How Do You Like Your Science, Wet or Dry? How Two Lab Experiences Influence Student Understanding of Science Concepts and Perceptions of Authentic Scientific Practice

This study examines how two kinds of authentic research experiences related to smoking behavior--genotyping human DNA (wet lab) and using a database to test hypotheses about factors that affect smoking behavior (dry lab)--influence students' perceptions and understanding of scientific research...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CBE life sciences education 2017-06, Vol.16 (2), p.ar39
Main Authors: Munn, Maureen, Knuth, Randy, Van Horne, Katie, Shouse, Andrew W, Levias, Sheldon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude
Attitude Change
Biology - education
Comparative Analysis
Focus Groups
Genetics
Genotype
Health Behavior
Humans
Hypothesis Testing
Perception
Pretests Posttests
Research - education
Science Experiments
Science Laboratories
Scientific Concepts
Scientific Research
Secondary School Science
Secondary School Students
Smoking
Student Attitudes
Student Surveys
Students - psychology
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Summary:This study examines how two kinds of authentic research experiences related to smoking behavior--genotyping human DNA (wet lab) and using a database to test hypotheses about factors that affect smoking behavior (dry lab)--influence students' perceptions and understanding of scientific research and related science concepts. The study used pre and post surveys and a focus group protocol to compare students who conducted the research experiences in one of two sequences: genotyping before database and database before genotyping. Students rated the genotyping experiment to be more like real science than the database experiment, in spite of the fact that they associated more scientific tasks with the database experience than genotyping. Independent of the order of completing the labs, students showed gains in their understanding of science concepts after completion of the two experiences. There was little change in students' attitudes toward science pre to post, as measured by the Scientific Attitude Inventory II. However, on the basis of their responses during focus groups, students developed more sophisticated views about the practices and nature of science after they had completed both research experiences, independent of the order in which they experienced them.
ISSN:1931-7913
1931-7913
DOI:10.1187/cbe.16-04-0158