The relationships between genetic problem solving and cognitive development

本研究的目的是确定认知发展和孟德尔遗传学问题解决在中学之间的关系。468名中学生参与了这项研究。231名学生（118名男性，113名女性）来自农村/大型初中。237名学生（男127名，女110名）来自城市/初中。他们被要求完成两项任务。一个是GALT（Group Assessment of Logical Thinking）任务，另一个是遗传问题测验（Genetic Problem Test），包含两类问题（6个真实的问题和6个生物学问题），根据GALT任务的得分划分学生的认知发展阶段。生物学背景下的遗传问题测验结果表明，具体操作阶段、过渡阶段和正式操作阶段的学生平均得分分别为1.84、2.09和2.25。认知水平与遗传问题解决成绩的方差分析表明，在1%的水平上存在显著差异（F（2，444）=6.36，p<.01）。Scheffe测验结果显示，正式操作阶段的学生得分显著高于具体操作阶段的学生，真实的世界背景下的遗传问题测验结果如下：具体操作阶段、过渡阶段和正式操作阶段的学生平均得分分别为1.78、2.20和2.90。认知水平与遗传问题解决成绩的方差分析表明，在1%水平上有显著性差异（F（2，446）=30.01，p<.01），Scheffe检验表明，遗传问题解决成绩随认知水平的提高而提高，这表明研究孟德尔遗传学需要形式化的操作思维。

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.