SCIENCE COMPETENCY OF ARGENTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THE FIRST YEAR OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY COURSES

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the science competency of university students enrolling in the School of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences (first year of the courses of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral de Santa Fe, Argentina) and examine the effects of these courses on their competencies of Chemistry proficiency. The concept of science competency has been drawn from the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). To collect the information, two ad hoc questionnaires were drafted with questions addressing three science sub-competencies: identifying scientific issues (ISI), explaining phenomena scientifically (EPS) and using scientific evidence (USE). The first questionnaire was designed with the aim to inquire into the initial sub-competencies of the first-year students (n= 84). The second one (n= 50) was designed to explore the influence of the courses on their developments of such sub-competencies. The results indicate that first-year students started with a low performance level for all the sub-competencies assessed but the first-year of education influenced to develop the sub-competencies identifying scientific issues and explaining phenomena scientifically. Performance levels on using scientific evidence decreased. Therefore, the findings suggested that the courses in the first year need to help students or boost this sub-competency to be able to draw conclusions based on evidence about science-related issues. Key words: chemistry, higher education, science competency.