DETERMINATION OF THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE TOPIC “PASSAGE OF SUBSTANCES THROUGH CELL MEMBRANE” BY TWO-TIER TEST

Information that is contrary to the scientific reality is called misconceptions, and students gain them as a result of their past experiences. Learning new and correct information becomes more difficult or even hamper due to misconceptions. This study was conducted to determine the misconceptions of the health-care technician students related with the passage of substance through cell membrane. It was performed with 335 students. The research subject was explained to the students in a two-hour course by a researcher in the human physiology course. One week later, a two-tier diagnostic test consisting of seven questions was applied.

It was seen that diffusion was the most known subject by the students and the correct answer rate was 77.9% (n:261). On the other hand, the least known subject was the calculation amount and the direction of the passage matter's (plasmolysis and deplasmolysis events) depending on ambient density (number of correct answer: 9.3%, n:31). Some misconceptions that were identified are the following: 1- 33.7% of students thought that the active substance transport occurred only from low density medium towards high density medium. 2-36.1%of students thought that pure water was isotonic. 3-53.7% of the students thought that the large molecules such as starch could pass through the membrane until the density to equal in both side.

The data were compared in SPSS 15.0 program depending on whether students participated in the training programs that was given as a research subject or not.  The correct response rate for questions was significantly different between participating and nonparticipating groups (p = .01 for multiple choice questions and p = .003 for open ended questions), and most successful training program was physiotherapy.