The Molecular Biology Capstone Assessment: A Concept Assessment for Upper-Division Molecular Biology Students
The Molecular Biology Capstone Assessment: A Concept Assessment for Upper-Division Molecular Biology Students
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DOI：
10.1187/cbe.14-04-0071
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发表时间：
2015-03-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Knight, Jennifer K.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Couch, Brian A.;Wood, William B.;Knight, Jennifer K.
对于参与评估和改进院系项目的生物学教师来说，衡量学生的概念理解变得越来越重要。我们开发了分子生物学顶点评估 (MBCA)，以衡量对分子和细胞生物学基本概念的理解以及在新场景中应用这些概念的能力。 MBCA 针对应届毕业生，由 18 道多对错 (T/F) 问题组成。每个问题都由一个叙述主干和四个 T/F 陈述组成，与传统的多项选择题格式相比，它可以更详细地评估学生的理解情况。问题是根据教师和学生的广泛反馈反复制定的，包括通过教师评论进行验证和通过学生访谈进行回答验证。最终评估由七所院校的 504 名高年级课程学生在线进行。本届政府的数据表明，MBCA 具有可接受的内部可靠性水平（alpha = 0.80）和重测稳定性（r = 0.93）。学生取得了广泛的成绩，总平均分达到 67%。表现结果表明，学生对许多分子生物学概念的理解不完全，并且继续持有先前在入门级学生中记录的错误概念。通过查明概念上的困难领域，MBCA 可以为教师提供改进本科生物学课程的指导。
Measuring students' conceptual understandings has become increasingly important to biology faculty members involved in evaluating and improving departmental programs. We developed the Molecular Biology Capstone Assessment (MBCA) to gauge comprehension of fundamental concepts in molecular and cell biology and the ability to apply these concepts in novel scenarios. Targeted at graduating students, the MBCA consists of 18 multiple-true/false (T/F) questions. Each question consists of a narrative stem followed by four T/F statements, which allows a more detailed assessment of student understanding than the traditional multiple-choice format. Questions were iteratively developed with extensive faculty and student feedback, including validation through faculty reviews and response validation through student interviews. The final assessment was taken online by 504 students in upper-division courses at seven institutions. Data from this administration indicate that the MBCA has acceptable levels of internal reliability (alpha = 0.80) and test-retest stability (r = 0.93). Students achieved a wide range of scores with a 67% overall average. Performance results suggest that students have an incomplete understanding of many molecular biology concepts and continue to hold incorrect conceptions previously documented among introductory-level students. By pinpointing areas of conceptual difficulty, the MBCA can provide faculty members with guidance for improving undergraduate biology programs.