Poster: Education & outreach

Abs # 931: Diagnosing misconceptions in plant physiology in college biology students

Presenter:	Berry-Lowe, Sandra L., slblowe@uccs.edu
Authors	Berry-Lowe, Sandra L. (A)   Gaddis, Barbara A. (A)
Affiliations:	(A): University Of Colorado

Misconceptions hinder a student’s ability to understand abstract biological concepts. Identification of misconceptions is the first step in helping students to develop more scientifically accurate understanding. The purpose of this project was to develop a novel three-tier diagnostic test to assess misconceptions. First-tier questions evaluate content knowledge, second-tier questions evaluate conceptual understanding, and third-tier questions evaluate student’s ability to apply conceptual reasoning. Eight topics are covered in the diagnostic tests including genetics, energy, biomolecules, and ecology. These tests have been piloted with general biology students and correlations between students’ backgrounds and misconceptions examined. Questions relating to plants and plant physiology will be presented. This research was funded by NSF CCLI-ASA grant #4533512.