Razonamiento funcional y causal sobre el desequilibrio ecosistémico en estudiantes universitarios.

Gil-Contreras, Joan; Navarro-Roldan, Claudia; Pinzón-Prieto, Iván

Objective: This paper describes how university students reason functionally and causally about an ecosystem, using the Structure, Behavior and Function models. Method: We use a descriptive transversal design, with a mixed model of concurrent triangulation. Simultaneously, we gather and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to compare and integrate them. From intentional sampling with college students (n=60), we form four groups: biology students, and natural sciences and environmental education students, who did or did not take two subjects in ecology. They answer an interview about ecosystems and resolve a problem situation raised in a bioterium affected by anthropogenic activities and contaminating residues. Results We found differences attributable to the level of expertise among the students of the biology students who studied ecology, who understood the ecosystem from the dynamic interdependence of structure and functions, compared to other groups, who emphasized structural components with greater perceptual salience. Conclusions and discussion: Although most students understand the causal and functional relationships of the ecosystem, there are some biases in the conceptual construction, which can be explained from the incorrect recognition of the cause and the establishment of causal relationships.

BIOLOGY students; SCIENCE education; COLLEGE students; STRUCTURAL components

Educación y Humanismo, 2020, Vol 22, Issue 39, p1

0124-2121

Academic Journal

10.17081/eduhum.22.39.4081