The implementation of mini-research project to train undergraduate students’ scientific writing and communication skills

Scientific writing and communication skills of undergraduate students in the Biology Education Program of University of Palangka Raya need to be improved. The purpose of this research was to implement mini-research in animal ecology field practice to train undergraduate students’ scientific writing and communication skills. This descriptive quantitative research used action-research method with two cycles in which each cycle consisted of four stages i.e (1) plan; (2) take action; (3) collect and analyze evidences, and (4) reflect. The data gained were analyzed descriptively and quantitatively. The results showed that the gain score of students’ scientific writing skills based on mini-research assessment was 0.6 (moderate category). Moreover, students' communication skills showed an improvement from cycle 1 to cycle 2 which was assessed during the presentation session. All the findings in this study indicate that the implementation of the mini-research project in the field practice of the animal ecology course helps students to develop scientific writing and communication skills.

HOTS assessment in circulatory system learning: Validity, reliability, and item quality

Biology learning, based on the curriculum-2013, requires students to be skilled at analyzing, evaluating, and creating to achieve Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). Thus, HOTS assessment instrument is crucial to be made. This study aimed to produce HOTS assessment instrument focused on circulatory system materials for XI graders. This research was conducted by using Research and Development (R&D) method with 4-D model. The subjects of this study were: two biology lecturers from Faculty of Mathematics and Science of Universitas Negeri Padang, two biology teachers, and 33 XI graders of Public Senior High School 1 Nan Sabaris. The data were collected using questionnaires which were validated by experts and analyzed using ANATES 4.09. The validity results reached as high as 87.54% (very valid) in which the empirical validity value was 88%. Meanwhile, the instrument was stated as very reliable (0.78), has a moderate difficulty, good differentiating power, and excellent option quality. Thus, as the recommendation, this instrument can be used to foster students’ HOTS.

Cladogram misreading of undergraduate students in understanding evolutionary

The student's ability to understand evolutionary studies is determined by representing a phylogenetic tree or cladogram. This study aims to determine the tree thinking ability, especially the students' reading ability in interpreting the cladogram. This descriptive study involved 29 students as subjects. Students are selected by purposive random sampling, only students who have attended and studied evolution courses. The data collection instrument used tests and interview guidelines. The test questions consist of 20 multiple choice questions with five answer choices. The difficulty level of the questions used includes understanding, applying, analyzing, and evaluating. The phylogenetic tree interpretation refers to four indicators, including the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), monophyletic group, branch proximity, contemporary descendant, and counting the branch or nodes position. The data obtained were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2013 and Anates-V4, then presented in percentage form. The results showed that many students misinterpreted the cladogram. Furthermore, errors in cladogram interpretation occurred in monophyletic group indicators (38%), most common ancestor (59%), branch proximity (41%), contemporary ancestry (39%), and branch position calculations (53%). These results indicate that misreading of analysis in cladogram interpretation is moderate to high, so it is necessary to formulate the most appropriate way to teach phylogenetic studies in evolution.

Learning Progression: How should we teach about disease to determine students’ level of understanding?

Strengthening Learning Progression (LP) for students' reasoning abilities is important, especially learning about diseases in Indonesia. This study aimed to map the learning progression of disease in Indonesia, compare and analyze its similarities and differences with the LP designed by National Reseaarch Council (NRC). This qualitative research to map LP, using the analysis documen method by comparing the content analysis of Basic Competencies of Curriculum 13 with benchmark analysis from the NRC 2007 on Science and Biology textbooks published in 2016, 2017, and 2018 at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels published by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia. The findings are the LP on disease in the curriculum and life science textbooks in Indonesia has not met the benchmarks, especially in three categories, namely; pathogens, the immune system, and infection spanning learning from K-2 (elementary) to K-12 (high school). Therefore, it is necessary to categorize LP topics in diseases based on conceptual abilities from the simplest to the most complex.

Developing biology enrichment book of fish diversity of aquatic ecosystems in Kampar District

Fish diversity in Kampar District is one of natural resources which is potentially developed as a contextual learning resource for student. This Research and Development (R&D) study aimed at developing biology enrichment book of fish diversity in Kampar District as learning resource for X graders. The R&D model employed was ADDIE which was limited to the third phase (i.e development). The validity and practicality tests on the product developed were conducted by material and media experts as well as 20 biology teachers. The instrument used was questionnaire with five Likert scale. It comprised of 18 items in which the 10 items related to content eligibility and material presentation, meanwhile, the other eight items related to language and graphics. The results showed that the product developed was categorized as very valid with several minor revisions. The overall practicality test resulted the score value with high practicality category (83.8). In addition, the results of development stage depicted that the biology enrichment book of fish diversity in Kampar District was categorized as strongly valid. Thus, it can be continued to the next stage in term of implementation and evaluation in order to get the usable product for student as a contextual learning resource.

