Undergraduate Biology Lecture Courses Predominantly Test Facts about Science Rather than Scientific Practices.

ABSTRACT: Scientific practices are the skills used to develop scientific knowledge and are essential for careers in science. Despite calls from education and government agencies to cultivate scientific practices, there remains little evidence of how often students are asked to apply them in undergraduate courses. We analyzed exams from biology courses at 100 institutions across the United States and found that only 7% of exam questions addressed a scientific practice and that 32% of biology exams did not test any scientific practices. The low occurrence of scientific practices on exams signals that undergraduate courses may not be integrating foundational scientific skills throughout their curriculum in the manner envisioned by recent national frameworks. Although there were few scientific practices

SUBMITTER: Uminski C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11235112 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature