Biology concepts perceived as difficult by turkish high school students

This study was performed to determine what content in biology was perceived as difficult for Turkish students to leam and whether gender differences affect students' perceptions. A total of 368 high school students, 184 were boys and 184 were girls, participatedin the study. Descriptive statisties was used to determine frequencies of diffieult, moderate and easy biology concepts as perceived by students. Hormones, genes and chromosomes, mitosis and meiosis, nervous system, and Mendelian geneties were found to be difficult concepts for studentsto leam. On the other hand, the studentsidentified cells and organelles, and ecology as easy topies. The results of independent-t test indicated signifieant difference in perception by gender (t=3.09, p=u.OO2). To determine possible reasons behind students' leaming difficulties, 14 high school biology teachers were interviewed.

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