International Journal of Science Education

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Representation of the cell and its processes in high

school students: An integrated view

Fernando Flores , Ma Eugenia Tovar & Leticia Gallegos

To cite this article: Fernando Flores , Ma Eugenia Tovar & Leticia Gallegos (2003) Representation
of the cell and its processes in high school students: An integrated view, International Journal of
Science Education, 25:2, 269-286, DOI: 10.1080/09500690210126793

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INT. J. SCI. EDUC., 2003, VOL. 25, NO. 2, 269–286

RESEARCH REPORT

Representation of the cell and its processes in high

school students: an integrated view

Fernando Flores, Cognitive Pedagogy and Science Learning Department,

Instruments Centre, Ma Eugenia Tovar, Sciences and Humanities College,
South Campus and Leticia Gallegos, Cognitive Pedagogy and Science
Learning Department, Instruments Centre, Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México, (UNAM), México

This paper presents an integrated view of the ideas and conceptual problems of high school students
with respect to the cell, its processes, structure and relation to the functions of multicellular organisms.
The theme of cell has divided into eight topics, with a questionnaire for each topic. In these topics,
different levels of representation and understanding are distinguished between general considerations
about plants and animals, those connected with processes at organ and system levels and, finally, the
level of cell processes. Data from 1200 students were analysed. Results show that students have an
analogical mechanism that establishes an isomorphism between the representation of the functioning of
multicellular organisms of cell processes. A series of problems in understanding was also shown. Results
imply that these problems are mainly due to students’ lack of differentiation between some processes at
organism and organ level, and have important implications for learning this subject. Finally, some
suggestions are made for teaching.

Introduction
Research into previous biological ideas and conceptual representations of students
is scarce. Over 400 pieces of research have been carried out (Pfund and Duit 1999)
that fundamentally focus on such subjects as: general biology (133); different
aspects related to the human being such as health, disease, constitution and func-
tioning systems (53); genetics (48); evolution (43); the cell (34); ecology (31); the
concept of life or being alive (28); photosynthesis (27); and the characteristics and
function of animals (17).
A few studies were made in Mexico (León et al. 1995). For example, some
research has been done in physics with high school students (Jara 1991, Flores and
Gallegos 1993, 1998). However, little research has been carried out into biology
and most of it has been aimed at primary school students (Gallegos et al. 1994).
This shows the need to continue and broaden this type of research into biological
subjects. Research into prior ideas in biology shows no integral characterization of
student’s representations from different educational levels of these basic concepts.
The purpose of this work is to contribute in this field among high school students
(15–18 years old) with respect to cells, attempting to give an integrated view of the
situation. To this end, the following issues have been addressed:

International Journal of Science Education ISSN 0950–0693 print/ISSN 1464–5289 online # 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/09500690210126793
270 F. FLORES ET AL.

. determination of prior ideas of high school students about cell structure and
functions;
. identification of correlations between prior ideas and some specific prob-
lems related to conceptual understanding;
. establishment of relationships between prior ideas about cell structure and
the functioning and level of multicellular organization.

State of the research into ideas about the cell and cell
processes
Cells as a theme of study is characterized as difficult to understand by students at
different educational levels. Conceptual problems range from the understanding of
the cell as an autonomous organism and the functions it performs to difficulties in
its spatial and metrical representations, resulting in confusions between cells,
atoms and molecules. In particular, the establishment of relationships between
cell structures and their functions are especially complex for students who are
not able to integrate them into an overall picture. The lack of such relationships
does not allow them to understand such processes as respiration, reproduction,
nutrition or genetic regulation mechanisms and organelle composition.
Some of the prior ideas to be found in the literature that students have of the
cell and the relationships between the cell and some functions of multicellular
organisms are summarized below. These ideas are divided into three sections:
previous ideas of secondary school students, previous ideas of high school students
and previous ideas of students in higher education.

Previous ideas of secondary school students

The prior ideas of general cell processes held by secondary school students are
found to be similar to those of primary school students. One main category is the
animistic and anthropomorphic view of processes (Bartov 1978, Tamir and Zohar
1991). Another is confusion between like genes and alleles (Lewis et al. 2000),
photosynthesis and respiration (Stavy et al. 1987, Seymour and Lodgen 1991,
Wood-Robinson 1991), cells and atoms or molecules (Caballer and Giménez
1993), cell membrane and cell wall (Zamora and Guerra 1993) and the well-
know confusion between meiosis and mitosis (Lodgen 1982). There are other
previous ideas like ‘alleles contain genes’ and ‘cells do not breath’ that have very
different causality sources (Pashley 1994); that ‘different cell processes are due to
unlike genetic information among cells’ (Lewis et al. 2000) and that ‘photosynth-
esis is respiration in plants’ (Wood-Robinson 1991).

