Development of a Biological Science Quantitative Reasoning Exam (BioSQuaRE)

Multiple reports highlight the increasingly quantitative nature of biological research and the need to innovate means to ensure that students acquire quantitative skills. We present a tool to support such innovation. The Biological Science Quantitative Reasoning Exam (BioSQuaRE) is an assessment instrument designed to measure the quantitative skills of undergraduate students within a biological context. The instrument was developed by an interdisciplinary team of educators and aligns with skills included in national reports such as BIO2010, Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians, and Vision and Change. Undergraduate biology educators also confirmed the importance of items included in the instrument. The current version of the BioSQuaRE was developed through an iterative process using data from students at 12 postsecondary institutions. A psychometric analysis of these data provides multiple lines of evidence for the validity of inferences made using the instrument. Our results suggest that the BioSQuaRE will prove useful to faculty and departments interested in helping students acquire the quantitative competencies they need to successfully pursue biology, and useful to biology students by communicating the importance of quantitative skills. We invite educators to use the BioSQuaRE at their own institutions.

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Case Study: An Introduction to Biological Research Course for Undergraduate Biology Students

Journal of College Science Teaching ◽

10.2505/4/jcst19_049_01_48 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 049 (01) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kelly Schmid ◽

Jason Wiles

Keyword(s):

Biological Research ◽

Undergraduate Biology ◽

Biology Students

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Cognitive Construal-Consistent Instructor Language in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom

CBE—Life Sciences Education ◽

10.1187/cbe.19-04-0076 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. ar63 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nicole Betz ◽

Jessica S. Leffers ◽

Emily E. Dahlgaard Thor ◽

Michal Fux ◽

Kristin de Nesnera ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Science Classroom ◽

Biological Science ◽

Undergraduate Biology ◽

Biology Students ◽

Demographic Profiles ◽

Intuitive Thinking ◽

Language Classes ◽

Biological World ◽

The University ◽

University Science

Researchers have identified patterns of intuitive thinking that are commonly used to understand and reason about the biological world. These cognitive construals (anthropic, teleological, and essentialist thinking), while useful in everyday life, have also been associated with misconceptions about biological science. Although construal-based thinking is pervasive among students, we know little about the prevalence of construal-consistent language in the university science classroom. In the current research, we characterized the degree to which construal-consistent language is present in biology students’ learning environments. To do so, we coded transcripts of instructor’s speech in 90 undergraduate biology classes for the presence of construal-consistent language. Classes were drawn from two universities with very different student demographic profiles and represented 18 different courses aimed at nonmajors and lower- and upper-division biology majors. Results revealed construal-consistent language in all 90 sampled classes. Anthropic language was more frequent than teleological or essentialist language, and frequency of construal-consistent language was surprisingly consistent across instructor and course level. Moreover, results were surprisingly consistent across the two universities. These findings suggest that construal-consistent language is pervasive in the undergraduate classroom and highlight the need to understand how such language may facilitate and/or interfere with students learning biological science.

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Teaching quantitative biology: goals, assessments, and resources

Molecular Biology of the Cell ◽

10.1091/mbc.e14-06-1045 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 25 (22) ◽

pp. 3478-3481 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Melissa L. Aikens ◽

Erin L. Dolan

Keyword(s):

Assessment Tools ◽

Quantitative Biology ◽

Teaching Resources ◽

Educational Innovations ◽

Undergraduate Biology ◽

Biology Students ◽

Backward Design ◽

Quantitative Skills ◽

Biology Curriculum ◽

Assessment Strategies

More than a decade has passed since the publication of BIO2010, calling for an increased emphasis on quantitative skills in the undergraduate biology curriculum. In that time, relatively few papers have been published that describe educational innovations in quantitative biology or provide evidence of their effects on students. Using a “backward design” framework, we lay out quantitative skill and attitude goals, assessment strategies, and teaching resources to help biologists teach more quantitatively. Collaborations between quantitative biologists and education researchers are necessary to develop a broader and more appropriate suite of assessment tools, and to provide much-needed evidence on how particular teaching strategies affect biology students' quantitative skill development and attitudes toward quantitative work.

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Six Classroom Exercises to Teach Natural Selection to Undergraduate Biology Students

CBE—Life Sciences Education ◽

10.1187/cbe-12-06-0070 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 483-493 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Steven T. Kalinowski ◽

Mary J. Leonard ◽

Tessa M. Andrews ◽

Andrea R. Litt

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Natural Selection ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Complex Traits ◽

Student Understanding ◽

Learning Activities ◽

Introductory Biology ◽

Undergraduate Biology ◽

Biology Students ◽

Biology Courses

Students in introductory biology courses frequently have misconceptions regarding natural selection. In this paper, we describe six activities that biology instructors can use to teach undergraduate students in introductory biology courses how natural selection causes evolution. These activities begin with a lesson introducing students to natural selection and also include discussions on sexual selection, molecular evolution, evolution of complex traits, and the evolution of behavior. The set of six topics gives students the opportunity to see how natural selection operates in a variety of contexts. Pre- and postinstruction testing showed students’ understanding of natural selection increased substantially after completing this series of learning activities. Testing throughout this unit showed steadily increasing student understanding, and surveys indicated students enjoyed the activities.

