The relationships between genetic problem solving and cognitive development

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The purpose of this study is to identify the relationships between cognitive development and problem solving in Mendelian genetics at the secondary school.468 secondary school students participated in this study. 231 students (118 males, 113 females) were from a rural/big junior high school. 237 studnts (127 males, 110 females) were from a urban/middle senior high school. They were asked to take two tasks. one task was GALT (Group Assessment of Logical thinking), the other was Genetic Problem Test containing two kinds of problems (6 problems in the real world context, and 6 problems in the biological context).According to the score of GALT task, students'cognitive developmental stage were categorized. 204 students were idntified as the concrete operational stage, 162 students as the transitional, and 97 students as the formal operational.The results of Genetic Problem Test in the biological context were as follows ; the mean score of students at the concrete operational, at the transitional, and at the formal operational stage, was respectively 1.84,2.09, and 2.25. Analysis of variance for the cognitive level with genetic problem solving achievement indicated significant difference at 1% level (F (2,444) =6.36, p<.01) . Scheffe test showed significantly higher scores for the students at the formal operational stage than at the concrete operational stage.The results of Genetic Problem Test in the real world context were as follows ; the mean score of students at the concrete operational, at the transitional, and at the formal operational stage, was respectively 1.78,2.20, and 2.90. Analysis of variance for the cognitive level with genetic problem solving achievement indicated significant difference at 1% level (F (2,446) =30.01, p<.01).Scheffe test usggested that the score of genetic problem solving got higher as cognitive stage raised.From these results, it was concluded that formal operational thought is necessary to study Mendelian genetics.