Assessing the Load: Effects of Visual Representation and Task Features on Exam Performance in Undergraduate Molecular Life Sciences

Autor/inn/en	Arneson, Jessie B.; Offerdahl, Erika G.
Titel	Assessing the Load: Effects of Visual Representation and Task Features on Exam Performance in Undergraduate Molecular Life Sciences
Quelle	In: Research in Science Education, 53 (2023) 2, S.319-335 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Arneson, Jessie B.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0157-244X
DOI	10.1007/s11165-022-10057-7
Schlagwörter	Educational Change; STEM Education; Science Tests; Science Achievement; Molecular Biology; Science Instruction; Schemata (Cognition); Interdisciplinary Approach; Concept Formation; Cognitive Ability; Visual Aids; Comparative Analysis; Undergraduate Students; Short Term Memory; Student Evaluation; Correlation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Bildungsreform; STEM; Molekularbiologie; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Cognition; Schema; Kognition; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Denkfähigkeit; Anschauungsmaterial; Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Schulnote; Studentische Bewertung; Korrelation
Abstract	Current initiatives to transform undergraduate STEM education in the United States advocate for the use of multidimensional learning, wherein instruction provides opportunities for students to gain competency with fundamental or cross-disciplinary concepts and practices. To achieve this goal, the discipline-based education research (DBER) community is drawing on theories and approaches from the cognitive sciences to better understand how instructional choices may influence student cognition and performance. In this study, we investigate the extent to which adding visual representation to exam questions may alter the cognitive demand placed on the learner, thereby affecting exam performance. Exam questions were crafted in pairs -- one form embedded some necessary information within a visual representation, while the other comprised only text -- and distributed on exams across an undergraduate molecular life sciences curriculum. Comparison of analogous questions indicates that visual representation does affect performance on most questions; however, the nature of that effect depends on other features (e.g., format, cognitive level) of the task. Adding a visual representation to difficult open-response questions often decreased performance further, while adding a representation to similarly difficult forced-response items was more likely to increase performance. Drawing on cognitive theories of learning, we rationalize how the presence and interactivity of these elements may affect the cognitive load of the task and working memory efficiency. The findings of this study have implications for instructors regarding the design and interpretation of student assessments and call on researchers for deeper investigation of the relationship between student cognition and multidimensional assessments. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01