Engaging Undergraduate Biology Students in Scientific Modeling: Analysis of Group Interactions, Sense-Making, and Justification.

ABSTRACT: National calls for improving science education (e.g., Vision and Change) emphasize the need to learn disciplinary core ideas through scientific practices. To address this need, we engaged small groups of students in developing diagrammatic models within two (one large-enrollment and one medium-enrollment) undergraduate introductory biology courses. During these activities, students developed scientific models of biological phenomena such as enhanced growth in genetically modified fish. To investigate whether undergraduate students productively engaged in scientific practices during these modeling activities, we recorded groups of students as they developed models and examined three characteristics: how students 1) interacted with one another, 2) made sense of phenomena, and 3) justified th

SUBMITTER: Bierema AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5749970 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature