title: Teaching about Water Relations in Plant Cells: An Uneasy Struggle.
abstract: University students often struggle to understand the role of water in plant cells. In particular, osmosis and plasmolysis appear to be challenging topics. This study attempted to identify student difficulties (including misconceptions) concerning osmosis and plasmolysis and examined to what extent the difficulties could be revised during a plant physiology course. A questionnaire was developed to monitor university students' conceptual knowledge before and after a course, and both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained. The data were analyzed using the constant comparison technique and descriptive statistics. Students were found to come to university with many misconceptions that had accumulated during their education. These misconceptions are extremely difficult to change during the traditional course, which comprises lectures and practical exercises. Students' misconceptions originate from commonly used sources such as textbooks, which are perceived as being reliable. Effective teaching of water relations in plant cells could include such didactic methods as "questioning the author," which allow teachers to monitor students' knowledge and help students acquire a more scientific understanding of key concepts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Lilianna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Malińska
authors.affiliation: Department of Nature Education and Conservation, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Eliza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rybska
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sobieszczuk-Nowicka
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, 61-614 Poznań, Poland msolin@amu.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adamiec
mesh_terms: D032882:Comprehension; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D013334:Students; D013663:Teaching; D013782:Textbooks as Topic; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014867:Water