Assessing practical laboratory skills in undergraduate molecular biology courses

This study explored a new strategy of assessing laboratory skills in a molecular biology course to improve: student effort in preparation for and participation in laboratory work; valid evaluation of learning outcomes; and students’ employment prospects through provision of evidence of their skills. Previously, assessment was based on written laboratory reports and examinations, not on the demonstration of practical skills per se. This action research project involved altering the assessment design so that a greater proportion of the marks was allocated to active participation and learning in the laboratory, partially replacing a single examination with direct observation of student participation and learning over a prolonged period of weekly laboratory sessions. We ascertained staff and students’ perceptions of the new assessment processes by means of a Likert scale questionnaire, student focus group and individual staff interviews. Overall, students and staff evaluated the new assessment structure positively, citing fairness, authenticity and reward for effort. Results also revealed the need for specific training of staff in this form of assessment and indicated staff–student ratios made assessment burdensome. Four out of five students reported that an increased awareness of the importance of practical laboratory skills stimulated them to greater efforts to achieve.     

Assessment and investigation of science laboratory skills among year 5 students

In line with the current interest in alternative and authentic assessment, this study focused on the evaluation of students' performance on science laboratory process skills. A sample of 147 year 5 students from six schools responded to laboratory process skills tests which assess investigating, performing and reasoning in the content areas of biology, chemistry and physics. The data were analysed to provide information about students' overall practical performance and to identify specific preinstructional conceptions and erros. An investigation of predictors of laboratory performance revealed significant associations between performance and amount of homework done and students' perceptions of several aspects of the classroom environment (personalisation, investigation and organisation). The gender differences commonly found in science achievement were absent when laboratory performance was used as the criterion.     

生物学简答题的解题技巧

面对生物试卷的简答题,许多学生甚至老师都感到难以把握,尤其是2005年江苏省高考题,更让学生一筹莫展、望而生畏。但是,新的考试说明中明确地指出了5大能力要求,即理解能力、推理能力、设计与完成实验的能力、获取知识的能力、分析综合的能力。这5大能力都需要学生有较强的文字     

Implementation of a project-based molecular biology laboratory emphasizing protein structure-function relationships in a large introductory biology laboratory course

In introductory laboratory courses, many universities are turning from traditional laboratories with predictable outcomes to inquiry-inspired, project-based laboratory curricula. In these labs, students are allowed to design at least some portion of their own experiment and interpret new, undiscovered data. We have redesigned the introductory biology laboratory course at Brandeis University into a semester-long project-based laboratory that emphasizes concepts and contains an element of scientific inquiry. In this laboratory, students perform a site-directed mutagenesis experiment on the gene encoding human γD crystallin, a human eye lens protein implicated in cataracts, and assess the stability of their newly created protein with respect to wild-type crystallin. This laboratory utilizes basic techniques in molecular biology to emphasize the importance of connections between DNA and protein. This project lab has helped engage students in their own learning, has improved students' skills in critical thinking and analysis, and has promoted interest in basic research in biology.     

Analyzing hierarchical relationships among modes of cognitive reasoning and integrated science process skills

The purpose of this research was to search for a learning hierarchy among skills comprising formal operations and the integrated science processes. Ordering theoretic and probabilistic latent structure methods were used to analyze data on five process skills and six logical thinking skills collected from 700 science students. Both linear and branching hierarchical relationships were identified within and across the two sets of skills. Most of them fit the logical hierarchies which have guided curriculum development and classroom practices in the past. But a few run counter to our present logic and understanding of these skills.     

浅谈生物学教学中“教学重心前置”

要进行高效课堂建设,就要使教学重心前置。本文就如何在生物学教学中进行教学重心的前置,提出了几点建议。     

Alternative assessment of high school laboratory skills

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate instruments that will assess the laboratory skills of students completing high school science courses. In each of the science areas (biology, chemistry, and physics), tests were developed around six laboratory tasks. Each test used a two-part format with a total time of 80 minutes. Students had to plan an investigation, collect and organize appropriate data, and formulate conclusions based on calculations and graphs. A different test was developed for 12th-grade students not enrolled in a science course. This test consisted of a series of stations where students conducted a short activity that was presented to them. Over 1000 students from 32 Ohio schools formed the sample for this study. Data are presented by skill and by task. In addition, analysis for gender and school effects is included.     

