RESEARCH ARTICLE: First-year pharmacy students’ prior knowledge correlates with study progress and reveals different dynamics of misconceptions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46542/pe.2020.201.94102Keywords:
misconceptions, conceptual change, antibiotic resistance, life science education, higher educationAbstract
The varying levels and quality of students’ prior knowledge pose a challenge for instruction at university. Due to the scarcity of studies in pharmacy, in this study pharmacy students (N=126) prior knowledge of biosciences was measured at the beginning of their first study year using a questionnaire comprising ten multiple choice questions and a case task. The results of multiple-choice and open-ended questions revealed serious gaps and different-level misconceptions in students’ answers partly related to the absence of elementary knowledge. The level of prior knowledge correlated with study progress measured at the end of the first study year. The study’s findings suggest that it is possible to identify students at risk of delayed studies using this kind of relatively light pre-test. Problem-solving tasks such as case descriptions can be used to detect potential misconceptions. The pedagogical implications of these results are discussed.
References
Barak, J., Sheva, B., Gorodetsky, M., & Gurion, B. (1999). As “process” as it can get: students’ understanding of biological processes. International Journal of Science Education, 21(12), 1281–1292. doi: 10.1080/095006999290075
Boshuizen, H.P.A., & Schmidt, H.G. (2008). The development of clinical reasoning expertise: Implications for teaching. In Clinical reasoning in the health professions, (eds. J. Higgs, M. Jones, S. Loftus, & N. Christensen), Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier, 3rd ed., pp. 57–65.
Boshuizen, H.P.A., van de Wiel, M.W.J., & Schmidt, H.G. (2012). What and how advanced medical students learn from reasoning through multiple cases. Instructional Science, 40(5), 755–768.
Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School: Expanded Edition of Sciences. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press.
Branstädter, K., Harms, U., & Groβschedl, J. (2012). Assessing System Thinking Through Different Concept- Mapping Practices. International Journal of Science Education, 34(14), 2147–2170. doi: 10.1080/09500693. 2012.716549
Broughton, S.E., Sinatra, G.M., & Nussbaum E.M. (2013). “Pluto Has Been a Planet My Whole Life!” Emotions, Attitudes, and Conceptual Change in Elementary Students Learning about Pluto’s Reclassification. Research in Science Education, 43(2), 529–550. doi: 10.1007/s11165-011-9274-x
Carey, S. (1985). Conceptual change in childhood. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Carey, S. (2000). Science Education as Conceptual Change. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 21(1), 13–19. doi: 10.1016/S0193-3973(99)00046-5
Chi, M.T.H. (1992). Conceptual change within and across ontological categories: examples from learning and discovery in science. In Cognitive models of science: Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science, (ed. R. Giere), Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 129–186
Chi, M.T.H. (1997). Quantifying qualitative analyses of verbal data: A practical guide. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 6(3), 271–315. doi: 10.1207/ s15327809jls0603_1
Chi, M.T.H. (2005). Commonsense conceptions of emergent processes: Why some misconceptions are robust. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 14(2), 161– 199. doi: 10.1207/s15327809jls1402_1
Chi, M.T.H. (2008). Three types of conceptual change: Belief revision, mental model transformation, and categorical shift. In International handbook of research on conceptual change, (ed. S. Vosniadou), New York: Routledge, pp. 61–82
Chi, M.T.H. (2013). Two kinds and four sub-types of misconceived knowledge, ways to change it, and the learning outcomes. In International handbook of research on conceptual change, (ed. S. Vosniadou), New York: Routledge, 2nd ed., pp. 49–70
Chi, M.T.H., Chiu, M.-H., & deLeeuw, N. (1991). Learning in a non-physical science domain: The human circulatory system. Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh University Learning Research and Development Center
Chi, M.T.H., & Roscoe, R.D. (2002). The process and challenges of conceptual change. In Reconsidering conceptual change: Issues in theory and practice, (eds. M. Limón & L. Mason), Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 3–27
Chinn, C.A., & Brewer, W.F. (1993). The role of anomalous data in knowledge acquisition: a theoretical framework and implications for science instruction. Review of Educational Research, 63(1), 1–49. doi: 10.3102/00346543063001001
Diakidoy, I.A.N., Kendeou, P., & Ioannides, C. (2003). Reading about energy: The effects of text structure in science learning and conceptual change. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28(3), 335–356.doi: 10.1016/ S0361-476X(02)00039-5
diSessa, A.A. (1993). Toward an Epistemology of Physics. Cognition and Instruction, 10(2/3), 105–225. doi: 10.1080/07370008.1985.9649008
Duit, R., & Treagust, D.F. (2003). Conceptual change: A powerful framework for improving science teaching and learning. International Journal of Science Education, 25(6), 671–688. doi: 10.1080/09500690305016
Flaig, M., Simonsmeier, B.A., Mayer, A.-K., Rosman, T., Gorges, J., & Schneider, M. (2018). Conceptual change and knowledge integration as learning processes in higher education: A latent transition analysis. Learning and Individual Differences, 62, 49–61. doi: 10.1016/ j.lindif.2017.12.008
Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S.E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. doi: 10.1177/1049732 305276687
Kim, S.S., Moon, S. & Kim, E.J. (2011). Public Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Antibiotic Use in South Korea. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing, 41(6), 742–749. doi: 10.4040/jkan.2011.41.6.742.
