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UCARE: Undergraduate Creative Activities &
Research Experiences
Spring 5-6-2016
Establishing Students’ Abilities to Reason with
Relationships in the Context of Cellular
Respiration
Sinan F. Akkoseoglu
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected]
Joseph Dauer
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Heather E. Bergan-Roller
University of Nebraska‐Lincoln
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Akkoseoglu, Sinan F.; Dauer, Joseph; and Bergan-Roller, Heather E., "Establishing Students’ Abilities to Reason with Relationships in
the Context of Cellular Respiration" (2016). UCARE Research Products. 81.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ucareresearch/81
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EstablishingStudents’AbilitiestoReasonwithRelationshipsinthe
ContextofCellularRespiration
SinanAkkoseoglu,HeatherBergan-Roller&JoeDauer
DepartmentofNaturalResources,UniversityofNebraska-Lincoln
Introduction
Results
Results
Recentstudiesshowthatadultstodaylackthecriticalproblemsolvingskillsand
knowledgeneededforthescience,technology,mathematics,andengineering
fields1.Inresponse,educators,especiallythoseinthelifesciences,arebeingurged
toequipstudentswiththeskillsassociatedwiththescientificinquiryprocess,which
includesasystemsthinkingapproach2.
Inputs
Glycolysis
Method
ConceptualModels
DuringtheirLIFE120laboratorysections,allstudentswereinstructedtorepresent
theirunderstandingofcellularrespirationthroughthecreationofaconceptual
model(Fig1).Studentsweregivenalistof20relevantterms.Studentswere
permittedtoaddcomponentsnotlistedinthecomponentbank.
DataProcessing
633studentconsentedtothisresearch(IRB#14466).18studentmodelswere
randomlyselectedanddigitizedusingCmapToolsandprocessedastextpropositions
inexcel.Classroomobservationswereusedtodeterminestructuresand
relationshipsthatwereinputsandoutputstothe3processes.Anexamplecanbe
seenin(Fig2)withO2 asanoutputoftheelectrontransportchain.Theinputsand
outputsforeachprocesswerescoredwithacorrectnessrubric.
Correctness
Thecorrectnessrubricusedhadascalefrom1-3.Thescorefromthescale
representedrelationshipsthatwere:
1– Incorrect
2– Plausiblebuttoovague
3– Scientificallyaccurate
Figure2.Exampleofstudentmadeconceptualmodel
ATP
NADH
Pyruvate
FADH2
Water
FADH2
NADH
ATP
FAD+
CO2
NAD+
Conclusions&Discussion
B)
A)
#Outputs/Model
2
1
0
Glycolysis
KrebsCycle
Electron
Transport
Chain
2
1
0
Glycolysis
KrebsCycle
Electron
Transport
Chain
Figure3.Themeannumberofinputs(A)andoutputs(B)includedinmodels
• Studentsdidnotincludedifferentnumbersofinputoroutputs(p>0.05)when
describingglycolysis,Krebscycleandtheelectrontransport
• Studentshadabout1inputandmorethan1outputperprocess
Average
Correctness
Howdostudentsreasonwiththethreemainprocessesofcellular
respiration?
NADH
AcetylCoA
Table1.Inputsandoutputsthatwereincludedby>2students
• Studentsincluded3-4differentoutputsforeachprocessofcellularrespiration
• Studentsincluded3inputsforglycolysisandelectrontransportchainand1for
Krebscycle
• Thecommoninputsandoutputareaccurate,buttherearemissingcomponents
(e.g,FAD+asinputforKrebscycle).
• 61%ofstudentsdidnotincludeaninputoroutputtoglycolysis
#Inputs/Model
ResearchQuestion
ATP
ADP
Glucose
Figure1.Anexampleofasimplerelationshipstudentsshouldhavemastered.
