Influence of different types of subject-specific prior knowledge on academic success in biology and physics

学业上的成功受到各种各样的一般和特定学科因素的影响。到目前为止，大多数关于学生学业成功模型的研究主要集中在一般的、非特定的因素上，比如就业或平均绩点。然而，在改善大学教学方面，具体学科的因素是特别令人感兴趣的。特别是学生，特定学科的先验知识是他们学业成功的一个很好的预测指标。具体科目的大学入学考试的预测有效性进一步强调了这一点。然而，不同类型的先验知识似乎存在一些差异。一些研究表明，不同类型的先验知识对学生学业成功的影响可能取决于学科领域。这个项目的目的是分析这些类型的先验知识对学生在生物学和物理学方面的学业成功的影响。在理论模型的基础上，我们区分了四种类型的知识：事实知识、意义知识、知识整合和知识应用。我们提出假设，这些类型的先验知识预测学业成功在两个科目不同，因为两个科目在第一学期的表现要求不同。例如，在生物学入门课程中（如动物学中的分类学），事实知识和意义知识以及知识的整合似乎比知识的应用更重要。然而，对于物理入门课程，我们假设知识的应用对于解决物理问题是非常重要的（例如，在力学中使用守恒定律）。为了分析这四种类型知识的重要性，我们将为每个科目和知识类型制定一个测试。使用这些测试，我们将在大学第一年的三个时间点评估学生的知识。此外，我们还将收集影响学生学业成功的其他潜在因素（如兴趣、认知能力）的数据。因此，我们将有一个有效的测试工具来评估生物和物理的不同类型的先验知识，我们将能够对这些类型的知识对学生学业成功的影响做出详细的陈述。此外，该项目将深入了解学业成功与学科特定因素以及更普遍因素之间的关系。该项目的研究结果可用于制定大学入学的特定学科考试，并改善大学教学。

Academic success is influenced by a variety of general and subject-specific factors. So far, most studies on the modelling of students¿ academic success have mainly focused on general, non-specific factors like employment or grade point average. With regard to the improvement of university instruction, however, subject-specific factors are of particular interest. Especially students¿ subject-specific prior knowledge is a good predictor of their academic success. This is further emphasized by the predictive validity of subject-specific university admission tests. Nevertheless, there seem to be some differences concerning different types of prior knowledge. Some studies suggest that the influence of different types of prior knowledge on students¿ academic success might depend on the subject area. The purpose of this project is to analyze the influence of these types of prior knowledge on students¿ academic success in biology and physics. On the basis of a theoretical model, we differentiate between four types of knowledge: knowledge of facts, knowledge of meaning, integration of knowledge, and application of knowledge. We put forward the hypothesis that these types of prior knowledge predict academic success differently in the two subjects, as the performance requirements differ between the two subjects in the first semesters. For instance, for the introductory biology courses (e.g. taxonomy in zoology), knowledge of facts and knowledge of meaning as well as the integration of knowledge seem to be more important than the application of knowledge. For the introductory physics courses, however, we assume that the application of knowledge is very important to solve physical problems (e.g. using conservation laws in mechanics). In order to analyze the importance of the four types of knowledge, we will develop a test for each subject and type of knowledge. Using these tests, we will assess students¿ knowledge at three time points during their first year at university. Moreover, we will gather data on other potential influencing factors on students¿ academic success (e.g. interest, cognitive abilities). As a result, we will have a valid testing tool to assess different types of prior knowledge in biology and physics and we will be able to make detailed statements about the influence of these types of knowledge on the students¿ academic success. In addition, this project will provide insight into the correlation between academic success and subject-specific factors as well as more general factors. The project¿s findings can be used to develop subject-specific tests for university admission and to improve university instruction.