All of these instruments are available from the project staff. If you are interested in using them, please let us know; we would like to be able to share data with others and continue to improve the instruments. Contact Daniel Udovic (udovic@oregon.uoregon.edu) for more information, or request copies in print or on disk.
These tests are a combination of multiple-choice and short answer; we generally do not ask a multiple choice question without requiring a written justification.
The Workshop Biology Testbank includes all concept and scientific reasoning items (see below).
15. On a trip to the South American rain forest, you have discovered a new species of flower. Some of the flowers are bright orange, others are dark purple. You want to determine how color is inherited in these flowers so you can publish a scientific paper and become famous. You hypothesize that orange is dominant. You take a purple flower and an orange flower and breed them; the offspring are all orange.
Do these results support or contradict your hypothesis?
You decide you need more information. You repeat your experiment by taking two different flowers from your original sample, one purple and one orange, and breed them together. Of the 40 offspring, 22 are purple and 18 are orange. Do these results support or contradict your hypothesis?
Could this second experiment have been improved? If so, how?
Winter: Physiology and Development
5. An example of a positive feedback loop occurs toward the end of human pregnancy and involves the uterus (the muscular bag holding the baby), the cervix (the opening to the uterus), the hypothalamus & pituitary gland, and the hormone oxytocin. During this positive feedback loop, the uterus contracts, pressing the baby's head against the cervix. Stretch receptors in the cervix send a signal to the hypothalamus, which causes the release of oxytocin from the pituitary gland. Oxytocin completes the positive feedback loop by
Explain why the other answers are wrong.
4. Stomata are pores in leaves that are responsible for allowing air to penetrate the leaf, but at the same time allow water to escape. It is thus most beneficial for a leaf to have just enough stomata to get enough carbon dioxide, but not so many as to lose too much water.
Botanists have observed that pressed and preserved leaves from trees that lived two hundred years ago, before the industrial revolution, have consistently more stomata than leaves of trees today. Modern leaves actually have the same number when they first unfold, and then lose a number of their stomata as they grow. Scientists believe that this phenomenon occurs because there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now; thus, leaves don't need as many stomata.
Is this an example of natural selection? Why or why not?
Many of these items were chosen from Analytical Problems in Biology (Donovan and Allen, Burgess Publishing, 1983). The Workshop Biology Testbank includes all concept and scientific reasoning items.
5. A biologist investigated plants' bending response to light. She made the hypothesis that the plant tip somehow senses the direction of the light source. She covered the tips of growing plants with a black cap. These plants did not bend toward a light source, but plants with tips uncovered did bend. She concluded that these results supported her hypothesis. Suppose she repeated this experiment 10 times and every time observed the same results. These repetitions:
6. Which of the following assumptions was the scientist in the previous question likely making?
7. The biologist in the previous two questions later decided that she had not used adequate controls in her experiment. Which of the following would be the best control?
Several of these items were developed as part of the Worlds-in-Science Discourse Orientation Measure (WISDOM), Arnold Kozak, SUNY-Buffalo.
9. Some scientists believe that a "greenhouse effect," caused by increasing concentrations of gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere, will cause a global warming that could have devastating effects on Earth's climate. Of these scientists, there are varying opinions as to how severe the effects will be, and how long they will take to develop; other scientists don't believe that any problems will occur at all. Scientists working in this area share the same experimental data, but are reaching different conclusions. Which of the following statements best matches your view of how these differences of opinion are likely to be resolved?
Explain your answer, if you wish, or answer differently if none of the above choices describes your viewpoint:
40-item Likert-format with 5 scales. Reliability (Cronbach a) for the 1992-93 administration was 0.89.
32. People need to understand the nature of science because it has such a great effect upon their lives.
35. I would rather spend my school time learning something more useful than science.
8. The kinds of skills needed by students in a science class are not that different from those needed in other classes.
5. Science deals mostly with facts and figures; when language is used, it tends to be complex jargon. Therefore, good writing ability is not necessary in a science class.
31. If I were interested in areas of science other than ones learned in class, I would be able to learn more on my own.
6. Even when a science class is interesting and the teacher tries to help me, I don't learn very quickly, and often get discouraged.
15 Likert-format items. We have modified this instrument slightly from its published form by changing from a 7-point scale to a 5-point scale. Rate the importance of each of the following capabilities to the scientifically literate college graduate.
A. Pose a question that can be addressed by the scientific method, e.g. state a hypothesis.
B. Provide a scientific explanation for a natural process, e.g. photosynthesis, digestion, combustion.
C. Assess the appropriateness of the methodology of an experiment.
D. Read and understand articles on science in the newspaper.
E. Read and interpret graphs displaying scientific information.
F. Believe that scientific knowledge is worth pursuing even if it never yields practical benefits.
G. Define basic scientific terms, e.g. DNA, molecule, electricity.
Additional examples of course evaluations are available from the project staff.
This type of course evaluation is a good way to find out how much students think they've learned, in addition to your assessment of how much they've learned (using concept tests, etc.). How much they think they've learned can relate to how much they value what they've learned. The second set of questions addresses how important they think these goals are, also an important aspect of students' values.
| How has this course affected your learning? 1=not important 5=very important This course has: |
|||||
| helped me see how science is relevant to my life | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| improved my knowledge of biology | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| improved my understanding of how science works | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| improved my critical thinking and reasoning abilities | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| How important is it that an introductory biology course address each of the following? | |||||
| Learning biological concepts | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Exploring how science is relevant to real life | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Improving critical thinking and reasoning abilities | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Learning how science works, and what scientists do | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Back to Assessment Methods
