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A Concept Inventory (CI) is a validated assessment to measure student conceptual understanding of a particular topic. This work presents a CI for Basic Data Structures (BDSI) and the process by which the CI was designed and validated. We discuss: 1) the collection of faculty opinions from diverse institutions on what belongs on the instrument, 2) a series of interviews with students to identify their conceptions and misconceptions of the content, 3) an iterative design process of developing draft questions, conducting interviews with students to ensure the questions on the instrument are interpreted properly, and collecting faculty feedback on the questions themselves, and 4) a statistical evaluation of final versions of the instrument to ensure its internal validity. We also provide initial results from pilot runs of the CI.

To effectively address student misconceptions about microbiology and other foundational science concepts, it is essential to identify these misconceptions, and provide relevant learning activities. Here, we present the results of a recent microbiology education project that involved identifying misconceptions, refining a concept inventory (the Introductory Microbiology Concept Inventory - IMCI), and developing and administering an interrupted case study with a concept map activity. Measures of student learning and perceptions of this activity were obtained. This project also demonstrates how an undergraduate student researcher can be instrumental in a SoTL project. We will share the process we used, and results from this project. How (and which) misconceptions were identified, as well as methods of refinement and validation of the IMCI will be presented. Based on Fall 2018 IMCI results, and aligning with selected American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Curriculum Guidelines, a targeted intervention was constructed to address specific identified student misconceptions. An interrupted problem-based case study was constructed based on real case reports from medical literature, using recommendations from educational literature. The case study incorporated several active learning elements, including a concept map activity, and was used in a Winter 2019 Medical Microbiology course. Learning gains were measured using a subset of the IMCI administrated pre- and post-case study; a student opinion survey examined student perceptions of the activity. We will share quantitative and qualitative data on students’ engagement and learning associated with this case study, and how case studies and concept maps can be used to target science misconceptions.

Online resources can be helpful for students, and augment the learning environments’ content. They may also increase freedom of choice relating to content delivery. A team consisting of four biologists, a graduate student, instructional designer and media developers collaborated on the design, development and evaluation of first year biology open, online tutorials in 2016-2017. The tutorials sought to address knowledge gaps resulting in low success rates and attrition of first year students in biology. Large class sizes, such as first year biology with ~900 registrants annually, with detail-oriented, content-heavy loads, can result in low success rates and attrition. Active learning methods which encourage student engagement in course material can be effective in large classes and in introductory science classes, and we attempt to add engagement with online resources. Tutorial topics were identified by analyzing previous years’ tests, student feedback, and pedagogical research in biology. The top five topics identified as common misconceptions or troublesome concepts within the course were selected. Standard instructional design processes were used to produce high quality online tutorials. Tutorials included learning materials, videos, animations, self-assessments, reflective questions and badges to facilitate deep learning of the topics. Effectiveness of the tutorials was evaluated using a mixed-method, quasi-experimental design to compare the student learning results. A conceptual understanding pre- and post-test approach was used to assess gains in student learning. Additionally, student engagement was measured using the Classroom Survey of Student Engagement (CLASSE), an online survey, and data from learning management system. Results of the study show that the tutorials were an effective means of providing supplementary assistance to students as well as fostering a gain in students’ levels of engagement with the course. Data analysis indicates that there was a significant gain in learning over the previous year (p

Research has demonstrated the positive impact of active learning on students&rsquo, learning outcomes, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, few studies have explored the impact of active learning via problem-based collaborative games in large mathematics classes in the context of Asian tertiary education. This study assesses the effects of active learning on students&rsquo, learning outcomes using class test scores and the calculus concept inventory (CCI) to test the conceptual understanding of the basic principles of differential calculus, in a first year calculus course in Hong Kong. Three hypotheses were tested to determine the effects of game-based collaborative learning on learning mathematics among students. Active learning through a problem-based collaborative learning methodology was employed, using Kahoot!, a game-based learning platform. Results supported all three hypotheses, demonstrating a statistically significant increase in students&rsquo, conceptual understanding and examination performance, based upon their individual perceptions of active engagement and time spent in active learning. Our results indicated that active learning &ldquo, levels the playing field&rdquo, in the sense that students with less pre-requisite background knowledge, using a problem-based collaborative learning methodology, were relatively more inclined to catch up or even exceed the performance of students with a stronger prerequisite background knowledge, at the end of the course.

