CAREER: Investigating University Students' Conceptions of Macroscopic Biological Phenomena

本职业研究的目的是确定本科生如何概念化和解释复杂的生物现象，包括：(1)癌症，(2)生物基因改造。此外，本研究还探讨了这些学生如何学习这些学科的心理基础。四个研究/调查小组正在进行比较：(1)进入生物专业；(2)生物专业毕业；(3)非生物专业；(4)专家研究生物学家，均位于旧金山州立大学（SFSU）。总体研究假设是，进入大学生物专业和毕业生物专业的学生对这些复杂的生物现象的理解有多种解释框架。如果是这样的话，那么生物学专业的学生可能会对一个生物现象（比如癌症）采用不同的解释，这取决于他们是否被要求应用他们在学校学到的基本生物学知识。本提案的一个具体目的是调查生物学专业学生在他们的本科训练中经历了哪些概念上的变化，以及他们在大学教育中在多大程度上发展了生物学专业知识。本研究包括三种方法来了解在拟议的五年资助期内的生物学学习情况：(1)对大量（约1800）大学生进行比较，横断面调查；(2)对上述大学生的一个子集（约120人）进行更详细的录像调查访谈；(3)对20名非生物专业学生与20名生物专业学生在整个资助期内的纵向研究。这项研究是由坦纳和她在旧金山州立大学生物系的研究生进行的。这为基于stem内容（生物学）的研究生提供了一个独特的机会，可以接受科学教育研究方面的培训和经验。此外，PI正在开发生物教育研究的新重点，作为生物学硕士学位的一部分。作为一个城市服务机构，该项目包括广泛的代表性和多样性的目标大学生人口。这项研究得到了由认知科学家和科学教育研究者组成的咨询委员会的投入，并通过正在进行的形成性评估得到了加强。这项研究的结果将为科学教育界和生物内容界提供信息。研究结果将通过在国家会议上的演讲和在同行评议的专业期刊上发表的文章广泛传播。预计这些研究结果将有助于理解本科生如何学习复杂的生物现象，并产生可能影响美国高等教育如何教授这些思想的见解

The purpose of this CAREER research study is to determine how undergraduate students conceptualize and explain complex biological phenomena, including: (1) cancer, and (2) genetic modification of organisms. In addition, this study explores the psychological basis for how these students learn about these subjects. Four study/survey groups are being compared: (1) entering biology majors; (2) graduating biology majors; (3) non-biology majors; and (4) expert research biologists, all located at San Francisco State University (SFSU). The overarching research hypothesis is that entering university biology majors and graduating biology majors hold multiple explanatory frameworks for their understanding of these complex biological phenomena. If this is the case, then biology majors may employ different explanations for a biological phenomenon, like cancer, depending on whether or not they are cued to apply their basic biology knowledge learned in school. A specific aim of this proposal is to investigate what conceptual changes biology majors undergo as a result of their undergraduate training and to what extent do they develop biological expertise during their university education.This research includes three approaches to gaining insight into biology learning during the proposed five-year funding period: (1) a comparative, cross-sectional survey of a large number (~1800) of university students; (2) more detailed videotaped survey interviews with a subset (~120) of the above-referenced university students; and (3) a longitudinal study over the entire funding period of 20 non-biology majors as compared to 20 biology majors.This research study is being carried out by Tanner and her graduate students in the SFSU biology department. This represents a unique opportunity for STEM-content-based (biology) graduate students to receive training and experience in science educational research. Furthermore, the PI is developing a new concentration in biology education research as part of the Masters degree in biology. As an urban-serving institution, this project includes a broad representation and diversity of the target undergraduate population. This study is being enhanced by input received from an advisory committee composed of cognitive scientists and science education researchers, as well as through ongoing formative assessment.The results of this research will inform both the science education and biological content communities. Research findings will be widely disseminated via presentations at national meetings and articles published in peer-reviewed professional journals. It is anticipated that these research results will contribute to understanding how undergraduate students learn complex biological phenomena and lead to insights that could influence how these ideas are taught in higher education throughout the U.S.