Problem Solving in Genetics: Content Hints Can Help
Problem Solving in Genetics: Content Hints Can Help
复制标题
DOI：
10.1187/cbe.18-06-0093
复制
发表时间：
2019-06-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Knight, Jennifer K.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Avena, Jennifer S.;Knight, Jennifer K.
解决问题是从事科学研究不可或缺的一部分，但对许多学科的学生来说，学习如何解决问题颇具挑战性。我们针对多个遗传学内容领域，通过为每个领域设置一组三道连续的问题，探究学生在解决遗传学问题方面的成效。为推动学生取得进步，我们让学生在每个内容领域的第二题或第三题答题过程中，选择获取一个聚焦于内容的提示，我们称之为 “内容提示”。总体而言，对于在某个内容领域第一题答错的学生，内容提示帮助他们解决了更多与之内容匹配的问题。我们还研究了学生对自身解题过程的描述，发现那些在获得提示后有所进步的学生，通常会利用提示内容准确地解决问题。而那些在收到内容提示后没有进步的学生，则出现了各种特定内容方面的错误和疏漏。总体来说，无论最初的练习表现或初始遗传学知识水平如何，练习作业（每个主题的最后一题）的最终成绩能够预示在内容匹配的期末考试题上的表现。我们的研究结果表明，一些学习吃力的学生可能在特定的遗传学内容知识方面存在不足，一旦这些不足得到弥补，学生就能成功解决具有挑战性的遗传学问题。
Problem solving is an integral part of doing science, yet it is challenging for students in many disciplines to learn. We explored student success in solving genetics problems in several genetics content areas using sets of three consecutive questions for each content area. To promote improvement, we provided students the choice to take a content-focused prompt, termed a "content hint," during either the second or third question within each content area. Overall, for students who answered the first question in a content area incorrectly, the content hints helped them solve additional content-matched problems. We also examined students' descriptions of their problem solving and found that students who improved following a hint typically used the hint content to accurately solve a problem. Students who did not improve upon receipt of the content hint demonstrated a variety of content-specific errors and omissions. Overall, ultimate success in the practice assignment (on the final question of each topic) predicted success on content-matched final exam questions, regardless of initial practice performance or initial genetics knowledge. Our findings suggest that some struggling students may have deficits in specific genetics content knowledge, which when addressed, allow the students to successfully solve challenging genetics problems.