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Concept Inventory Development Reveals Common Student Misconceptions about Microbiology

Misconceptions, or alternative conceptions, are incorrect understandings that students have incorporated into their prior knowledge. The goal of this study was the identification of misconceptions in microbiology held by undergraduate students upon entry into an introductory, general microbiology co...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Briggs, Amy G., Hughes, Lee E., Brennan, Robert E., Buchner, John, Horak, Rachel E. A., Amburn, D. Sue Katz, McDonald, Ann H., Primm, Todd P., Smith, Ann C., Stevens, Ann M., Yung, Sunny B., Paustian, Timothy D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Society of Microbiology 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5976041/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29854046
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v18i3.1319
Descripción
Sumario:Misconceptions, or alternative conceptions, are incorrect understandings that students have incorporated into their prior knowledge. The goal of this study was the identification of misconceptions in microbiology held by undergraduate students upon entry into an introductory, general microbiology course. This work was the first step in developing a microbiology concept inventory based on the American Society for Microbiology’s Recommended Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology. Responses to true/false (T/F) questions accompanied by written explanations by undergraduate students at a diverse set of institutions were used to reveal misconceptions for fundamental microbiology concepts. These data were analyzed to identify the most difficult core concepts, misalignment between explanations and answer choices, and the most common misconceptions for each core concept. From across the core concepts, nineteen misconception themes found in at least 5% of the coded answers for a given question were identified. The top five misconceptions, with coded responses ranging from 19% to 43% of the explanations, are described, along with suggested classroom interventions. Identification of student misconceptions in microbiology provides a foundation upon which to understand students’ prior knowledge and to design appropriate tools for improving instruction in microbiology.