Scaffolding Activities Increase Performance and Lower Frustration with Genotype-to-Evolution Models in Molecular Genetics
-
Author:
Kristy Wilson1
-
Received 07 November 2019 Accepted 15 July 2020 Published 12 November 2020
- ©2020 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology
-
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
-
†Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
- Mailing address: 3200 Cold Spring Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46222. Phone: 317-955-6329. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract:
Conceptual modeling was introduced in molecular genetics so students could integrate topics and apply molecular reasoning and mechanisms to phenotype, inheritance, and population dynamics. Structure Mechanism Relationship Function (SMRF) models were introduced. SMRF models focus on the function of a specified system using structures/nouns in boxes and processes/relationships/verbs on arrows. This SMRF model formatting enables discussion, feedback, and assessment. Scaffolding activities were introduced to provide students with support for modeling and were intended to decrease or prevent students’ frustration, intimidation, and discouragement during the learning process. Comparing a semester without scaffolding activities to semesters with scaffolding results indicate the following benefits: 1) better performance on modeling on first exam, 2) less student resistance towards modeling, and 3) better use of class time. This article has the training activity for SMRF modeling, scaffolding activities, a grading rubric, and selection of adaptable question prompts to make conceptual modeling more accessible to instructors.
References & Citations
Supplemental Material
-
Appendix 1: Training and scaffolding activities, with instructional notes and answer keys, Appendix 2: Semester topics, SMRF modeling questions, and grading criteria
-
MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
-
PDF
2.44 MB
-
PDF
-

Article metrics loading...
Abstract:
Conceptual modeling was introduced in molecular genetics so students could integrate topics and apply molecular reasoning and mechanisms to phenotype, inheritance, and population dynamics. Structure Mechanism Relationship Function (SMRF) models were introduced. SMRF models focus on the function of a specified system using structures/nouns in boxes and processes/relationships/verbs on arrows. This SMRF model formatting enables discussion, feedback, and assessment. Scaffolding activities were introduced to provide students with support for modeling and were intended to decrease or prevent students’ frustration, intimidation, and discouragement during the learning process. Comparing a semester without scaffolding activities to semesters with scaffolding results indicate the following benefits: 1) better performance on modeling on first exam, 2) less student resistance towards modeling, and 3) better use of class time. This article has the training activity for SMRF modeling, scaffolding activities, a grading rubric, and selection of adaptable question prompts to make conceptual modeling more accessible to instructors.

Full text loading...
Author and Article Information
-
Received 07 November 2019 Accepted 15 July 2020 Published 12 November 2020
- ©2020 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology
-
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
-
†Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
- Mailing address: 3200 Cold Spring Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46222. Phone: 317-955-6329. E-mail: [email protected].
Figures

Click to view
FIGURE 1
Example of Exam 1 SMRF model drawn by a student and then digitally transcribed using CmapTools.

Click to view
FIGURE 2
Scaffolding activities increase student performance on SMRF model formatting and inclusion of question context. These data from 2016 (N = 16) and 2017–2019 (N = 20 randomly selected SMRF models each) from Exam 1 were evaluated by the instructor. Data presented in box-and-whisker plot were calculated using GraphPad Prism and the Tukey method of calculation. Statistical significance was calculated in GraphPad using a one-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s multiple-comparison test. The median is represented by the midline, the 25% confidence intervals by the boxes, and ranges of scores by the whiskers. Multiple-comparison test revealed that 2016 vs. 2018 and 2016 vs. 2019 were statistically different.

Click to view
FIGURE 3
Scaffolding activities are rated as effective and may decrease student-perceived difficulty of modeling. (A and B) Data from 2020 immediately following administration of exam 1 (N = 42). (A) Student-rated effectiveness of scaffolding activities represented by the percentage of students reporting moderate to extremely effective activities. (B) Representative quotes in answer to the question “Were graded assignments to complete the Exam 1 SMRF practice questions helpful for you to learn how to model? Why or why not?” (C) These data from 2016 (N = 15) and 2018 (N = 40) were taken from the end-of-semester survey, which asked about the difficulty of SMRF modeling tasks at the beginning of the course. The scale is 1 (extremely easy) to 5 (extremely difficult), i.e., the perceived difficulty of the task is lower when average ratings are lower.