5 ms·

Wow. This is very nice work in which the authors find that about a third of undergrad students completely misunderstand the physical process underlying informat

Wow. This is very nice work in which the authors find that about a third of undergrad students completely misunderstand the physical process underlying information flow from DNA to RNA. I teach the central dogma of molecular biology to learners at multiple postgraduate levels. With the curse of knowledge, it never even occurred to me how wrongly people might get this.

AprilArcus 5y ago
I used to TA undergraduates in Molecular Bio. It was demoralizing to see how many answers to midterm and final exams were just regurgitated babble-stage nonsense. A hidden Markov model could have outscored half my students.
- crazydoggers 5y ago
  Well this is kind of what undergraduate studies are about, yeah? Not every student who wants to go into molecular biology is cut out for it. Hopefully when they meet a topic thats too hard and the grading is tough but fair they’ll put their efforts elsewhere. Maybe we should be encouraged that half would really understand a Markov chain in biology?
  - andi999 5y ago
    The comment before didn't mean half know what a Markov chain is, instead that their knowledge is not better then one.
  - foobarbecue 5y ago
    Only in the USA. Undergrad in the US is what high school is in most of the developed world -- a time for broad learning and exploration. Outside of the USA, if you're going to college, you're getting serious and fairly specific. In my experience, Americans take an extra four years or so to grow up, because they're allowed to. (I'm not saying this is good or bad.)
    - bbcxdrgn 5y ago
      This post might be less racist if you had backed it up with lots and lots of citations, but you couldn't be assed to find a single one, which suggests to me that your opinion is based on prejudice and bullshit and little else
    - perl4ever 5y ago
      A lot of people from outside the US go to college in the US. This was down last year with the pandemic, but apparently not as much as you'd think.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - foobarbecue 5y ago
      FYI I am a US citizen but studied did elementary school in Japan and USA, high school in Brazil and Sweden, undergrad in England, PhD in USA.
- bsder 5y ago
  Normally, this is because they don't actually want to be there but the class is in the way to some other objective. So, what degree were you in the way of the students getting? In addition, molecular biology may be the first "biology" class that an undergrad ever encounters where "memorization" isn't the point. That habit needs a while to get broken. I HATED biology in high school--a bunch of useless memorization. Then I hit a molecular biology class and loved it--everything made sense. Of course, most of the students in the class reacted in precisely the opposite direction.
  - robbiep 5y ago
    I was the same with school - no sciences for 11 & 12 because it was so dry Then I completed a bachelors majoring in biochem and genetics under my own steam after I’d come to science in my own way and I couldn’t be happier with the path. There is such a big difference between the route, boring, dry way science is taught at school compared to the broader field of study. I even loved organic chem.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
icedchai 5y ago
Don't AP Bio classes still cover some of this? I remember it being covered, at least at a high level, in my AP Bio class back when I was in 10th grade.
- parsecs 5y ago
  They still do, as someone who completed AP Bio a few months ago.
  - icedchai 5y ago
    Good to know! I took it almost 30 years ago. (Yeah. I'm old.)
Mordisquitos 5y ago
Having studied biology myself, I am also amazed by the level and the frequency of the misunderstandings that the authors found amongst students. By the way, relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2501/ https://xkcd.com/2501/
Scandiravian 5y ago
In the interest of learning, could you provide some resources that explains the information flow? I think I'm in the dangerous area of knowing enough about the subject to not recognise my own short comings, so I'd be grateful for any resources that helps me learn concepts I don't yet understand, or helps me understand, that I don't know enough about the subject to justify voicing an opinion
- wetpaws 5y ago
  Google
Aerroon 5y ago
The arrow just looks too much like the one used in chemistry.

AprilArcus 5y ago

I used to TA undergraduates in Molecular Bio. It was demoralizing to see how many answers to midterm and final exams were just regurgitated babble-stage nonsense. A hidden Markov model could have outscored half my students.

crazydoggers 5y ago
Well this is kind of what undergraduate studies are about, yeah? Not every student who wants to go into molecular biology is cut out for it. Hopefully when they meet a topic thats too hard and the grading is tough but fair they’ll put their efforts elsewhere. Maybe we should be encouraged that half would really understand a Markov chain in biology?
- andi999 5y ago
  The comment before didn't mean half know what a Markov chain is, instead that their knowledge is not better then one.
- foobarbecue 5y ago
  Only in the USA. Undergrad in the US is what high school is in most of the developed world -- a time for broad learning and exploration. Outside of the USA, if you're going to college, you're getting serious and fairly specific. In my experience, Americans take an extra four years or so to grow up, because they're allowed to. (I'm not saying this is good or bad.)
  - bbcxdrgn 5y ago
    This post might be less racist if you had backed it up with lots and lots of citations, but you couldn't be assed to find a single one, which suggests to me that your opinion is based on prejudice and bullshit and little else
  - perl4ever 5y ago
    A lot of people from outside the US go to college in the US. This was down last year with the pandemic, but apparently not as much as you'd think.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - foobarbecue 5y ago
    FYI I am a US citizen but studied did elementary school in Japan and USA, high school in Brazil and Sweden, undergrad in England, PhD in USA.
bsder 5y ago
Normally, this is because they don't actually want to be there but the class is in the way to some other objective. So, what degree were you in the way of the students getting? In addition, molecular biology may be the first "biology" class that an undergrad ever encounters where "memorization" isn't the point. That habit needs a while to get broken. I HATED biology in high school--a bunch of useless memorization. Then I hit a molecular biology class and loved it--everything made sense. Of course, most of the students in the class reacted in precisely the opposite direction.
- robbiep 5y ago
  I was the same with school - no sciences for 11 & 12 because it was so dry Then I completed a bachelors majoring in biochem and genetics under my own steam after I’d come to science in my own way and I couldn’t be happier with the path. There is such a big difference between the route, boring, dry way science is taught at school compared to the broader field of study. I even loved organic chem.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

icedchai 5y ago

Don't AP Bio classes still cover some of this? I remember it being covered, at least at a high level, in my AP Bio class back when I was in 10th grade.

parsecs 5y ago
They still do, as someone who completed AP Bio a few months ago.
- icedchai 5y ago
  Good to know! I took it almost 30 years ago. (Yeah. I'm old.)

Mordisquitos 5y ago

Having studied biology myself, I am also amazed by the level and the frequency of the misunderstandings that the authors found amongst students. By the way, relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2501/ https://xkcd.com/2501/

Scandiravian 5y ago

In the interest of learning, could you provide some resources that explains the information flow? I think I'm in the dangerous area of knowing enough about the subject to not recognise my own short comings, so I'd be grateful for any resources that helps me learn concepts I don't yet understand, or helps me understand, that I don't know enough about the subject to justify voicing an opinion

wetpaws 5y ago
Google

Aerroon 5y ago

The arrow just looks too much like the one used in chemistry.