Content analysis of Biology textbooks across selected educational boards of Asia for misconceptions and elements of conceptual change towards learning ‘Cell Structure’

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptions about the Biology textbooks used in the study

S.No	Name of the Education Board	Grades	Name of the Textbook	Name of the Author(s)	Name of the Publisher	Number of Volumes	Number of Pages	Approach of presenting Biology content
1.	International Baccalaureate (IB) (previously International Baccalaureate Organization – IBO)	11 and 12	Biology Course Companion	Andrew Allot and David Mindorff	Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom	One	719	Non Segregated Approach (Biology content is not bifurcated into Botany and Zoology and the content is studied in an integrated manner
2.	Cambridge Assessment International Examination (CAIE) (previously Cambridge International Examinations – CIE)	11 and 12	Biology Course Book	Mary Jones, Richard Fosbery, Jennifer Gregory, Dennis Taylor	Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom	One	696
3.	Advanced Placements (AP) – The College Board	11 and 12	Biology for Advanced Placements	Julianne Zedalis, John Eggebrech	Open Stax, Rice University, Houston, Texas	One	1802
4.	Central Board of Secondary Education, India (CBSE)	11 and 12	Biology Textbook for Class XI	NCERT Team of writers	NCERT, New Delhi, India	Two	342
			Biology Textbook for Class XII				286
5.	Tamil Nadu State Board of Education (TN)	11 and 12	Biology – Botany for Higher Secondary First Year	SCERT Team of writers	SCERT, Tamil Nadu, India	Two	320	Segregated Approach (Biology content is bifurcated as Biology-Botany and Biology-Zoology and the content is studied separately)
			Biology – Zoology for Higher Secondary First Year				280
							264
			Biology – Botany for Higher Secondary SecondYear			Two
			Biology – Zoology for Higher Secondary Second Year				256

Table 2. Common misconceptions in learners clarified in the five Biology textbooks

Common Misconceptions in Learners	Correct Concepts	Page Numbers showing the Correct Concepts
		Book 1	Book 2	Book 3	Book 4	Book 5
Cell Theory is applicable to all cells.	Cell Theory has its exceptions. Cell theory cannot be applied to striated muscle fibers, coenocytic hyphae, one cell algae Acetabularia and viruses.	174	-	2–3	-	-
All cells are capable of cell division.	Majority of the cells undergo cell division, except certain cells like nerve cells, heart muscle cells and fat cells.	-	-	-	-	-
All cells are microscopic.	Majority of the cells are microscopic except egg cells of birds	-	126	-		154
All plant cells do photosynthesis.	Plant cells with chloroplasts alone do photosynthesis.	-	134	-	6	172
All cells have lysosomes.	Lysosomes are present in animal cells and absent in plant cells.	189	-	-	16	164, 172
All cells have centrosomes.	Centrosomes are present in animal cells and absent in plant cells.	-	138		18	163–164
All eukaryotic cells have a nucleus.	Majority of the eukaryotic cells have nucleus. Matured RBC, Xylem Vessels do not have nucleus.	-	-	-	-	-
All cells are spherical in shape.	Not all cells are spherical in shape but most tend to approximate a sphere.	-	-	-	-	154–155
Animal cells without centrosomes do not divide.	Animal cells divide even when centrioles are removed.	-	-	-	-	164
Bigger the size of the cell greater is its efficiency.	Bigger sized cells have smaller cell surface area to volume ratio and therefore less efficient.	-	-	9	-	154–155
Cell division and cell differentiation are the same.	Cell division is the process by which a parental cell divides into two or more daughter cells whereas differentiation refers to the development of cells in different ways to carry out specific functions.	-	-	11	-	-
Cells in a tissue are fused with one another.	Cells in a tissue are held by extracellular matrix called proteoglycans.	-	-	-	-	179
Cells grow to be efficient.	As cells grow they become less efficient whereas cells divide to be efficient.	-	-	-	-	155
Cytoplasm Is the liquid part of the cell.	Cytoplasm is a semi-fluid gelatinous substance found in the cell.	184	-	-	5	160–161
Cytoplasm is the transport medium within the cell	Cytoskeleton in cells helps in transportation within the cells.	-	-	-	-	173–174
Cytoplasm of one cell is not continuous with the adjacent cell.	Cytoplasm of one cell is continuous with its neighboring cell with the help of plasmodesmata.	181	-	-	5	179–180
All things microscopic are about the same size.	All things microscopic are not uniform in size.	176	-	-	6	154
Nucleus is always found at the centre of the cell	In plant cells nucleus is found away from the center whereas the in animal cells nucleus is found at the center of the cell.	-	-	-	-	-
Nucleoid is the nucleus of prokaryotes.	The genetic material of a bacterial cell is found distributed in a region called nucleoid.	176	-	18–19	-	152–153
Nucleus and other cell organelles float in cytoplasm.	Nucleus and other cell organelles are anchored in the cell cytoplasm with the help of cytoskeleton structures.	-	136	-	17–18	173
Chromatin and Chromosomes are one and the same.	Chromatin is a thread-like structure which gets condensed to form chromosome prior to cell division.	192	-	21	15	161
Peroxisomes and glyoxysomes are different.	Glyoxysome is a type of perioxisome.	-	-	-	-	163
pH of lysosomes and pH of cytoplasm are identical.	pH of lysosomes is acidic when compared with the pH of the cytoplasm.	-	-	-	-	172
Vesicles and Vacuoles are the same.	Vesicles are smaller than vacuoles. Vesicles are capable of adhering to the cell membrane whereas vacuoles do not.	-	-	22	5	163
Vesicles swim in the cytoplasm.	Vesicles move along the cytoskeleton of the cell.	-	-	-	15	173
Mitochondrion creates energy for the cell to function.	Mitochondrion releases energy stored in bio-molecules. Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another.	-	-	-	-	163
WBC show amoeboid movement due to its cell membrane.	Microfilaments in WBCs depolymerise and repolymerise quickly, so that its shape changes and helps in movement.	-	-	-	-	173
Greater the magnification, greater is the resolution of a microscope.	Resolution can never be improved with increased magnification.	-	-	-	10	-
Resolution and wavelength of light are independent.	Shorter the wavelength of light used, greater the resolution of the microscope.	-	-	17	11	-
Total Number (Percentage) of Correct Clarifications Reported in the Textbooks		7 (24.1%)	4 (13.8%)	7 (24.1%)	12 (37.9%)	22(75.8%)