A misconception is a common misunderstanding that students may have about a specific topic. The identification, documentation, and validation of misconceptions is a long and time-consuming work, usually carried out using iterative cycles of students answering open-ended questionnaires, interviews with instructors and students, exam analysis, and discussion with experts. A comprehensive list of validated misconceptions in some subject can be used to build formal evaluation methods like the Concept Inventory (CI), a multiple-choice questionnaire that is usually performed as pre-post tests in order to assess any change in student understanding. In CS1, validated misconceptions were identified and documented in C and Python programming languages. Although there are studies related to misconceptions in the Java language, these misconceptions lack the formality, comprehensiveness, and robustness of their C and Python counterparts. On this work, we propose a methodology to adapt the validated misconceptions in C and Python to Java. Initially, through the analysis of an initial list of 33 misconceptions in C and 28 in Python, we identified and documented in an antipattern format 31 possible misconceptions in Java. We then developed a final term exam, composed of 7 open-ended questions, in which each question was designed to address some of the misconceptions covered in the course (N=27). Through the analysis of the exams answers (N = 69 students), it was possible to validate 22 of the misconceptions (81%). Also, 6 new misconceptions were identified, leading to a total of 28 valid misconceptions in Java.

Concept inventory tests are used to measure students’ misconception. This article investigated and concludes that the current format of these tests are unable to measure students’ misconceptions since the answers choices do not reflect student lack of prior knowledge, the time lapse between when they learned the subject matter and when they try to recall it, and the conditions through which students construct their knowledge. CIs are better suited as tools to evaluate the effectiveness of pedagogical effectiveness and language in communicating the material to the students.Â

The purpose of this study was to investigate how assessment instruments could be used in the college biology classroom for purposes other than researching instructional strategies (as they have been used in the past). Through participatory action research, a science educator and a biology faculty member examined how the CINS (Concept Inventory of Natural Selection) could be incorporated into the biology faculty member's classroom instruction. This paper shows that biology faculty members can use assessment instruments to build in-class activities and labs, to formatively assess student knowledge, and to confront student misconceptions. Several recommendations for incorporating assessment instruments in biology instruction and assessment are provided.

The design of assessment tools is critical to accurately evaluate students' understanding of chemistry. Although extensive research has been conducted on various aspects of assessment tool design, few studies in chemistry have focused on the impact of the order in which questions are presented to students on the measurement of students' understanding and students' performance. This potential impact has been labeled the question order effect in other literature and may be considered as a threat to the construct validity of the assessment tool. The set of studies described in this article tested whether question order effects were present within a concept inventory on acid-based chemistry. In particular, we tested whether the order of two conceptually isomorphic questions, one pictorial and one verbal, affected students' performance on the concept inventory. Two different versions of the inventory were developed and collected from students enrolled in the second semester of first-year university chemistry courses (general chemistry;N= 774) at two different institutions and to students enrolled in the first semester of organic chemistry (N= 163) at one of the two institutions. Students were further divided in two groups based on their self-reported level of effort in answering the concept inventory. Interviews were also conducted with a total of 19 students at various stages of the studies. Analyses of differences in students' responses to the two versions of the inventory revealed no question order effect in all settings. Implications for instructors and researchers are provided.

Intelligent behavior in everyday contexts may depend on both ability and an individual's disposition toward using that ability. Research into patterns of thinking has identified three logically distinct components necessary for dispositional behavior: ability, inclination, and sensitivity. Surprisingly, sensitivity appears to be the most common bottleneck to achieving quality outcomes. Using global positioning system data taken when field geologists (n = 66) performed a bedrock mapping task, we assess sensitivity to landscape and its relationship to expertise, content knowledge in the discipline, thoroughness of route, and quality of outcome. A discipline-specific concept inventory served as a proxy measure for participant knowledge and ability. Thoroughness in the field served as an indicator of a participant's inclination to employ abilities critical to the success of the task. To assess sensitivity to opportunities in the landscape, we identified relatively small areas frequently visited by ex...

Concept inventory tests are one method to evaluate conceptual understanding and identify possible misconceptions. The multiple-choice question format, offering a choice between a correct selection and common misconceptions, can provide an assessment of students' conceptual understanding in various dimensions. Misconceptions of some engineering concepts exist due to a lack of mental frameworks, or schemas, for these types of concepts or conceptual areas. This study incorporated an open textual response component in a multiple-choice concept inventory test to capture written explanations of students' selections. The study's goal was to identify, through text analysis of student responses, the types and categorizations of concepts in these explanations that had not been uncovered by the distractor selections. The analysis of the textual explanations of a subset of the discrete-time signals and systems concept inventory questions revealed that students have difficulty conceptually explaining several dimensions of signal processing. This contributed to their inability to provide a clear explanation of the underlying concepts, such as mathematical concepts. The methods used in this study evaluate students' understanding of signals and systems concepts through their ability to express understanding in written text. This may present a bias for students with strong written communication skills. This study presents a framework for extracting and identifying the types of concepts students use to express their reasoning when answering conceptual questions.

We have developed and validated a conceptual framework for understanding and teaching organismal homeostasis at the undergraduate level. The resulting homeostasis conceptual framework details critical components and constituent ideas underlying the concept of homeostasis. It has been validated by a broad range of physiology faculty members from community colleges, primarily undergraduate institutions, research universities, and medical schools. In online surveys, faculty members confirmed the relevance of each item in the framework for undergraduate physiology and rated the importance and difficulty of each. The homeostasis conceptual framework was constructed as a guide for teaching and learning of this critical core concept in physiology, and it also paves the way for the development of a concept inventory for homeostasis.

Deposit the VOR in a repository in compliance with university or funder requirements 12 months after publication by AIP Publishing.

As part of a campus-wide effort to transform introductory science courses to be more engaging and more accurately convey the excitement of discovery in science, the curriculum of an introductory physical geology lab course was redesigned. What had been a series of “cookbook” lab activities was transformed into a sequence of activities based on scientific inquiry and cooperative learning. The first two semesters were spent developing and implementing the new lab activities, and two more semesters were spent refining them. In the second semester of each of these two phases, students enrolled in the lab completed a 15-question version of the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI; Libarkin and Anderson, 2005); there were significant improvements from pretest to posttest scores. Student evaluations before and after the reform are not significantly different and overall positive. This paper presents an overview of the lab activities in the new curriculum, a detailed analysis of the type and level of inquir...

Problem-based learning (PBL) is based on a ‘problem based structure’ and may have higher learning efficacy than direct instruction. We quantified PBL on student learning in undergraduate biomechanics. Students (n = 109) at two comprehensive universities in the USA completed the Biomechanics Concept Inventory before and after biomechanics classes that integrated PBL for the seven course topics. Learning increased by 25 ± 14%, which is greater than reported for lecture with low-tech active learning. Eighty-three percent of students “agree(d)” to “strongly agree(d)” PBL was “helpful and effective” at aiding their learning. PBL can be an effective teaching method in undergraduate biomechanics.

Tests serve an important role in computing education, measuring achievement and differentiating between learners with varying knowledge. But tests may have flaws that confuse learners or may be too difficult or easy, making test scores less valid and reliable. We analyzed the Second Computer Science 1 (SCS1) concept inventory, a widely used assessment of introductory computer science (CS1) knowledge, for such flaws. The prior validation study of the SCS1 used Classical Test Theory and was unable to determine whether differences in scores were a result of question properties or learner knowledge. We extended this validation by modeling question difficulty and learner knowledge separately with Item Response Theory (IRT) and performing expert review on problematic questions. We found that three questions measured knowledge that was unrelated to the rest of the SCS1, and four questions were too difficult for our sample of 489 undergrads from two universities.

A partir do estudo de erros frequentes na lógica de programação (Misconceptions) das linguagens C e Python,desenvolveram-se códigos na linguagem Java de forma a detectar novos Misconceptions e a verificar se osencontrados nas linguagens C e Python também ocorrem em Java. Finalmente, elaboraram-se questões a fim de montar um Concept Inventory, um questionário que ajudará a detectar potenciais Misconceptions cometidos por alunos de cursos introdutórios e a reforçar o aprendizado, evitando ao máximo a incidência desses erros.

The "fourth wave" transformed our society into "mobile society" which focuses on cyber-physical systems. It also redirected higher education practices from the traditional classroom setting to e-learning system. The purpose of this action research is to investigate the impact on the use of an interactive application on students' performance and attitude towards chemistry in an Organic Chemistry class. The study was conducted on and confined to first-year BS Food Technology students of the Mariano Marcos State University, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The research problem was identified through the experience of the researcher supported by the literature. An intervention was carried out with the use of an interactive mobile application - Chirality 2, a game-based application designed to teach fundamental concepts of organic chemistry. Stereochemistry Concept Inventory (SCI) and Attitude toward the Subject Chemistry Inventory (ASCIv2) were utilized in the conduct of pre- and post-strategy tests. Students' scores were described using means and standard deviation. Paired t-test was used to determine significant differences between the students' pre-test and post-test scores, both in their examination performance and attitudes. After the intervention, the post-test results revealed a significant improvement in the test scores of students. There was also a significant change in the attitude of the students, both on affective and cognitive sub-dimensions. The significant difference between the pre-test and post-test suggests that interactive mobile application enhances the performance of students and develops students' attitude. Results of the Pearson's correlation showed that there was no significant association between the attitude towards chemistry and achievement of students.

