Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29854042›Full record

ArticleJournal of microbiology & biology education2017

Development, Validation, and Application of the Microbiology Concept Inventory.

Timothy D Paustian, Amy G Briggs, Robert E Brennan, Nancy Boury, John Buchner, Shannon Harris, Rachel E A Horak, Lee E Hughes, D Sue Katz-Amburn, Maria J Massimelli and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of microbiology & biology education, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Harnessing the power of community to navigate biology education careers.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Call for collaboration: Drafting a concept inventory for assessing neuroscience courses and curriculum.Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Bootleg Biology: a Semester-Long CURE Using Wild Yeast to Brew Beer.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2022
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Agar Art: a CURE for the Microbiology Laboratory.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2021
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Timothy D PaustianUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706.
Amy G BriggsBeloit College, Beloit, WI 53511.
Robert E BrennanUniversity of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK 73034.
Nancy BouryIowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
John BuchnerUniversity of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742.
Shannon HarrisUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706.
Rachel E A HorakAmerican Society of Microbiology, Washington, DC 20036.
Lee E HughesUniversity of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203.
D Sue Katz-AmburnRogers State University, Claremore, OK 74017.
Maria J MassimelliUniversity of California - Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.
Ann H McDonaldConcordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, WI 53097.
Todd P PrimmSam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340.
Ann C SmithUniversity of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742.
Ann M StevensVirginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061.
Sunny B YungSam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

If we are to teach effectively, tools are needed to measure student learning. A widely used method for quickly measuring student understanding of core concepts in a discipline is the concept inventory (CI). Using the American Society for Microbiology Curriculum Guidelines (ASMCG) for microbiology, faculty from 11 academic institutions created and validated a new microbiology concept inventory (MCI). The MCI was developed in three phases. In phase one, learning outcomes and fundamental statements from the ASMCG were used to create T/F questions coupled with open responses. In phase two, the 743 responses to MCI 1.0 were examined to find the most common misconceptions, which were used to create distractors for multiple-choice questions. MCI 2.0 was then administered to 1,043 students. The responses of these students were used to create MCI 3.0, a 23-question CI that measures students' understanding of all 27 fundamental statements. MCI 3.0 was found to be reliable, with a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.705 and Ferguson's delta of 0.97. Test item analysis demonstrated good validity and discriminatory power as judged by item difficulty, item discrimination, and point-biserial correlation coefficient. Comparison of pre- and posttest scores showed that microbiology students at 10 institutions showed an increase in understanding of concepts after instruction, except for questions probing metabolism (average normalized learning gain was 0.15). The MCI will enable quantitative analysis of student learning gains in understanding microbiology, help to identify misconceptions, and point toward areas where efforts should be made to develop teaching approaches to overcome them.

Identifiers

PMID29854042
PMCPMC5976036

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.