Key: Book 1: ‘Biology Textbook for the Tamil Nadu Board of Higher Secondary Education (TN Board) Grades 11 and 12’, Book 2: ‘Biology Textbook for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Grades 11 and 12’, Book 3: ‘Biology Course Companion for International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP)’, Book 4: ‘Biology Course Book for Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level (AS-A Level)’ and Book 5: ‘Biology for Advanced Placements (AP Board)’.

Table 3. Elements of conceptual change related to the misconception “resolution of light microscopes can be improved by enhancing the design of the light microscope”

Textbook	Element
	Dissatisfaction^1	Intelligibility^2	Plausibility^3	Fruitfulness^4
Book 1	None	Electron Microscope, Components and Types of Microscopes. (Pg: 171–174).	None.	None
Book 2	None	None	None	None
Book 3	Light Microscopes have limited resolution (Pg: 17).	Developments in scientific research follow improvements in apparatus: the invention of electron microscopes. (Pg: 17–18).	Drawing the ultrastructure of prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells based on electron micrographs. (Pg: 19, Pg: 21–23). Understanding the electron micrograph of liver cell and its cell organelles. (Pg: 23).	Intepreting the electron micrographs to identify organelles and deduce the function of specialized cells (Pg: 25).
Book 4	Light Microscopes: microscopists became frustrated because they realized that no matter how much ever the design of the light microscopes got improved, there was a limit to how much could ever be seen using light. (Pg: 6).	Magnification (Pg: 6), Resolution (Pg:10), Electromagnetic Spectrum (Pg: 11), Electron Microscopy—Transmission Electron Microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope, Viewing specimens with Electron Microscope (Pg: 11–13).	Cell Organelles like Ribosomes, can be viewed using electron microscopes. (Pg: 15).	Ultrastructure of an Animal Cell. (Pg: 13)
Book 5	None	Electron Microscopes. Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopes. (Pg:149).	None	None

Table 4. Elements of conceptual change related to the misconception “dimensions of objects in the microscopic world can never be measured”