The thesis introduces many examples of outreach activities, primarily from the Czech Republic and other European countries. Various possibilities of measure- ments of factors of their effectivity are discussed in the thesis. The used methods were: literature review, conceptual assessment tests - pre- and post-tests (CCI, PPCI), questionnaires (IMI), data analyses of participants of activities, semi-structured interviews (for validation of concept inventories), and the work also has a glimpse of ethnography because the author has organised outreach activities for ten years. The individual chapters of the work are dedicated to: the overview of outreach activities, research methods, translation of the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI) into Czech, the first steps for developments of the Particle Physics Concept Inven- tory (PPCI), loyalty of participants of competitions, and description of various metrics which can be used for statistical evaluation of events. 1

Despite the importance of tree-thinking and evolutionary trees to biology, no appropriately developed concept inventory exists to measure student understanding of these important concepts. To address this need, we developed a multiple-choice concept inventory consisting of 24 pairs of items, and we provide evidence to support its use among undergraduate students. A set of learning outcomes was developed to guide the creation of the concept inventory. The learning outcomes, student interviews, and student responses were used to develop and revise inventory items. Supporting evidence was gathered from traditional item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, traditional reliability analyses, and comparisons to alternative assessments. Appropriate implementation and utility of the concept inventory are discussed.

For two days in February 2018, 17 cybersecurity educators and professionals from government and industry met in a "hackathon" to refine existing draft multiple-choice test items, and to create new ones, for a Cybersecurity Concept Inventory (CCI) and Cybersecurity Curriculum Assessment (CCA) being developed as part of the Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATS) Project. We report on the results of the CATS Hackathon, discussing the methods we used to develop test items, highlighting the evolution of a sample test item through this process, and offering suggestions to others who may wish to organize similar hackathons. Each test item embodies a scenario, question stem, and five answer choices. During the Hackathon, participants organized into teams to (1) Generate new scenarios and question stems, (2) Extend CCI items into CCA items, and generate new answer choices for new scenarios and stems, and (3) Review and refine draft CCA test items. The CATS Project provides rigorous evidence-based instruments for assessing and evaluating educational practices; these instruments can help identify pedagogies and content that are effective in teaching cybersecurity. The CCI measures how well students understand basic concepts in cybersecurity---especially adversarial thinking---after a first course in the field. The CCA measures how well students understand core concepts after completing a full cybersecurity curriculum., Comment: Submitted to IEEE Secuirty & Privacy

The Mineralogy Concept Inventory (MCI) is a statistically validated 18-question assessment that can be used to measure learning gains in introductory mineralogy courses. Development of the MCI was an iterative process involving expert consultation, student interviews, assessment deployment, and statistical analysis. Experts at the two universities at which the MCI was developed were consulted in detail to identify key concepts in their mineralogy courses. Additional experts who have recently taught introductory mineralogy courses in postsecondary institutions were consulted via an online survey. These experts (n = 75) indicated that, on average, 87% of their total course content is included within the 7 key concepts targeted by the MCI. Think-aloud interviews with students were conducted to generate response options written in student language, providing the greatest chance that students will understand the questions as intended. The validity and reliability of the questions on the MCI were evaluated using Rasch analysis to ensure the assessment includes questions that range from high to low difficulty, that it can distinguish between low- and high-performing students, and that the test is not biased toward any subset of the population.

International audience; In this study we use latent class and distractor analysis as well as qualitative analysis of cognitive interviews to investigate how student responses to concept inventory items may reflect different patterns of algebraic conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Our analysis reveals three groups of students, which we label “similar to random guessing”, “some procedural fluency with key misconceptions”, and “procedural fluency with emergent conceptual understanding”. Student responses also revealed high rates of misconceptions that stem from misuse or misunderstanding of procedures, and whose prevalence correlates with higher levels of procedural fluency.

We describe the development of a new, freely available, online, programmatic-level assessment tool, Measuring Achievement and Progress in Science in Physiology, or Phys-MAPS ( http://cperl.lassp.cornell.edu/bio-maps ). Aligned with the conceptual frameworks of Core Principles of Physiology, and Vision and Change Core Concepts, Phys-MAPS can be used to evaluate student learning of core physiology concepts at multiple time points in an undergraduate physiology program, providing a valuable longitudinal tool to gain insight into student thinking and aid in the data-driven reform of physiology curricula. Phys-MAPS questions have a modified multiple true/false design and were developed using an iterative process, including student interviews and physiology expert review to verify scientific accuracy, appropriateness for physiology majors, and clarity. The final version of Phys-MAPS was tested with 2,600 students across 13 universities, has evidence of reliability, and has no significant statement biases. Over 90% of the physiology experts surveyed agreed that each Phys-MAPS statement was scientifically accurate and relevant to a physiology major. When testing each statement for bias, differential item functioning analysis demonstrated only a small effect size (

