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Related Experiment Videos

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

Anne-Marie Hoskinson1, Jessica Middlemis Maher2, Cody Bekkering3

  • 1Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007 annemarie.hoskinson@sdstate.edu.

CBE Life Sciences Education
|April 15, 2017
PubMed
Summary

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Introductory biology students

Area of Science:

  • Biology Education Research
  • Cognitive Science in Science Learning

Background:

  • Undergraduate biology education reform aims to develop students' ability to effectively use biological knowledge.
  • Disciplinary expertise, characterized by distinct ways of organizing and applying knowledge, is crucial for achieving these reform goals.
  • Expertise development in novice learners is measurable and can be tracked over time.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate changes in how introductory biology students organize and connect biological ideas over one semester.
  • To determine if a card sorting task can detect shifts in biological expertise among novice learners.

Main Methods:

  • Administered the Biology Card Sorting Task to 751 students in their first or second introductory biology course.
  • Students sorted biological problems under structured or unstructured conditions.

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  • Analyzed sorting patterns to identify changes in knowledge organization and connections.

    • Main Results:

    • Students employed a mix of superficial, deep, and novel strategies for organizing biological knowledge.
    • A single semester of introductory biology led to more expert-like knowledge organization in some students.
    • Enrollment in the first or second semester of biology and the sorting condition significantly predicted changes in expertise.

    Conclusions:

    • Card sorting is a sensitive method for detecting changes in novice biological expertise within a semester.
    • The study highlights the potential for pedagogical interventions to foster expert-like knowledge structures in introductory biology students.
    • Findings inform strategies for biology education reform focused on developing disciplinary expertise.