

1995 ◽  
Vol 268 (6) ◽  
pp. S21 ◽  
Author(s):  
P K Rangachari ◽  
S Mierson
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Reading Textbooks ◽  
Scientific Life ◽  
Basic Medical

Because critical analysis of published information is an essential component of scientific life, it is important that students be trained in its practice. Undergraduate students who are more accustomed to reading textbooks and taking lecture notes find it difficult to appreciate primary publications. To help such students, we have developed a checklist that helps them analyze different components of a research article in basic biomedical sciences. Students used the checklist to analyze critically a published article. The students were assigned an article and asked to write a paper (maximum 2 pages of single-spaced type) assessing it. This assignment has been found useful to both undergraduate and graduate students in pharmacology and physiology. Student responses to a questionnaire were highly favorable; students thought the exercise provided them with some of the essential skills for life-long learning.

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