Biology concept assessment tools: design and use

Abstract

Many recent publications have highlighted the need for, and value of, concept assessments (also called inventories) in undergraduate biology education. Current interest in such assessments is primarily due to the emergence of a community of science education researchers in biology, who both approach teaching from a scientific perspective and want to measure the potential successes of their teaching reforms. Well-designed, valid and reliable assessment tools that allow instructors to capture student learning of the main concepts of biology are becoming an essential way to inform biology instructors about what students learn in college biology courses. This review summarises the general approaches taken in creating such concept assessment tools and presents some of the ways to effectively use them.