Joseph A. Brobst & Eric M. Eslinger
School of Education, University of Delaware
Research Question / Hypothesis
 RQ: How does the use of Meta-Content IFAs by middle
school science teachers during a software-based
inquiry unit influence students’ developing knowledge
of basic genetics and inheritance concepts?
 RH: Students engaged in Meta-Content IFAs will
demonstrate stronger, more sophisticated
understandings on an end-of unit test of genetics &
inheritance concepts.
Study Context / Participants
 Private, university-affiliated school for students with
identified learning disabilities
 Two classroom teachers, one reading specialist
 12 students per classroom
 “grades” 5-6; 7-8
 Students worked in pairs on laptop computers
 Genetics curriculum incorporated into Inquiry Island
software program
Data Sources
 Ubiquitous Data Collection
 Webcam video captured via Inquiry Island software
 Student-teacher IFA interactions were transcribed
 Allele Model Worksheet
 Post-assessment of genetics content knowledge
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Identification of dominant & recessive alleles based on
inheritance patterns
Interpretation of sample genetic crosses
Design of test crosses to determine status of novel alleles
Informal Formative Assessment Types Identified
 Mechanical
Spelling, grammar, sentence structure
“Might want to put a period in there.”
 Procedural
Organization, following directions, staying on task
“These actually go in the evaluate section. You might want to move
that stuff.”
 Content
Checking understanding of scientific concepts & vocabulary
“What was different about this dark green cross compared to the first
one?”
 Meta-Content
Prompting students to reflect & elaborate on their understandings
“How do you know?”; “Isn’t that a better question?”
Case Study Selection
 “Ms. Green’s” classroom
 Significantly more IFA interactions identified vs. other
teacher (n = 91 versus n = 69)
 More IFA interactions were Meta-Content in nature
 Significant variation in student understandings of
genetics concepts as demonstrated on Allele Model
Worksheet
 Variations found in:
 Students’ ability to use patterns of inheritance to identify
dominant & recessive alleles
 Students’ ability to define dominant & recessive in scientific
rather than everyday terminology
 Students’ ability to design & interpret crosses to determine if
a newly presented allele is dominant or recessive
 Effects of Meta-Content IFAs on students’ Allele Model
Worksheet performance
Findings
 Examples of Strong Student Understandings
 Identifying dominant & recessive alleles from inheritance patterns:
“I think dark green is dominant because no matter what way you
crossed it in the first generation you got dark green.”
 Defining dominant & recessive in scientific terms:
“It means dark green overrules light green. Recessive means
receding and dominant means that’s the one you’re going to
have.”
 Designing & interpreting crosses
“I would pollinate the purple stemmed plant with the green stemmed plant
and when I get a seed I would plant it and see what color the offspring were.
If the offspring are purple I would know that the purple is dominant, if the
offspring are green I would know the green is dominant.”
Findings
 Examples of Student Misunderstandings / Misconceptions
 Identifying dominant & recessive alleles from inheritance patterns:
“The dark green allele is dominant because when we crossed dark and
light green Brassica rapa, dark green was dominant light green was
recessive.”
 Defining dominant & recessive in scientific terms:
“It means that the dark green has more power and the light green does
not have that much power as the dark green.”
 Designing & interpreting crosses
“I could figure out if it was dominant or recessive by testing to see what its
parents’ color leaves were and that would give me some information but not
enough. I would also test to see what color its grandparents were; if that gives
me a lot of information I would probably figure out that the purple stem
trait was recessive.”
 Effects of Meta-Content IFAs:
 Prompted students to discuss ideas, establish a
consensus view or conclusion, then record it in their
Inquiry Island notebooks
 Beneficial when they included checks of students’ ideas /
conclusions for scientific accuracy & justifiability
 Could foster student misunderstandings /
misconceptions if:
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Emphasis was just on getting ideas recorded and moving on
No check for appropriateness of students’ ideas / conclusions
Future Work
 Investigate IFA usage in a second iteration of the same genetics curriculum
 Use combination of UDC & stimulated recall interviews to determine factors
leading to teachers’ differential usage of IFAs with different students
Acknowledgments
NARST
University of Delaware Office of Graduate & Professional Education
Teachers, staff, & students of TCS
For insight regarding this presentation: Eric Eslinger, Nicole DiGironimo,
Bridget Brennan
 For help with physical arrangement of the poster: Jennifer Brobst, Erin Brobst
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Contact Information
 E-mail: joebro@udel.edu
 Paper URL: http://udel.edu/~joebro/narst2010.pdf