Due to poor performance in Statics at Eafit University, since 2012 the Mechanical Engineering department implemented a virtual tool for the training and assessment of Statics course. Although the implementation led to better performance in the Statics course, students were still showing lack of comprehension of the basic concepts underlying the subject. The department applied a Concept Inventory test to 195 students from the second semester of 2017 in order to check if there was a correlation between the grades obtained in the class examinations and the performance in a conceptual test of Statics. The Concept Inventory was applied one week before the final examination and it was held inside the University facilities. The students were monitored all the time. For the course examinations were taken only three out of the four partial exams, they were computed and then compared to the results of the concept inventory. The results show that almost all the students with the highest grades in the class performed above the mean in the Concept Inventory. The overall mean for the conceptual test was 9.27 and the standard deviation was 5.28. The course grades were discriminated by career and an Analysis of Variance was conducted to determine if there were significant differences among the groups. A correlation analysis suggests that there is not a strong correlation between the course grades and the concept inventory results. One possible explanation for this can be due to the fact that the regular teaching method for these kind of basic courses in engineering in the University is merely procedural and problem-solving oriented, conceptual approaches are often neglected in both teaching and assessment.

This Research to Practice Full Paper investigates how student performance during a low-stakes evaluation of conceptual understanding relates to performance during a high stakes evaluation. Concept inventories, like the Dynamics Concept Inventory (DCI), are used to assess student understanding of a specific set of concepts, typically in a low-stakes setting. The DCI was offered for very modest course extra credit at the beginning and end of an introductory dynamics course at a large, research-intensive public university. This represents the low-stakes evaluation. By contrast, a midterm examination administered 12 weeks into the 15 week semester included: 1) a set of short-answer concept questions related to the concepts covered by the DCI and 2) two traditional long-answer problem-solving questions. This midterm examination represents the culmination of student understanding of rigid body dynamics, which is primarily what the DCI covers. It also represents the high-stakes evaluation as this examination strongly influences the students’ final grade in the class. The synergy of the relationships between these three evaluations indicate the low-stakes DCI assessment is a valid measure in quantifying student conceptual understanding.

This Research to Practice Work in Progress Paper presents an exploration of unlearning of practicing civil engineers. Unlearning is a necessary process to keep engineers abreast of ever-changing socio-technical and professional demands by replacing odd knowledge with a new one, which is coherent with their knowledge structures and practice contexts. This paper explores the unlearning of fundamental engineering concepts within 95 practicing civil engineers by investigating their performances on and attitudes towards Statics Concept Inventory. The analysis of their performances on the inventory revealed that many of them did not retain, use, and need this fundamental engineering concept in their practices. It appears that when engineers begin their professional careers, they also start giving up parts of their learned knowledge including many fundamental engineering concepts to acquire new knowledge suitable to their expertise and practice contexts of teams and organizations.

In the current decade understanding conceptual knowledge should be an important area of engineering science. However, it is not as widespread in this field as it is in the areas of education and psychology. Learning conceptual knowledge in engineering science could help instructors to adapt their lectures in order to overcome student misconceptions, to reinforce the learning process, and to check whether students are able to identify key features of a problem. Different methods are provided by authors to assess conceptual knowledge. One is to design and develop a concept inventory with the objective of identifying possible student misconceptions through multiple-choice questions. Another method consists of asking each student to answer a question by submitting a written explanation. This study provides two procedures for the assessment of conceptual knowledge based on the latter method. The first procedure is applied to online computer science students enrolled on an Operating Systems course. The second procedure is applied to online communication students enrolled on a Signals and Systems course. Both procedures are focused not only on assessing but also on searching for causes of potential student misconceptions. These procedures could help other instructors to assess conceptual knowledge on other engineering courses. Universidad a Distancia de Madrid, UDIMA 2018-19

This paper suggests a method for developing, implementing and assessing a concept inventory test for electrical engineering students (CITE). The aim of this test is to help students better understand and learn core concepts, plus increase their awareness about links between the different courses and other themes of the program. Our and other experiences show that students often struggle to understand and use fundamental concepts, and how these relate to the various courses. This issue is probably due to the fact that traditional exams mainly focus on assessing procedural tasks (e.g., directly solving specific problems following step-by-step approaches). The investigated programs at Uppsala University (UU) and Lulea Uni-versity of Technology (LTU), nonetheless, have no tool for collecting quantitative data on how students develop conceptual knowledge throughout the programs, and thus no means to obtain an holistic view about their learning process. The here proposed methodology thus describes how to develop tests that would not only provide students with valuable feedback on their progression, but also equip teachers and program boards with high-end data for pedagogical and course development purposes. Besides illustrating the developmental methodology, the paper includes reactions and remarks from students on what the tests would provide and what would motivate them to take it.

Purpose: Registered nurses and midwives require a degree of genomic literacy if they are to adequately communicate with other healthcare professionals and provide optimal care to patients, their families, and the community. Several studies have been conducted internationally to assess the genomic literacy of nurses; however, the genomic literacy of Australian registered nurses and midwives has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to measure the genomic literacy of Australian registered nurses and midwives through assessing participants’ understandings of genomic concepts most critical to nursing and midwifery practice, as well as their perceived knowledge and attitude towards genomics in nursing and midwifery practice. Design: Cross-sectional survey of Australian registered nurses and midwives using the Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory (GNCI©), a 31 multiple-choice question survey instrument. Participants were recruited via two key Australian nursing and midwifery organizations over an 8-month period in 2016. Methods: Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used to calculate the total GNCI© score and scores on individual subcategories, as well as relationships between demographic variables and GNCI© scores. Findings: Most respondents worked as clinicians (71.4%) in a hospital or hospital-based setting (61.8%). Most registered nurses (80.5%) and midwives (97.2%) reported that genetics was relevant to clinical practice; however, over 80% of registered nurses and midwives believed their knowledge of genetics was poor or average. Genomic knowledge was assessed using the GNCI©. Scores ranged from 3 to 29 (out of a possible 31), with a mean score of 13.3 (SD 4.559) based on 253 (N = 253) respondents, indicating that genomic literacy is low. There was a significant difference between genomic knowledge scores and education and training level (p = .036). Conclusions: The genomic literacy of registered nurses and midwives in Australia is low. More must be done to ensure Australian registered nurses and midwives have an adequate level of genomic literacy to provide optimal care to patients, their families, and the community. Clinical Relevance: Modern medicine requires a healthcare workforce that is literate in genomics. Findings from this study may serve as the catalyst to improve the genomic literacy of the Australian nursing and midwifery workforce, allowing for improved health outcomes for individual and the wider Australian public.

Background We present an analysis of students’ responses to application-based questions on the topic of growth and control of microorganisms, from a questionnaire administered to 348 second and third year students of an Indian university who were enrolled in its undergraduate programs in Biotechnology or Microbiology. We examined aspects of the laboratory practice as reported by teachers and of the university assessment patterns that may explain our findings. Reports by teachers also included their views on the impact of the laboratory curriculum on building student capabilities. Studies such as this play an important role in informing the ongoing discourse in the country about much-needed reforms in undergraduate education. Results Our analysis revealed several lacunae in students’ understanding. Students’ performance on the questionnaire was also found to be poorly correlated with their academic achievement in the university examinations. Teachers’ reports revealed that there was a minimal student involvement in planning and designing of the experiments in their laboratory course; rather, cookbook protocols were commonly used by the students. There was a striking disparity between students’ stated career aspirations and their preparedness for them. Conclusions Our analysis points to underlying issues in the teaching-learning and assessment process; we discuss these issues and possible alternatives to the current practices. This study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first in the country that has explored students’ conceptions for an elementary topic in biology education at the tertiary level. We believe that the results of the study will be useful in shaping the ongoing educational reforms in higher education and will also be useful in developing a concept inventory on this topic.

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] This paper presents the first item response theory (IRT) analysis of the national data set on introductory, general education, college-level astronomy teaching using the Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory (LSCI). We used the difference between students’ pre- and postinstruction IRT-estimated abilities as a measure of learning gain. This analysis provides deeper insights than prior publications both into the LSCI as an instrument and into the effectiveness of teaching and learning in introductory astronomy courses. Our IRT analysis supports the classical test theory findings of prior studies using the LSCI with this population. In particular, we found that students in classes that used active learning strategies at least 25% of the time had average IRT-estimated learning gains that were approximately 1 logit larger than students in classes that spent less time on active learning strategies. We also found that instructors who want their classes to achieve an improvement in abilities of average Δθ=1 logit must spend at least 25% of class time on active learning strategies. However, our analysis also powerfully illustrates the lack of insight into student learning that is revealed by looking at a single measure of learning gain, such as average Δθ. Educators and researchers should also examine the distributions of students’ abilities pre- and postinstruction in order to understand how many students actually achieved an improvement in their abilities and whether or not a majority of students have moved to postabilities significantly greater than the national average.

Background and Purpose:Genomic nursing education requires a genomic literacy assessment supported by evidence of reliability and validity. This study applied psychometric analyses to provide support for the Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory (GNCI).Methods:Over nine semesters, baccalaureate nursing students (N = 1,065) completed the GNCI on the first and last days of genomics instruction. Psychometric analyses assessed scale and item performance pre- and post-instruction.Results:Exploratory factor analysis supported scale unidimensionality and identified items with low pattern coefficients. Analyses supported test–retest and internal consistency reliability and criterion validity. Scale difficulty decreased by 28% from pre- to post-instruction. Underperforming items were identified for further inventory refinement.Conclusions:Findings support use of the GNCI to measure learning needs pre-instruction and learning gains post-instruction. Data also inform planned inventory revision.

In response to empirical evidence and calls for change, individual undergraduate biology instructors are reforming their pedagogical practices. To assess the effectiveness of these reforms, many instructors use course-specific or skill-specific assessments (e.g., concept inventories). We commend our colleagues’ noble efforts, yet we contend that this is only a starting point. In this Perspectives article, we argue that departments need to engage in reform and programmatic assessment to produce graduates who have both subject-matter knowledge and higher-order cognitive skills. We encourage biology education researchers to work collaboratively with content specialists to develop program-level assessments aimed at measuring students’ conceptual understanding and higher-order cognitive skills, and we encourage departments to develop longitudinal plans for monitoring their students’ development of these skills.

Nationwide pre- and posttesting of introductory courses with the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) shows little gain for many of its questions. Analysis of more than 3,500 tests shows that 22 of the 73 GCI questions had gains of

A 14-item, multiple-choice diagnostic assessment tool, the quantum chemistry concept inventory or QCCI, is presented. Items were developed based on published student misconceptions and content coverage and then piloted and used in advanced physical chemistry undergraduate courses. In addition to the instrument itself, data from both a pretest, prior to a semester of instruction, and a post-test, after a semester of instruction, are provided. These data suggest that the QCCI is capable of measuring the variation of student conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics in the context of a physical chemistry course and that the instrument is sensitive to gains in student understanding that result from direct instruction in the topic, even when that instruction has a significant mathematical component as is common for this course.

Background: Genomic nursing education requires an assessment to capture understanding of genetic–genomic concepts that are critical to competent nursing practice. The Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory (GNCI) was designed for that purpose. Advanced psychometric analyses were applied to GNCI responses to assess dimensionality and item and scale functioning and to inform inventory refinement. Method: The 31-item GNCI was administered to baccalaureate nursing students ( N = 758), and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to explore scale dimensionality and construct validity. Item response theory was applied to explore individual item and overall scale functioning. Results: Unidimensionality of the GNCI was supported. Internal consistency reliability was sufficient for the intended use of the scale. Although a few items were identified for review and potential revision, evidence supports GNCI score accuracy across a wide range of genomic knowledge ability. Conclusion: Validity evidence provided support for the use of GNCI scores for the intended purposes. [ J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(1):9–17.]

This study investigated sixth-grade middle-level students' geometric spatial development by gender and race within and between control and experimental groups at two middle schools as they participated in an Earth/Space unit. The control group utilized a regular Earth/Space curriculum and the experimental group used a National Aeronautics and Space Administration-based curriculum. The quantitative data sources included the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory, Geometric Spatial Assessment, and the Purdue Spatial Visualization–Rotation Test. The results indicated the experimental males and females, and the students of color and white students in the experimental group showed significant gains in their understanding of geometric spatial visualization from pre- to post-implementation. However, for the control group, the significant gains were limited to the males and the white students. The findings reveal that support is needed for males, females, and all racial groups to have the opportunity to develop their spatial reasoning, which in turn, increases students' scientific understanding.

Background Concept inventories (CIs) are commonly used in engineering disciplines to assess students' conceptual understanding and to evaluate instruction, but educators often use CIs without sufficient evidence that a structured approach has been applied to validate inferences about student thinking. Purpose We propose an analytic framework for evaluating the validity arguments of CIs. We focus on three types of claims: that CI scores enable one to infer (1) students' overall understanding of all concepts identified in the CI, (2) students' understanding of specific concepts, and (3) students' propensity for misconceptions or common errors. Method We applied our analytic framework to three CIs: the Concept Assessment Tool for Statics (CATS), the Statistics Concept Inventory (SCI), and the Dynamics Concept Inventory (DCI). Results Using our analytic framework, we found varying degrees of support for each type of claim. CATS and DCI analyses indicated that the CIs could reliably measure students' overall understanding of all concepts identified in the CI, whereas SCI analyses provided limited evidence for this claim. Analyses revealed that the CATS could accurately measure students' understanding of specific concepts; analyses for the other two CIs did not support this claim. None of the CI analyses provided evidence that the instruments could reliably measure students' misconceptions and common errors. Conclusions Our analytic framework provides a structure for evaluating CI validity. Engineering educators can apply this framework to evaluate aspects of CI validity and make more warranted uses and interpretations of CI outcome scores.

