How does the Use of Core Ideas in Biology Lessons Influence Students’ Knowledge Development?

Abstract

The German National Education Standards for biology describe core ideas for structuring instruction, which aim to foster students’ conceptual knowledge. This study describes Teaching Based on Core Ideas (TBCI) as an attempt to integrate core ideas into instruction based on psychological theories. Testing the effectiveness of TBCI for developing factual and conceptual knowledge, an one-factor, quasi-experimental study was conducted. Eight classes from different Bavarian secondary schools of grade ten were randomly assigned to two treatments. A three-lesson teaching unit on the topic ecology was developed for both treatments, which only differed in emphasizing core ideas. Students completed a prior knowledge test before and a post knowledge test, including factual and conceptual knowledge, after the teaching unit. Additionally, students filled out a questionnaire on perceived cognitive load after each lesson. Results from ANCOVA showed that the TBCI treatment significantly outperformed the control group in the conceptual knowledge test. Concerning factual knowledge, there were no significant differences. Furthermore, contrasting our hypothesis, TBCI students significantly perceived lower cognitive load after one of the three lessons compared to the control group. Since there are hardly any empirical studies on the effectiveness of core ideas, this study provides first evidence for the meaningfulness of TBCI.