Limón, M. (2001). On the cognitive conflict as an instructional strategy for conceptual change: a critical appraisal. Learning and Instruction, 11(4-5), 357–380. doi: 10.1016/S0959-4752(00)00037-2
Limón, M., & Mason, L. (2002). Prologue. In
Reconsidering conceptual change: Issues in theory and practice, (eds. M. Limón & L. Mason), Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. xv–xx
Lubarsky, S., Dory, V., Audétat, M.C., Custers, E., & Charlin, B. (2015). Using script theory to cultivate illness script formation and clinical reasoning in health professions education. Canadian Medical Education Journal, 6(2), e61–e70
Mason, L. (2001). Responses to anomalous data and theory change. Learning and Instruction, 11(6), 453–483, doi: 10.1016/S0959-4752(00)00042-6
Mayr, E. (1997). This is biology: The science of the living world. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press
Michael, J.A., Richardson, D., Rovick, A., Modell, H., Bruce, D., Horwitz, B., Hudson, M., Silverthorn, D., Whitescarver, S., & Williams, S. (1999). Undergraduate students’ misconceptions about respiratory physiology. Advances in Physiology Education, 277(6/2), 127–135. doi: 10.1152/advances.1999.277.6.S127
Michael, J.A., Wenderoth, M.P., Modell, H.I., Cliff, W., Horwitz, B., McHale, P., Richardson, D., Silverthorn, D., Williams, S., & Whitescarver, S. (2002). Undergraduates’ understanding of cardiovascular phenomena. Advances in Physiology Education, 26(1-4), 72–84. doi: 10.1152/ advan.00002.2002
Oh, A.L., Hassali, M.A., Al-Haddad, M.S., Sulaiman, S.A.S., Shafie, A.A., & Awaisu, A. (2011). Public knowledge and attitudes towards antibiotic usage: a cross-sectional study among the general public in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 5(5), 338–347. doi: 10.3855/jidc. 1502
Plate, R. (2010). Assessing individuals’ understanding of nonlinear causal structures in complex systems. System Dynamics Review, 26(1), 19–33. doi: 10.1002/sdr.432
Posner, G.J., Strike, K.A., Hewson, P.W., & Gertzog, W.A. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change. Science Education, 66(2), 211–227. doi: 10.1002/sce.3730660207
Sanders, M.E. (2008). Probiotics: Definition, Sources, Selection, and Uses. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 46(2), 58-61, doi: 10.1086/523341
Shehadeha, M.B., Suaifana, G.A.R.Y., & Hammad, E.A. (2016). Active educational intervention as a tool to improve safe and appropriate use of antibiotics. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal, 24(5), 611–615. doi: 10.1016/ j.jsps.2015.03.025
Sinatra, G., & Mason, L. (2013). Beyond knowledge: Learner characteristics influencing conceptual change. In International handbook on conceptual change research, (ed. S. Vosniadou), 2nd ed., New York: Routledge, pp. 377–394
Sinatra, G.M., & Pintrich, P.R. (2003). Intentional Conceptual Change. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Södervik, I., Vilppu, H., Österholm, E., & Mikkilä- Erdmann, M. (2017). Medical Students’ Biomedical and Clinical Knowledge: Combining Longitudinal Design, Eye Tracking and Comparison with Residents’ Performance. Learning and Instruction, 52, (139–147). doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.06.002
Södervik, I., Mikkilä-Erdmann, M., & Chi, T.H. (2019). Conceptual change challenges in medicine during professional development. International Journal of Educational Research, 98, 159–170. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer. 2019.07.003
Treagust, D.T., & Duit, R. (2008). Conceptual change: A discussion of theoretical, methodological and practical challenges for science education. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 3, 297–328. doi: 10.1007/ s11422-008-9090-4
Verhoeff, R.P., Waarlo, A.J., & Boersma, K.T. (2008). Systems modelling and the development of coherent understanding of cell biology. International Journal Science Education, 30(4), 543–568. doi: 10.1080/ 09500690701237780
Vosniadou, S. (1994). Capturing and modeling the process of conceptual change. Learning and Instruction, 4(1), 45–69. doi: 10.1016/0959-4752(94)90018-3
Vosniadou, S. (2013). Conceptual change in learning and instruction - The Framework Theory Approach. In International handbook on conceptual change research, (ed. S. Vosniadou), New York: Routledge, 2nd ed., pp. 11–30
Vosniadou, S. & Skopeliti, I. (2005). Developmental shifts in children’s categorization of the earth. In Proceedings of the XXVII Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, (eds. B. G. Bara, L. Barsalou & M. Bucciarelli), Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 2325–2330
WHO [World Health Organisation]. (2015). Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance (online). Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/ 10665/193736/9789241509763_eng.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 8th May, 2019
You, J.H.S., Yau, B., Choi, K.C., Chau, C.T.S., Huang, Q.R., & Lee, S.S. (2008). Public Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior on Antibiotic Use: A Telephone Survey in Hong Kong. Infection, 36(2), 153–157. doi: 10.1007/ s15010-007-7214-5