Recognizing the increasingly integrative nature of the molecular life sciences, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) recommends that Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB) programs develop curricula based on concepts, content, topics, and expected student outcomes, rather than courses. To that end, ASBMB conducted a series of regional workshops to build a BMB Concept Inventory containing validated assessment tools, based on foundational and discipline-specific knowledge and essential skills, for the community to use. A culminating activity, which integrates the educational experience, is often part of undergraduate molecular life science programs. These "capstone" experiences are commonly defined as an attempt to measure student ability to synthesize and integrate acquired knowledge. However, the format, implementation, and approach to outcome assessment of these experiences are quite varied across the nation. Here we report the results of a nation-wide survey on BMB capstone experiences and discuss this in the context of published reports about capstones and the findings of the workshops driving the development of the BMB Concept Inventory. Both the survey results and the published reports reveal that, although capstone practices do vary, certain formats for the experience are used more frequently and similarities in learning objectives were identified. The use of rubrics to measure student learning is also regularly reported, but details about these assessment instruments are sparse in the literature and were not a focus of our survey. Finally, we outline commonalities in the current practice of capstones and suggest the next steps needed to elucidate best practices.

Relationships between sixth grade students' moon journaling and students' spatial-scientific reasoning after implementation of an Earth/Space unit were examined. Teachers used the project-based Realistic Explorations in Astronomical Learning curriculum. We used a regression model to analyze the relationship between the students' Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) post-test score variables and several predictors, including moon journal score, number of moon journal entries, student gender, teacher experience, and pre-test score. The model shows that students who performed better on moon journals, both in terms of overall score and number of entries, tended to score higher on the LPCI. For every 1 point increase in the overall moon journal score, participants scored 0.18 points (out of 20) or nearly 1% point higher on the LPCI post-test when holding constant the effects of the other two predictors. Similarly, students who increased their scores by 1 point in the overall moon journal score scored approxim...

Enzyme-substrate interactions are a fundamental concept of biochemistry that is built upon throughout multiple biochemistry courses. Central to understanding enzyme-substrate interactions is specific knowledge of exactly how an enzyme and substrate interact. Within this narrower topic, students must understand the various binding sites on an enzyme and be able to reason from simplistic lock and key or induced fit models to the more complex energetics model of transition state theory. Learning to understand these many facets of enzyme-substrate interactions and reasoning from multiple models present challenges where students incorrectly make connections between concepts or make no connection at all. This study investigated biochemistry students' understanding of enzyme-substrate interactions through the use of clinical interviews and a national administration (N = 707) of the Enzyme–Substrate Interactions Concept Inventory. Findings include misconceptions regarding the nature of enzyme-substrate interactions, naive ideas about the active site, a lack of energetically driven interactions, and an incomplete understanding of the specificity pocket. © 2015 by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 43(4):213–222, 2015.

A concept inventory is a research-based multiple-choice test that measures a student's knowledge of a set of concepts while also capturing conceptions and misconceptions they may have about the topic under consideration. It can aid educators and researchers in a variety of ways. When administered at both the beginning and end of a course, it measures the amount of knowledge that students gain during the course. For a given student, a concept inventory points out the topics that they need to focus on and can give their instructor specific misconceptions to tackle. For a researcher, concept inventories routinely administered at the end of a course show the effects that different teaching methods have on student understanding. Concept inventories for computer science currently exist for many topics but not for a course on basic data structures, commonly refereed to as Computer Science 2 (CS2). To aid in assessing students' understanding of the material of this core course in the computer science curriculum, we are developing a concept inventory for CS2. We are seeking input from instructors and researchers with knowledge and experience of CS2 (experts) to establish the set of important and challenging topics that are fundamental to a CS2 course, using an iterative consensus-reaching methodology (the Delphi method). These topics will be used to create a concept inventory, which will then undergo validity and reliability checking. Interested members of the SIGCSE community are invited to attend the presentation and consider participating as experts.

We developed an assessment to track changes in understanding about marine primary production, a key concept taught across our undergraduate curriculum. Question content was informed by investigating student misunderstandings, conducting faculty interviews, and mapping primary production concepts to the curriculum. Content questions were paired with questions asking students how confident they were in their answers. Although students gained knowledge of marine primary production across educational levels, confidence data and item analysis indicated student misunderstandings on several concepts. Many students had difficulty on questions that required interpreting graphs or other higher-order thinking skills. The results set the stage for additional focused assessment and curriculum revision, and the questions may be useful in developing a large-scale, interdisciplinary marine sciences concept inventory.

This study aims to build a questionnaire to assess initial statisticalcompetence in university students doing Engineering degrees at an online University (Degrees in Industrial Organization Engineering, Computer Engineering and Engineering of Telecommunications Technologies and Services). The Statistics Concept Inventory (SCI), a multiple-choice questionnaire which assesses understanding of basic statistical concepts, was used to design this questionnaire. Ten of the 38 questions which make up the questionnaire were chosen, those which fit the prior studies of the students and the content of the course to be studied. Applying this questionnaire will allow the prior knowledge of the students to be identified, in order to design didactic methods that will improve understanding of statistical concepts. 2018-19