What Student Attributes Influence Conceptual Change in Undergraduate Biology?

• In Event: 66.080 - Science Teaching and Learning SIG Paper Session: Undergraduate Focus

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify student attributes that influence conceptual change and to explain the relationships that are important in the process of conceptual change. Latent path analyses are used to investigate the relative contributions of formal reasoning ability, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation on post-instruction conceptual knowledge of evolution by natural selection, controlling for pre-instruction knowledge. For introductory biology students at six post-secondary institutions, formal reasoning ability is both a direct and indirect predictor of conceptual change. Formal reasoning ability is the primary student attribute that explains post-instruction conceptual knowledge, given prior knowledge. Formal reasoning ability predicts self-efficacy, which in terms predicts students’ intrinsic motivation. A weak relationship exists between intrinsic motivation and post-instruction understanding.

Author

• Romola Bernard, University of Montana Western