Alternatives for Individualized Biology: The Importance of Cognitive Style and Conceptual Complexity

Abstract

A SOURCE OF CONCERN to any biology teacher is the wide range in student performance encountered in any class-differences between individual students in the same class as well as differences in individual students' achievement from year to year. Especially puzzling is the common disparity between a student's performance in laboratory activities and his performance on the formal teacher-directed or lecture activities. For some time these differences have been attributed to motivation or intellectual ability, but recent research indicates that in addition to these familiar constructs, there are individual differences in cognitive style and conceptual complexity that exert significant influences upon the success or failure of a student. A teaching format that is gaining much attention at all levels of education is individualized instruction. While this method of teaching is widespread, there appear to be few attempts to relate the mode of individualization and the cognitive style or conceptual complexity of the students who are being taught. This article describes seven methods of individualizing biology instruction and presents some of the current thinking about the significance of cognitive style and conceptual complexity with respect to the degree of structure in the individualized formats.