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Making Microscopy Motivating, Memorable, & Manageable for Undergraduate Students with Digital Imaging Laboratories

The American Biology Teacher ◽

10.1525/abt.2013.75.8.10 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 75 (8) ◽

pp. 578-581 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrea Weeks ◽

Beverly Bachman ◽

Sarah Josway ◽

Brittany North ◽

Mirian T. N. Tsuchiya

Keyword(s):

Student Engagement ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Digital Imaging ◽

Digital Images ◽

Electronic Portfolios ◽

Undergraduate Biology ◽

Biology Students ◽

Organismal Biology ◽

Large Numbers ◽

Large Enrollment

Microscopy and precise observation are essential skills that are challenging to teach effectively to large numbers of undergraduate biology students. We implemented student-driven digital imaging assignments for microscopy in a large-enrollment laboratory for organismal biology. We detail how we promoted student engagement with the material and how we assessed student learning in both formative and summative formats using digital images. Students worked in pairs to collect over 60 digital images of their microscopic observations over the semester and then individually created electronic portfolios, which were submitted for a grade.

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Biology Undergraduate Students’ Graphing Practice in Digital Versus Pen and Paper Graphing Environments

Journal of Science Education and Technology ◽

10.1007/s10956-020-09886-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Stephanie M. Gardner ◽

Elizabeth Suazo-Flores ◽

Susan Maruca ◽

Joel K. Abraham ◽

Anupriya Karippadath ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Line Graph ◽

Undergraduate Biology ◽

Biology Students ◽

Software Packages ◽

Graph Type ◽

Latent Features ◽

Relevant Variables ◽

Different Characteristics

AbstractGraphing is an important practice for scientists and in K-16 science curricula. Graphs can be constructed using an array of software packages as well as by hand, with pen-and-paper. However, we have an incomplete understanding of how students’ graphing practice vary by graphing environment; differences could affect how best to teach and assess graphing. Here we explore the role of two graphing environments in students’ graphing practice. We studied 43 undergraduate biology students’ graphing practice using either pen-and-paper (PP) (n = 21 students) or a digital graphing tool GraphSmarts (GS) (n = 22 students). Participants’ graphs and verbal justifications were analyzed to identify features such as the variables plotted, number of graphs created, raw data versus summarized data plotted, and graph types (e.g., scatter plot, line graph, or bar graph) as well as participants’ reasoning for their graphing choices. Several aspects of participant graphs were similar regardless of graphing environment, including plotting raw vs. summarized data, graph type, and overall graph quality, while GS participants were more likely to plot the most relevant variables. In GS, participants could easily make more graphs than in PP and this may have helped some participants show latent features of their graphing practice. Those students using PP tended to focus more on ease of constructing the graph than GS. This study illuminates how the different characteristics of the graphing environment have implications for instruction and interpretation of assessments of student graphing practices.

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Exploring the MACH Model’s Potential as a Metacognitive Tool to Help Undergraduate Students Monitor Their Explanations of Biological Mechanisms

CBE—Life Sciences Education ◽

10.1187/cbe.15-03-0051 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. ar12 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Caleb M. Trujillo ◽

Trevor R. Anderson ◽

Nancy J. Pelaez

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Multiple Case Study ◽

Educational Tool ◽

Biological Mechanisms ◽

Undergraduate Biology ◽

Biology Students ◽

Before And After ◽

Multiple Case ◽

Written Explanations

When undergraduate biology students learn to explain biological mechanisms, they face many challenges and may overestimate their understanding of living systems. Previously, we developed the MACH model of four components used by expert biologists to explain mechanisms: Methods, Analogies, Context, and How. This study explores the implementation of the model in an undergraduate biology classroom as an educational tool to address some of the known challenges. To find out how well students’ written explanations represent components of the MACH model before and after they were taught about it and why students think the MACH model was useful, we conducted an exploratory multiple case study with four interview participants. We characterize how two students explained biological mechanisms before and after a teaching intervention that used the MACH components. Inductive analysis of written explanations and interviews showed that MACH acted as an effective metacognitive tool for all four students by helping them to monitor their understanding, communicate explanations, and identify explanatory gaps. Further research, though, is needed to more fully substantiate the general usefulness of MACH for promoting students’ metacognition about their understanding of biological mechanisms.

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A Call to Use Cultural Competence When Teaching Evolution to Religious College Students: Introducing Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education (ReCCEE)

CBE—Life Sciences Education ◽

10.1187/cbe.17-04-0062 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. es4 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

M. Elizabeth Barnes ◽

Sara E. Brownell

Keyword(s):

Cultural Competence ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Evolution Education ◽

Culturally Competent ◽

Teaching Evolution ◽

Undergraduate Biology ◽

Biology Students ◽

Secular Culture ◽

Acceptance Of Evolution ◽

Religious Cultures

Low acceptance of evolution among undergraduate students is common and is best predicted by religious beliefs. Decreasing students’ perceived conflict between religion and evolution could increase their acceptance of evolution. However, college biology instructors may struggle with trying to decrease students’ perceived conflict between religion and evolution because of differences in the religious cultures and beliefs of instructors and students. Although a large percentage of undergraduate students in evolution courses are religious, most instructors teaching evolution are not. To consider differences between the secular culture of many college instructors and the religious culture of many students, we propose using a lens of cultural competence to create effective evolution education. Cultural competence is the ability of individuals from one culture (in this case, primarily secular instructors who are teaching evolution) to bridge cultural differences and effectively communicate with individuals from a different culture (in this case, primarily religious undergraduate biology students). We call this new framework Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education (ReCCEE). In this essay, we describe a suite of culturally competent practices that can help instructors reduce students’ perceived conflict between evolution and religion, increase students’ acceptance of evolution, and help create more inclusive undergraduate biology classrooms.

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