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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2020

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 26, 2025

Functional Complementation Analysis FCA: A Laboratory Exercise Designed and Implemented to Supplement the Teaching of Biochemical Pathways

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Published on: June 24, 2016

Formative assessment and student understanding of structure-function.

Kelli P Carter¹, Luanna B Prevost²

¹Department of Biological Sciences, Pasco-Hernando State College, Dade City, Florida, United States.

Advances in Physiology Education

|June 22, 2023

Summary

Students struggle with the structure-function relationship in physiology. Formative assessments with varied contexts, like scenarios, better reveal student understanding of this core concept.

Keywords:

formative assessment function structure

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Area of Science:

Physiology Education
Core Concept Understanding
Structure-Function Relationship

Background:

The structure-function relationship is a fundamental concept in physiology.
Prior research indicates this concept is challenging for students to grasp.
Formative written assessments, like short answer questions, help gauge student comprehension.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate student understanding of the structure-function relationship in physiology.
To explore how varying question contexts (scenario vs. non-scenario) impact student responses.
To inform the design of effective formative assessments in anatomy and physiology.

Main Methods:

Administered short answer questions on structure-function to students in General Physiology and Human Anatomy and Physiology courses.
Questions covered integumentary, muscular, digestive, and cardiovascular systems.
Scored responses using conceptual rubrics and conducted student interviews to validate thinking.

Main Results:

Less than half of student responses demonstrated a conceptual understanding of the structure-function relationship.
Student conceptual understanding varied significantly based on question context (scenario vs. non-scenario).
Scenario-based questions provided different insights into student thinking compared to non-scenario questions.

Conclusions:

Instructors should utilize formative assessments with diverse question contexts to capture heterogeneous student ideas.
Understanding the structure-function relationship is crucial for building foundational knowledge in physiology.
Findings support the development of targeted formative assessments to improve student learning of core physiological concepts.