Abstract
Basic concepts of cell biology are essential for scientific literacy. However, because many aspects of cell theory and cell functioning are quite abstract, students experience difficulties understanding them. In this study, we investigated whether diverse teaching resources such as the use of replicas of Leeuwenhoek’s microscope, visualization of cells using an optical microscope, construction of three-dimensional cell models, and reading of a comic book about cells could mitigate the difficulties encountered when teaching cell biology to 8th-grade primary school students. The results suggest that these didactic activities improve students’ ability to learn concrete concepts about cell biology, such as the composition of living beings, growth, and cicatrization. Also, the development of skills was observed, as, for example, the notion of cell size. However, no significant improvements were observed in students’ ability to learn about abstract topics, such as the structures of subcellular organelles and their functions. These results suggest that many students in this age have not yet concluded Piaget’s concrete operational stage, indicating that the concepts required for the significant learning of abstract subjects need to be explored more thoroughly in the process of designing programs that introduce primary school students to cell biology.
Highlights
Cell theory is a unifying concept in all domains of biology
The extraordinary growth of knowledge in molecular and cellular biology over the past decade has made a basic comprehension of cell biology fundamental to scientific literacy
To address the mentioned points we designed this study with the following main objectives: (1) to test whether concrete activities such as the construction of three-dimensional cellular models, observation of cells under a microscope, and/or engagement and integrating humor into the learning process can aid in teaching abstract topics, such as the subcellular components of cells; (2) to compare the learning of themes that are more close to the reality of students with those that are more abstract, for example, compare if the relationship between cell multiplication and growth or cicatrization is more learned than abstract themes, as the subcellular components of cell
Summary
Cell theory is a unifying concept in all domains of biology. The cell theory was only developed between 1840 and 1855 by Theodor Schwann, Matthias Schleiden, Robert Remak, and Rudolf Virchow [1]. The central concepts of cell biology allow us to manage available information effectively and to make better decisions in our everyday life as regards health, disease prevention and treatment, nutrition, and reproduction. These notions permit a broader understanding of the world and the ecological relationship between life forms and their roles in nature
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