Prospective science teachers are good at which of? Algorithmic, conceptual and graphical questions

ABSTRACT

Background

A wide variety of studies compared three types of tests (conceptual-algorithmic-graphical) for chemistry and physics topics. However, there have been few studies for the biology topics. To fill in the gap in the literature, the study presented here was organized.

Purpose

The aim of the study was to compare prospective science teachers’ (PSTs) performances amongst conceptual, algorithmic and graphical questions tests about ‘molecular biology and genetics’ topic.

Sample

A total 200 Turkish PSTs whose ages ranged from 18 to 20 years participated in this study.

Design and methods

In order to compare PSTs’ performance on each type of three tests, algorithmic, conceptual and graphical tests consisting of ten items were utilized. PSTs’ performance in each test was analyzed statistically.

Results

The overall evaluation of PSTs’ performance on the three types of tests displayed that they had significantly the worst performance on graphical test among all types of three tests. Also, there was no significant difference between PSTs’ performance on the conceptual and algorithmic test.

Conclusion

From the results, it was suggested that PSTs’ graphical skills should be enhanced to promote understanding of molecular biology and genetics. To achieve this, computer-based instruction and instructional strategies should be used.

KEYWORDS:

• Conceptual understanding
• algorithmic understanding
• graphical understanding
• molecular biology and genetics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval and consent to participate

All PSTs were informed about the study in detail and voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. The opinions expressed in this study are solely the opinions of the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was not supported any funders