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Students' Learning Difficulties in Biology: Reasons and Solutions

01 Jan 2002-Vol. 10, Iss: 1, pp 73-82
About: The article was published on 2002-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 9 citations till now.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a study was carried out with 175 Turkish students by using drawings at different ages understanding of gene, DNA and chromosome concepts, and differences in understanding between the age groups were found to be significant for the concepts of gene and DNA.
Abstract: The study was carried out with 175 Turkish students by using drawings at different ages understanding of gene, DNA and chromosome concepts. Students from 8th, 9th, 11th grades and, science and biology student teachers were simply asked to draw the structure of gene, DNA and chromosome in a cell and also to give explanations about these three concepts. Differences in understanding between the age groups were found to be significant for the concepts of gene and DNA. None of the groups exhibit sound understanding and regardless of the age levels, students in all groups had alternative ideas about the three concepts investigated.

58 citations

15 Aug 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reveal middle school students' difficulties in learning genetics concepts using both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, and a semi-structured interview was conducted to find out the students’ difficulties comprehensively.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to reveal middle school students’ difficulties in learning genetics concepts. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used in the present study. Survey method was used to explore the students’ difficulties in conceptual and procedural level. An open-ended questionnaire was conducted to find out students’ difficulties in learning genetics. Moreover, basic interpretive qualitative research approach was used in the present study. Parallel with this approach, a semi-structured interview was conducted to find out the students’ difficulties comprehensively. The number of students that participated in this study was 128 from two elementary schools in Izmir-Turkey. The determined major difficulties in learning genetics were the function of cell and chromosome concepts. When we ask the functions of genetics concepts instead of their definition, most of the students had difficulty to explain the functions of these concepts. In general, students memorized the concepts of genetics. In addition to conceptual difficulties, some procedural difficulties in genetics were also explored. Regarding transfer of genetics information, when 62.6 % of the students answered the related question correctly, 41.6 % of the students did not develop true reasoning about this process. The difficulties related to teaching methods, textbooks, and mathematical expressions were other difficulties determined in this study.

30 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors diagnose the topics that are perceived as difficult at the level of 6-8 science classes and find out the reasons behind these difficulties as well as propose suggestions to remedy these difficulties.
Abstract: In this study it was aimed to i) diagnose the topics that are perceived as difficult at the level of 6-8 science classes and ii) find out the reasons behind of these difficulties as well as propose suggestions to remedy these difficulties. Eighteen science teachers and three hundred students attending different types of secondary schools participated in the study. In the study in which qualitative and quantitative methods were used 114 science topics were listed to diagnose the topics that are perceived as difficult. Participants were noted their ideas regarding the topics as "easy", "moderate" and "difficult." Topic difficulty index (TDI) was used to determine the level of difficulty. To find out the reasons behind the difficulties, five teachers and ten pupils who indicated the topics of the highest difficulties were interviewed. The results of the study showed that i) the topics that have the TDI value over % 25 are mostly related to physical processes and they are followed the topics about living organisms and life, matter and change, The World and the Universe, respectively, ii) there is not an exact overlap between the topics that are perceived as difficult both by teachers and the students, iii) there are several reasons (e.g., the level of abstractness of the concepts, overloading of the content, mathematical skill, language etc) behind the difficulties. The possible effects of these results on science education and their importance regarding learning, teaching, assessment as well as curriculum development are critically analyzed and some suggestions are made to remedy the difficulties. Key Words Science Education, Topic Difficulties, Topic Difficulty Index, Multi Level Thought. (ProQuest: ... denotes formula omitted.) The studies in science education have considerably risen in the last 30 years. Parallel to this, many innovations have been made in science education. Thus, many countries have tried to develop new science curricula in the light of these innovations. In Turkey, there have also been several attempts to develop science curricula in the years 1994, 2000 and 2004. In all these curriculum development studies there are some common aims and similarities as well as differences in terms teaching, learning and assessment. For instance, in the development process of 1994 and 2000 science curriculums, the behaviorist learning approach was taken into consideration. However, 2004 science and technology curriculum for primary 4-8 that have been developed on the base of constructivist learning approach are considerably different from the others. In this curriculum, the role of teachers and pupils in the classroom, the approach to the assessment and evaluation as well as to the teaching techniques have been radically changed. The main aim of the science and technology curriculum is to educate all pupils as scientifically and technologically literate. The science and technology literacy is a combination of several skills, attitudes and knowledge related to science and technology as well to the other scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry and biology. As mentioned before, in spite of all these curriculum developments in science in all over the world there are many research studies that report concept difficulties and misconceptions in science topics in secondary and university levels. The following examples can be given for the topics of genetics (Johnstone & Mahmoud, 1980; Bahar, Johnstone & Hansell 1999; Knippels, Waarlo & Boersma, 2005), photosynthesis (Waheed & Lucas, 1992), hormonal regulationtransport of oxygen (Lazarowitz & Penso, 1992), Universe and space (Caillot, Chebbi & Allani, 2003), electromagnetic induction, impulse-momentum, electricity (Aycan & Yumuflak, 2003) etc. In Turkey, the national exam results for primary and secondary school students show that the correct response average for the questions related to science topics was low. …

19 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Solmaz Aydin1
TL;DR: The findings show that the heart, lungs, kidneys and stomach are the best known organs by the students, and that they most often identified organs in the circulatory, respiratory, urinary and digestive systems rather than other systems.
Abstract: This study aimed to determine high school students' familiarity with body organs and knowledge about the systems to which organs belong. It also identifies their misconceptions and deficiencies and discusses their causes. The sample of the study consisted of 244 secondary students. The study used the descriptive survey method. The findings show that the heart, lungs, kidneys and stomach are the best known organs by the students, and that they most often identified organs in the circulatory, respiratory, urinary and digestive systems rather than other systems. In addition, there are no considerable differences between the ninth, tenth, eleventh grade classes and the twelfth grade students’ knowledge and misconceptions about organs and organ systems. The most basic misconceptions identified in this study is that a majority of the students who identified the small intestine, liver, pancreas, anus and intestine thought that these organs were parts of the excretory system. In Turkey's educational system, students are taught the urinary system as the excretory system. This leads students to think that these organs are not elements of the digestive system, but those of the excretory system, which is used to defecate the excretions. For this reason, this study will also discuss this situation.

11 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, this article found that within the scope of creative drama activities, how the blood group determination and the cause of people's fingerprints were separate from each other and how important biology is in everyday life, especially in criminal work.
Abstract: Creative drama grants students not only an opportunity to display their thoughts physically, orally and written but also enables them to interpret the expressions of peers. Characteristic of learning through creative drama is the development of shared meaning through the social construction of knowledge. The primary purpose of this study is to develop seventh-grade students’ conceptual understanding of some genetic concepts, attitudes toward biology learning and awareness of forensic science. The pedagogy of creative drama consisted of determining blood types and differences in human fingerprints. Twenty students took part in this study. Data sources consisted of student journaling, classroom observations, students’ responses to attitude survey and subject evaluation forms. Students learned that within the scope of creative drama activities, how the blood group determination and the cause of people’s fingerprints were separate from each other. In everyday life, they realized how important biology is, especially in criminal work. Changes in students’ attitudes toward biology indicated a positive direction because of the extraordinary teaching method. All of the participants contribute the creative drama activity keenly. Students’ attitudes toward the pedagogy of creative drama suggest that students should be approached with this sort of learning at an early age.

7 citations