Investigating the Relative Difficulty of Complex Systems Ideas in Biology

Abstract

A number of students’ biology misconceptions can be attributed to their lack of understanding in complex systems. Comprehending complex systems can be counter intuitive and difficult. A literature review reveals that we have yet to systematically determine a learning approach to address these learning challenges. In this paper, we propose that learning progressions research offers a methodical approach to organize the learning pathways students take to improve conceptual competence in complex systems. As a first step, we articulate a sequence of complex systems ideas - from the least to most difficult - by analyzing students’ written responses. Using an Item Response Theory model, we found that the easiest ideas to grasp are those that relate to the interconnected nature of these systems whereas the most difficult ideas are those concerning the decentralized organization of the system, and the predictability of the system effects.