The Next Generation Science Standards regard biological structures at both the micro and macro levels as a core idea of life sciences and expect students to understand animals have external structures that perform diverse functions. Using the common creature of bees as a case, this study aimed to ascertain teenage students’ ideas of bees through their visual representations. A total of 73 seventh-grade students aged approximately 13 years from two classes took part in a draw-bee(s) test (DBT), which requests them to create a drawing of a bee or bees. Then their completed drawings were scored against a tentative rubric of bees’ basic external structures. The results highlight that many students hold alternative ideas about bees. Notably, a high number of students fail to depict bees’ external structures scientifically, with some morphological features being most often missing, inaccurately numbered, inappropriately shaped, or disproportionately sized in their drawings. Based on these results, some implications are elucidated for improving students’ understanding of bees in biological teaching.
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April 2024
Research Article|
April 01 2024
Exploring Teenage Students’ Ideas of Bees Through Visual Representations
Daihu Yang,
DAIHU YANG is an associate professor of science education in the Department of Biological Sciences at Hefei Normal University, Hefei 230601, China.
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Minghui Zhou
MINGHUI ZHOU is the corresponding author for this article and is a laboratory associate in the Faculty of Life Sciences at Hefei Normal University, Hefei 230601, China.
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The American Biology Teacher (2024) 86 (4): 219–225.
Citation
Daihu Yang, Minghui Zhou; Exploring Teenage Students’ Ideas of Bees Through Visual Representations. The American Biology Teacher 1 April 2024; 86 (4): 219–225. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2024.86.4.219
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