Development of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology

ABSTRACT Making inferences and reasoning with new scientific information is critical for successful performance in biology coursework. Thus, identifying students who are weak in these skills could allow the early provision of additional support and course placement recommendations to help students d...

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Autores principales:	Jennifer G. Cromley, Ting Dai, Tia S. Fechter, Frank E. Nelson, Martin Van Boekel, Yang Du
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2021
Materias:	inference deductive reasoning biology assessment measure Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6f6d51523e724ff48364c53b9ca060ed
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6f6d51523e724ff48364c53b9ca060ed2021-11-15T15:04:51ZDevelopment of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology10.1128/jmbe.00159-211935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/6f6d51523e724ff48364c53b9ca060ed2021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00159-21https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885ABSTRACT Making inferences and reasoning with new scientific information is critical for successful performance in biology coursework. Thus, identifying students who are weak in these skills could allow the early provision of additional support and course placement recommendations to help students develop their reasoning abilities, leading to better performance and less attrition within biology courses. Researchers across universities partnered to develop a measure to assess students’ inference-making abilities in biology. We describe the development of the inference-making and reasoning in biology assessment (IMRB). The IMRB is a 15-item multiple-choice assessment that uses short paragraphs of content—from the most-used textbook—taught at the end of a semester of survey biology courses designed for science majors. Based on our research, when the IMRB is conducted at the beginning of a semester, it measures deductive reasoning with new biology information, is fair across various student groups, and is reliable. The IMRB can be used with or without SAT or ACT scores to place students into regular undergraduate introductory biology courses, to predict grades in such courses, and/or to identify students who may need extra support or remediation in reasoning with new biology information. The IMRB is available free of charge to interested faculty and researchers.Jennifer G. CromleyTing DaiTia S. FechterFrank E. NelsonMartin Van BoekelYang DuAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleinferencedeductivereasoningbiologyassessmentmeasureSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 22, Iss 2 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	inference deductive reasoning biology assessment measure Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	inference deductive reasoning biology assessment measure Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Jennifer G. Cromley Ting Dai Tia S. Fechter Frank E. Nelson Martin Van Boekel Yang Du Development of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology
description	ABSTRACT Making inferences and reasoning with new scientific information is critical for successful performance in biology coursework. Thus, identifying students who are weak in these skills could allow the early provision of additional support and course placement recommendations to help students develop their reasoning abilities, leading to better performance and less attrition within biology courses. Researchers across universities partnered to develop a measure to assess students’ inference-making abilities in biology. We describe the development of the inference-making and reasoning in biology assessment (IMRB). The IMRB is a 15-item multiple-choice assessment that uses short paragraphs of content—from the most-used textbook—taught at the end of a semester of survey biology courses designed for science majors. Based on our research, when the IMRB is conducted at the beginning of a semester, it measures deductive reasoning with new biology information, is fair across various student groups, and is reliable. The IMRB can be used with or without SAT or ACT scores to place students into regular undergraduate introductory biology courses, to predict grades in such courses, and/or to identify students who may need extra support or remediation in reasoning with new biology information. The IMRB is available free of charge to interested faculty and researchers.
format	article
author	Jennifer G. Cromley Ting Dai Tia S. Fechter Frank E. Nelson Martin Van Boekel Yang Du
author_facet	Jennifer G. Cromley Ting Dai Tia S. Fechter Frank E. Nelson Martin Van Boekel Yang Du
author_sort	Jennifer G. Cromley
title	Development of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology
title_short	Development of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology
title_full	Development of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology
title_fullStr	Development of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology
title_full_unstemmed	Development of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology
title_sort	development of a tool to assess inference-making and reasoning in biology
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6f6d51523e724ff48364c53b9ca060ed
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Development of a Tool to Assess Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology

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