Cellularrespirationcanbeconsideredamodeltopiccoveredinmostintroductory
levelclasses.ThisstudyaimstoestablishthelevelatwhichUniversityofNebraskaLincolnstudentsreasonwithsimplerelationshipsinthecontextofcellular
respirationatthelevelsofglycolysis,Krebscycle,andelectrontransportchain.
Studentsaregenerallytaughtthese3processesinorderandmayhavereceived
differentlevelsofemphasisontheprocesses.Theseprocessesarecomponent
processesofcellularrespirationandeachhasmultipleinputsandoutputs.Cellular
Respirationcontributestohowalllivingorganismsconvertfoodsourcessuchas
glucoseintousableenergyandisanecessaryfoundationtootherbiologicaltopics
suchasbiochemistry,thereforeitiscriticalforstudentstounderstandhowitworks
totrulyknowbiology.
Electrons
Glycolysis
Krebs
Cycle
ATP
Pyruvate
Glycolysis
Krebs
Cycle
Electron
Transport
Chain
Electron
Transport
Chain
Theabilitytocomprehendsimplerelationshipsbetweenoramongthesystem’s
componentsisoneofeightcharacteristicabilitiesintheSystemThinkingHierarchical
Model(STH)Model3.Therefore,itisexpectedthatreasoningwithsimple
relationshipsisanabilitythatshouldbemasteredbyintroductorybiologicalscience
students.
resultsin
Outputs
3
ab
a
b
Althoughstudentsincludedonly1inputandoutputforeachprocess(Fig3),there
aremorethatexistforeachprocess(Table1).Fromthecomponentbank,students
shouldhavehadbetween3-4inputsandoutputsforeachprocess.Still,outofthe
relationshipsstudentsincludedintheirconceptualmodels,theyarefairlyaccurate
withtheonesrelatedtotheelectrontransportchainbeingmoreaccuratethanthe
Krebscycle,andrelationshipsassociatedwithglycolysisintermediatetotheother
twoprocesses.
Allthreemainprocessesareessentialtotheunderstandingofcellularrespirationas
awhole.Ifstudentsarenotreasoningwithallofthesmallercomponentsatahigh
level,thentheyneedtodeveloptheirskillsbeforetheycanconsiderthesystem
holistically.Adifferentapproachthatimprovesstudent’ssystemthinkingskills
shouldbeconsidered.Forexample,computationalmodelingisoneapproachthat
hasbeenrecentlyinvestigated4.Itcanhelpstudentsbetterunderstandthe
components,relationships,andprocessesofbiologicalsystemslikecellular
respiration.
Acknowledgments
2
1
Glycolysis
KrebsCycle
Electron
Transport
Chain
Figure4.AveragecorrectnessofrelationshipsconnectedtoGlycolysis,Krebscycle
and,ETC
• RelationshipsassociatedwithKrebscycleweresignificantlylowerquality(2.3)
thanrelationshipsassociatedwithETC(2.7,p<0.04)
• Relationshipsassociatedwithglycolysiswereintermediateinquality(2.5)
I wouldliketothankSteveHarrisandJohnOstermanforallowingmetoobserve
theirclassrooms. NathanNiosco,McKenzieKjose,TaylorUhlir,Alena
Chisstopolskaia,ShirleyKalaa fortheirhelpatlabmeetings.Thisprojectwasfunded
byagenerousgrantfromtheUCAREprogramattheUniversityofNebraska-Lincoln.
References
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eb2aa644b5d4]
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2 http://visionandchange.org/files/2011/03/VC-Brochure-V6-3.pdf
3
Assaraf,O.B.-Z.,&Orion,N.(2010).Systemthinkingskillsattheelementaryschoollevel. JournalofResearchinScience
Teaching,47(5),540-563.
AAAS.“VisionandChangeinUndergraduateBiologyEducation:ACalltoAction,”2011.
4 HelikarT,Cutucache CE,Dahlquist
LM,Herek TA,LarsonJJ,RogersJA(2015)Integrating InteractiveComputational Modeling
inBiology Curricula.PLoS Comput Biol 11(3):e1004131.doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004131