生物学虚拟实验室的构建及应用

构建了由结构与功能、组分与功能、设备与技能三大模块以及平台支撑软件组成的生物学虚拟实验室,并通过修订人才培养方案、应用基于虚拟实验室条件下开展不同类型的实验项目实施流程等措施,充分发挥虚拟实验室的效用。经过几年的探索实践,有效提高了学生的学习主动性,提高了实验教学效果。     

The effects of microcomputer-based laboratory exercises on the acquisition of line graph construction and interpretation skills by high school biology students

Effects of microcomputer-based laboratories and level of cognitive development on tenth-grade biology students' ability to construct and interpret line graphs was investigated. Fortysix students enrolled in general biology classes at a rural high school volunteered to participate in the study. These students were administered instruments to assess level of cognitive development and line-graphing ability. Ten students that scored between zero and three and ten students that scored between six and ten on the graphing assessment were chosen to participate in the study. The 20 students were then assigned to either experimental or conventional groups to achieve a matched design with relation to gender and line-graphing ability. Statistical analysis of the data indicated no effect due to instructional method on graph-interpretation abilities. An instructional effect was demonstrated for graph-construction tasks (p < 0.10) with the conventional group outperforming the microcomputer-based laboratory group. Effect sizes of ?1.01 and 0.48 were found for graph-construction and -interpretation skills, respectively. Effects related to cognitive development were indicated with those students classified as high cognitive development outscoring those classified as low (p < 0.10) This was true for both graph-construction and graph-interpretation tasks. No two-way interactions were found.     

科学过程技能的性别差异

本研究运用表现性评价方式评价科学过程技能,结果发现男女学生的总体科学过程技能不存在差异,但除找出变量之外,其他各过程技能均存在差异。最后,针对这种性别差异讨论了相应的教学和评价建议。     

生物类实验室废弃物安全管理探索

交叉学科发展促使生物类实验室多元化,使实验室废弃物的来源和数量随之增加。实验室废弃物的收集、管理不当会造成严重的环境污染和人员伤害,应该引起高度重视。结合生物类实验室废弃物的特点和管理现状,针对实验室废弃物安全处置和有效管理提出了一些建议。     

生物化学与分子生物学实验室人性化管理探讨

生物化学与分子生物学实验室多年来不断积累管理经验,探索"人性化"管理模式,在完善实验室"微环境"、建立科学而灵活的实验考核体系、积极打造绿色环保实验平台等方面做出了不懈努力,将"人性化"管理理念充分融入到实验室的日常运行和维护当中,为实验教学提供了一个良好的环境。     

Flipping the experimentation process: influences on science process skills

Educational technology research and development - This paper reports on a study aiming at examining the development of science process skills through the implementation of experiments in a science...     

Cognitive skills in the reading process: a review

Some current problems in reading, as viewed by cognitive psychology, are discussed around a summary of a symposium on Reading and Lexical Access held ac, part of the International Conference on Practical Aspects of Memory (Gruneberg, Morris arid Sykes, 1978). The analysis of component processes in reading, and the analysis of reading dynamics provide apparently opposing approaches to the study of reading, but they often lead to similar conclusions about reading behaviour and are seen here to be complementary approaches. Prompted by the discussion of phonological mediation in a number of the papers we are led to the conclusion that whereas phonological reading can be observed to be used on some occasions, it is not necessaryfor word recognition and reading. Three hypotheses of its use by skilled readers are suggested—for sequential attention control, for the generation of a working memory code, and for the resolution of ambiguity by prosodics. The beginning reader may have a further use in gaining a spoken representation, and therefore recognition, of new words.     

The development of science process skills in authentic contexts

Instructional strategies and curriculum sequences aimed at teaching process skills have received considerable attention in science education. On the other hand, the teaching of domain-independent, context-free skills has been subject to criticism on the ground that important aspects of cognitive activities are functions of meaningful contexts. The intent of this study was to examine the development of integrated process skills in the context of open-inquiry laboratory sessions. The data-collection approach was qualitative and included videotapes of laboratory sessions, laboratory reports of students, and the reflective journals kept by the two teachers involved in the study. Forty-eight students from the Grade 11 introductory physics course, 29 students from the Grade 12 physics course, and 60 students from the Grade 8 general science course from an all-boys private school participated in the study. An interpretive research methodology was adopted for construction of meaning from the data. Students worked in collaborative groups during all of the open-inquiry laboratory sessions. Findings from the study indicate that students develop higher-order process skills through nontraditional laboratory experiences that provided the students with freedom to perform experiments of personal relevance in authentic contexts. Students learned to (a) identify and define pertinent variables, (b) interpret, transform, and analyze data, (c) plan and design an experiment, and (d) formulate hypotheses. Findings of this study suggest that process skills need not be taught separately. Integrated process skills develop gradually and reach a high level of sophistication when experiments are performed in meaningful context.     

农业生物学开放实验室的管理机制探索

结合农业院校生物学公共基础课的特点,分析了农业生物学实验室开放的必要性。介绍了实验室开放的方式以及存在的问题,针对问题逐一提出解决方法。在实验室安全、设备及学生管理、实验室管理人员及开放实验室的经费管理等方面提出新建议,为探索农业生物学开放实验室的管理机制提供了新思路。