The meeting this project supports has the purpose of setting the foundation for development of a Biology and Ecology Misconceptions Inventory, similar to the Force Concept Inventory that serves the physics education community so well. Attendees include representatives from a broad spectrum of institutions ranging from large PHD granting institutions, such as Michigan State, to small liberal arts colleges, such as Hampshire College. The workshop will be held over two days in October, 2006 and consist of 8 faculty all of whom teach introductory biology and ecology courses and are experienced with student-active teaching and formative evaluation.
The intellectual merit resides in the instrument that will eventually be developed as it fills a need within the discipline
The broader impact resides in the intent to share the instrument widely both through the National Science Digital Library and presentations at the Ecological Society of America.
