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The Genetics Concept Assessment: a new concept inventory for gauging student understanding of genetics.

ABSTRACT: We have designed, developed, and validated a 25-question Genetics Concept Assessment (GCA) to test achievement of nine broad learning goals in majors and nonmajors undergraduate genetics courses. Written in everyday language with minimal jargon, the GCA is intended for use as a pre- and posttest to measure student learning gains. The assessment was reviewed by genetics experts, validated by student interviews, and taken by >600 students at three institutions. Normalized learning gains on the GCA were positively correlated with averaged exam scores, suggesting that the GCA measures understanding of topics relevant to instructors. Statistical analysis of our results shows that differences in the item difficulty and item discrimination index values between different questions on pre- and posttests can be used to distinguish between concepts that are well or poorly learned during a course.

SUBMITTER: Smith MK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2592048 | biostudies-literature | 2008

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Genetics Concept Assessment: a new concept inventory for gauging student understanding of genetics.

Smith Michelle K MK Wood William B WB Knight Jennifer K JK Knight Jennifer K JK

CBE life sciences education 20080101 4

We have designed, developed, and validated a 25-question Genetics Concept Assessment (GCA) to test achievement of nine broad learning goals in majors and nonmajors undergraduate genetics courses. Written in everyday language with minimal jargon, the GCA is intended for use as a pre- and posttest to measure student learning gains. The assessment was reviewed by genetics experts, validated by student interviews, and taken by >600 students at three institutions. Normalized learning gains on the GCA ...[more]

PMID: 19047428

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