Advancing university biology education with narratives

Abstract

Many fundamental biological concepts, such as molecular randomness, are characterized by their complexity due to their interdisciplinary nature and associated difficulties in understanding. The use of expository texts to convey these concepts further complicates the learning process due to the unfamiliar text structure and abstract presentation of the contents. Conversely, embedding such concepts in a historical background could enhance comprehension, since the way of obtaining information becomes more intuitive, and abstract concepts can be grounded in real-life experiences. However, the effects of such narrative ways of conveying knowledge on learning, especially in university biology education, have been understudied. The present dissertation addresses this research gap by investigating the role of stories in the learning of complex biological concepts. To this end, four studies were conducted in order to examine under which conditions and for which reasons learning can be positively influenced by using narratives as instructional material. In the first study, a standardized test for reliable and valid estimations of the understanding of molecular randomness was developed. Implementation of the test with first-year students also allowed modeling of conceptual change, and application with biology doctoral students revealed the sometimes deep-seated misconceptions in this topic. The second study systematically analyzed the results of empirical studies on a meta-analytic level. The focus was on articles examining the impact of narratives compared to expository texts on performance in science education. The analysis of the 72 experimental comparisons, compiled from 30 independent studies, showed that learning with stories led to higher performance. On the other hand, it was shown that the type of story, the level of education, and the learning environment significantly contributed to how impactful the narrative instruction was. The third study examined the impact of concepts framed in a historical narrative compared to thematically equivalent expository texts on learning success at different levels of comprehension in higher education. Thereby, the narrative focused on the historical aspects of discovering random molecular motion. The results implied that knowledge transfer was enhanced by the narrative but indicated that prior education played a significant role in how narratives impact learning. Students who had taken fewer biology classes in high school particularly benefited from the narratives, whereas students with a more extensive science background often derived greater benefits from the expository text. The positive influence of stories on performance was also reflected in the learning mechanisms studied, such as the more effectively allocated cognitive load or enhanced self-efficacy. Yet, the assessments differed regarding situational interest and cognitive engagement concerning prior education, whereby stories triggered the investigated learning mechanisms to a greater extent for those students with less than those with more prior biology education. The final study examined undergraduate students’ knowledge transfer of molecular randomness as a direct function of prior knowledge. In addition to the two previously investigated experimental conditions (narrative and expository), a third instructional variation was examined in which a historical background was used as preparation for future learning with the expository text. Bayesian modeling approaches demonstrated that prior knowledge played a significant role in knowledge acquisition and that the latter depended on the instructional method. Students with little prior knowledge benefited most when concepts were embedded in a historical context, whereas students with higher prior knowledge tended to profit from the expository text but only when a narrative preceded the latter. Finally, a structural equation model confirmed the predicted influence of different learning mechanisms on learning biological concepts with narratives. In conclusion, the four studies contributed to developing a framework for capturing the understanding of molecular randomness, meta-analytically and empirically investigating the effect of narratives on learning scientific concepts, and exploring the importance of underlying factors and involved learning mechanisms influencing the effectiveness of narratives in education.