| “If you agreed that modeling mitosis and meiosis in class was beneficial to your learning, please explain in what ways the modeling activity was helpful.” N = 69 (38; 31) | Visual representation | 49.3% (44.74%, 54.84%) | “Visualizing the alleles and how they actually switched over. As well as realizing that they duplicate then proceed with the meiosis or mitosis.” |
| Physical manipulation | 28.99% (26.32%, 32.26%) | “I love having a physical component to the ideas we talk about in class. I can memorize what you say in a lecture but I actually learn what happens when it is physically happening.” |
| Compare mitosis and meiosis | 14.50% (18.42%, 9.68%) | “It was helpful in showing how the chromosomes line up compared to meiosis and mitosis, as well as some of the phases.” |
| Physical nature of genetic loci and exchange of genetic information | 14.50% (18.42%, 9.68%) | “The beads helped me to understand that genes are located on the chromosomes and that they are exchanged during crossing over.” |
| “In what ways do you think the modeling mitosis and meiosis activity is limited, or could be improved?” N = 74 (48, 31) | Instructions introduced confusion | 40.54% (58.14%, 16.12%) | “The directions were confusing to follow, and waiting around to figure out what was going on made me more confused. I would recommend being more clear about the parental and maternal strand, and emphasizing that one bead goes on each pin for each sock.” |
| Additional instructor explanation | 16.22% (23.26%, 6.45%) | “I think it could be helpful if we went over this activity as a class first so that we knew what was supposed to be happening, and then did the activity as small groups to get a better understanding.” |
| Large-group activity | 9.46% (16.28%, 0%) | “I think it should have been done in one big group, and then the rest of the class watched it. I feel like it would have been easier to have [the instructor] explain everything while it was going on, too.” |