The Effect of Bioinformatics Module on Molecular Genetics Concepts on Senior High School Students’ Computational Thinking Skills

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate senior high school students’ computational thinking skills after implementing the Bioinformatics Module on molecular genetics concepts. The instructional approach used in the module is Computational Inquiry-based Teaching (CIbT). This study used a quasi-experiment method with a pretest-posttest control group design. The subjects in this study consist of 24 students in the control group and 38 students in the experimental group from a senior high school in Indonesia. The instrument used in this study is six items of computational thinking test. This module had four themes; Genetics Disease, Cancer, Forensic Science, and Evolution, conducted in 8 sessions. Each session lasted 90 minutes. The Bioinformatics Module consists of programming and databases, including unplugged computational activities and unplugged activities including coding using Python, searching in Uniprot, and using BLAST in NCBI. The CIbT has five steps: orientation, conceptualization, investigation, conclusion, and discussion. The Mann-Whitney test results showed that the p-value from N-Gain data is < 0.01. So, Bioinformatics Module on molecular genetics concepts using CIbT can improve computational thinking skills of senior high school students. For further implementation, biology teachers must prepare to use the Bioinformatics Module, including biology teachers’ understanding of molecular genetics and bioinformatics practices to enrich the learning experience in the Bioinformatics Module.

Conceptualizing bioinformatics education in STEM literacy development for pre-service biology teachers

“…They also need to understand how to teach bioinformatics to students. In addition, other skills arise with bioinformatics education at the undergraduate level of biology education (Sari et al, 2022;Kovarik et al, 2013;Welch et al, 2014).…”

“…This is one of the significant challenges for educators in Indonesia. The results of an analysis of the biology curriculum in a high school conducted by Sari et al (2022) stated that the framework for the biology curriculum in Indonesia for senior high schools already contains molecular coverage for bioinformatics consisting of structural and functional relationships of genes, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), chromosomes, mutation, gene regulation, principles of biotechnology and its applications to improve human well-being (also known as DNA technology), and the theories, principles, and mechanisms of evolution and speciation.…”

“…Bioinformatics education for pre-service biology teachers requires knowledge of the instructor's pedagogical content and school readiness with a high-quality internet connection. The bioinformatics tools used in the study are widely available on the internet and are free of charge, like the research conducted by Sari et al (2022), who used BLAST and Python in their bioinformatics learning. Clustal, FASTA, MEGA, BioConductor, Cytoscape, Chimera, and DataMonkey can also be used as bioinformatics tools in bioinformatics learning.…”

“…Bioinformatics education can be defined as teaching and learning by using computers and information technology to solve biological problems (Sari et al, 2022;Koch and Fuellen, 2008). It means that bioinformatics education should include knowledge and skills from biology, mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, medicine, pharmacology, computer science, and information technology (Ranganathan, 2005).…”

“…The boom in the use of bioinformatics has resulted in the emergence of research on bioinformatics education in recent decades, such as research conducted by Sari et al (2022), which examined the use of bioinformatics in biology lessons to see the improvement in the computational thinking of high school students in Indonesia. Bain et al (2022) also examined the success of a free bioinformatics workshop for Scottish secondary school biology students.…”