Textbook	Element
	Dissatisfaction	Intelligibility	Plausibility	Fruitfulness
Book 1	None	Microscopic Measurements: Ocular Micrometer, Stage Micrometer.	None	None
Book 2	None	None	None	None
Book 3	None	None	None	None
Book 4	Objects in the microscopic world, can be measured using very small units of measurement. These are unfamiliar to people. In cell studies: μ is the Greek letter mu; is the units of measurement. (Pg 6).	Measuring Cells: Eye-piece Graticule and Stage Micrometer. Calculating the magnification of a photograph or image using the formula M = I/A. Where M is magnification, I is Image Size and A is Actual Size. (Pg: 7–8).	Numerical Problem related to application of the magnification formula. Calculating magnification from a scale bar. Worked out example on Calculating the real size of an object from its Magnification (Pg: 8–9)	Exercise numerical Problem on calculation of actual size. (Pg: 24, Question 9).
Book 5	None	None	None	None

Table 5. Elements of conceptual change related to the misconception “exchange of organic molecules between the cell and its environment is a function that depends on cell surface area and not cell volume”

Textbook	Element
	Dissatisfaction	Intelligibility	Plausibility	Fruitfulness
Book 1	None	None	None	None
Book 2	None	None	None	None
Book 3	Limitations on Cell Size (Pg: 9)	Cell Volume, Surface Area, Surface Area to Volume Ratio and its advantages. (Pg 9)	None	None
Book 4	None	None	None	None
Book 5	Small size, in general, is necessary for all cells, whether prokaryotic or eukaryotic. The small size of prokaryotes allows ions and organic molecules that enter them to quickly diffuse to other parts of the cell. This is not the case in eukaryotic cells, which have developed different structural adaptations to enhance intracellular transport. (Pg: 154).	Notice that as a cell increases in size, its surface area-to-volume ratio decreases. When there is insufficient surface area to support a cell’s increasing volume, a cell will either divide or die. The cell on the left has a volume of 1 mm^3 and a surface area of 6 mm^2, with a surface area-to-volume ratio of 6 to 1, whereas the cell on the right has a volume of 8 mm^3 and a surface area of 24 mm^2, with a surface area-to-volume ratio of 3 to 1 (Pg: 155).	A worked out numerical problem providing quantitative justification them significance of cell surface area to volume ratio with respect efficiency of exchange of nutrients and wastes with a cell’s environment. (Pg: 156).	A task that seeks the learner to draw annotated diagram to explain how approximately 300 million alveoli in a human lung increases surface area for gas exchange to the size of a tennis court. (Pg: 156).

Key: Book 1: “Biology Textbook for the Tamil Nadu Board of Higher Secondary Education (TN Board) Grades 11 and 12”, Book 2: “Biology Textbook for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Grades 11 and 12”, Book 3: “Biology Course Companion for International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP)”, Book 4: “Biology Course Book for Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level (AS-A Level)” and Book 5: “Biology for Advanced Placements (AP Board)”.

¹Dissatisfaction—the author exposes the learners to phenomena that the current conceptions cannot explain; ²Intelligibility—the author provides description about the new conception; ³Plausibility—The author provides evidences that the new conception helps to solve problems the old concepts could not; and ⁴Fruitfulness—the author provides examples about the additional application of the new conception.

Table 6. Categorization of the biology textbooks considered in this study

S.No	Name of the Education Board	Grades	Name of the Textbook	Name of the Author(s)	Name of the Publisher	Number of Volumes	Categorization
1.	International Baccalaureate (IB) (previously International Baccalaureate Organization – IBO)	11 and 12	Biology Course Companion	Andrew Allot and David Mindorff	Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom	One	Non-expository with Refutational Characteristics
2.	Cambridge Assessment International Examination (CAIE) (previously Cambridge International Examinations – CIE)	11 and 12	Biology Course Book	Mary Jones, Richard Fosbery, Jennifer Gregory, Dennis Taylor	Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom	One	Non-expository with Refutational Characteristics
3.	Advanced Placements (AP) – The College Board	11 and 12	Biology for Advanced Placements	Julianne Zedalis, John Eggebrech	Open Stax, Rice University, Houston, Texas	One	Non-expository with Adequate Refutational Characteristics
4.	Central Board of Secondary Education, India (CBSE)	11 and 12	Biology Textbook for Class XI	NCERT Team of writers	NCERT, New Delhi, India	Two	Expository with Non-Encyclopedic Coverage
			Biology Textbook for Class XII
5.	Tamil Nadu State Board of Education (TN)	11 and 12	Biology – Botany for Higher Secondary First Year	SCERT Team of writers	SCERT, Tamil Nadu, India	Two
							Expository with Encyclopedic Coverage
			Biology – Zoology for Higher Secondary First Year
			Biology – Botany for Higher Secondary Second Year			Two
			Biology – Zoology for Higher Secondary Second Year