The difficulty index of biology topics in Indonesian Senior High School: Biology undergraduate students’ perspectives

Biology is a subject that contains of many difficult concepts to study. This study aimed to identify Biology topics taught in Senior High School (SHS) which were considered as difficult materials by undergraduate students. The data were gathered by means of a web-based survey from 198 Biology students of 25 universities and 51 Biology education students of nine universities in Indonesia. The biology students graduated from SHSs in 97 regions/municipality, while the biology education students were graduated from 34 regions/municipality. The data were analyzed using two formulas: 1) Biology Difficulty Index (BDI) to determine the difficulty index of Biology subject, and 2) Topic Difficulty Index (TDI) to examine the difficulty index of each Biology topics. The results showed that the highest value of TDI was Genetics. There was no significant difference of BDI between Biology students and Biology education students. The lower of the students’ BDI, the higher the level of their interest in Biology subject. The primary cause of difficulty encountered by the students in studying various topics of Biology was the complicated characteristics of the materials. The findings of this study can be followed up by designing diagnostic tests and instructional designs in biology topics which consider students’ difficulty.

The learning continuum of anatomical and physiological aspects based on the difficulty levels

Determining the level of difficulty and student development is important in the learning continuum, especially the anatomical and physiological aspects. This study aimed to collect teachers' opinions about the learning continuum of anatomical and physiological aspects based on its difficulty level. This survey research was conducted in the cities of Bantul and Yogyakarta using a questionnaire. The selection of respondents through convenience sampling, totaling 111 teachers consisting of 68 junior high school science teachers and 43 junior high school biology teachers. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to determine the mode of teachers’ opinions. The results of this study indicate that the learning continuum in grade X of senior high school based on difficulty level in anatomical and physiological aspects, especially multicellular and unicellular concept has not yet been formed, with the difficulty at level 4. Therefore it is necessary to the provision of subject matter is sorted from easy to difficult and adjusted to the level of development of students at each level.

Student’s scientific literacy on environmental pollution material based on SETS learning approach combined with Vee Diagram

The student’s scientific literacy is vital in improving students’ awareness of several issues. This study was intended to describe the effect of the SETS learning approach combined with Vee Diagram on students’ scientific literacy especially on Environmental Pollution Material. This study used a nonequivalent pretest-posttest control group design. The survey involved 60 students who were selected using cluster random sampling technique. The quantitative data, in terms of pretest, posttest, and N-gain scores were analyzed using Independent-sample t-test at the 5% significance level. The results showed that, based in the N-gain scores, the experiment class was classified in moderate category and the control class belonged to low category. This means that the SETS learning approach combined with Vee Diagram influence student’s scientific literacy on Environmental Pollution Material. Therefore, this combination is recommended to be implemented in class to enhance students' scientific literacy skills.

Analysis of students’ creative thinking on plant microtechnical laboratory practices

Empowerment of creative thinking skills is important in every lecture activity, including practicum. This study aimed to analyze students' creative thinking skills in Plant Microtechnique practicum. This research used descriptive method in which the participants were the seventh semester biology education students (n=20) of State University of South Sumatera, Indonesia. The student has taken Plant Microtechnique Course in the previous semester. The instrument used was essay test developed based on creative thinking indicator. The data were processed by calculating the percentage for each indicator and categorized into three levels (i.e., low, medium, and high). The findings revealed that students’ creative thinking skills in Plant Microtechnique laboratory practices were medium for fluency indicator, and low for flexibility, originality, and elaboration indicators. Therefore, it is necessary to revise learning strategies that support the empowerment of students' creative thinking in Microtechnique Laboratory practices.

Misconceptions of biology education students in Biochemistry Course during the COVID-19 pandemic

Misconception is one of the main problems in biology education which has the potential to increase when course is packaged in a e-learning. This study aimed to map the level of the biochemistry concept accuracy of students who take online biochemistry lectures. This quantitative research involved Biology Education students, FKIP UMM as research subjects. Online lectures were conducted for ten meetings using ELMU UMM. At the 11st meeting, a concept accuracy test was carried out. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result, 64% of students have a low level of concept accuracy, 14% moderate, and 0% good. Therefore, online learning packaging needs to be optimized so that the percentage accuracy of the biochemical concepts of students is maximized.