Previous ideas of high school students

At this level, student’s ideas and conceptual problems are similar to those given
above one, but with more related concepts and more scientific terms. The anthro-
pomorphic view persists (Taber and Watts 1996), for example, in ideas like ‘the
cell ‘knows’ what to take and what to discard’ (Dreyfus and Jungwirth 1988, 1989),
the attributing to cells of animal processes like breathing (Garcı́a Zaforas 1991),
‘cell reproduction means that a new cell is produced by an old cell that will con-
tinue to exist after division’ (Smith 1991) and students’ interpretations of energy
CELL REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSES IN HIGH SCHOOL 271

transformation in a way that presents interference with explanations about the

origin of life (Barak et al. 1997).
The confused terms are more extended. For example, there are confusions
such as the distinction between reproduction and copulation in mammals
(Okeke and Wood-Robinson 1980); that genetic processes depend on chromosome
number and that chromosomes therefore consist of one double DNA chain (nor
replicated) and are located in haploid cells (Kindfield 1991); thinking that duplica-
tion of DNA takes place only in the meiosis process (Longden 1982); and confu-
sion between the sub cellular, cellular and supracelluar level are present in
different processes like alimentation, photosynthesis and respiration (Lazarowitz
and Penso 1992).
There are other conceptual problems related to several processes and repre-
sentations like: asexual reproduction is limited to micro-organisms; daughter cells
are smaller than the cells they come from (Okeke and Wood-Robinson 1980); or
the difficulties students have in linking cell processes to the functioning of organ-
isms and the co-ordinated functions of their cells (Friedler et al. 1985, Caballer and
Jiménez 1992, Zamora and Guerra 1993).
Finally, there are visual image difficulties when students observe at the micro-
scope. They only recognize a series of square elements that remind them of a wall
or of an undecipherable tangle of lines and dots (Dı́az and Jiménez 1993, Dı́az et al.
1996).

Previous ideas of students in higher education

Many of the problems in understanding at first-degree level are the same as those
that appear in the high school (Kindfield, 1991, 1994, Smith, 1991, Barak et al.
1997). However, some new aspects appear, especially those related to cellular pro-
cesses, for example: the transformation of energy at cell level in the respiration and
the reciprocal relationships between photosynthesis and respiration in plants
(Songer and Mintzes 1994); osmosis processes (Frieldler et al. 1985); misunder-
standing light and dark reactions in photosynthesis by novice biology teachers (Yip
1998); some difficulties with the diffusion concept (Westbrook and Marek 1992);
and the confusion between gene and allele (Pashley, 1994).
Finally Mondelo et al. (1994) highlighted the epistemological difficulty of
inert and living, which prevents high school and first degree students from estab-
lishing relations between physical and chemical conceptions of living matter, for
example, difficulties in recognizing the atomic nature of living beings.
Review shows many general and significant problems for the learning of cell
themes and their processes: anthropomorphic views, term confusion and problems
of understanding cellular processes. However, it is not enough to have a more
integrated view about these broad and complex topics, especially those related to
the relationship between individual cell and pluricellular processes.

Justification
As can be seen from the above review, there are diverse views involved in cell
processes and their relationship with other aspects of living beings. Such views do
not permit the construction of an articulated and differentiated representation at
272 F. FLORES ET AL.

the high school level that provides elements for a transition from multicellular
organisms to cell processes.
Taking this and the absence of work with Mexican high school students into
account, this piece of research was carried out with the following aims:
. to identify previous ideas that high school students might have about ‘cell’;
. to determine levels of understanding that students might have in relation to
a cell’s role in the structure and functioning of multicellular organisms;
. to identify problems in understanding concepts and relationships respecting
the cell and its functions;
. to provide an integral view of the representation of the cell.

Methodology
Research questions were: what representation do high school students have of the
cell as a structural and functional organization? What analogical origins of the
representations of functions of the cell do the students know? What previous
ideas are fundamental for their constructions? What conceptual problems are
implicit in their prior ideas?

Instruments
Given the breadth and complexity of the subject, it was divided into eight topics
and a questionnaire was constructed for each one. In order to define the topics,
various texts and programmes from the Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades (a
high school college belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico
where the study was carried out) were analysed. The topics are: (1) respiration; (2)
water in plants; (3) water in animals; (4) plant nutrition; (5) animal nutrition; (6)
cell shapes; (7) cell size and (8) reproduction.
In all cases, each questionnaire started with general biological processes, fol-
lowed by processes and functions at the level of multicellular organisms and their
organs and ended with the processes at cell level. Interviews were added to ques-
tionnaires. Questionnaires constituted the main source of information and inter-
views were used to obtain more precise information on some ideas and problems in
understanding. Questionnaires were constructed with two types of questions: mul-
tiple choice that gave information about general ideas and multiple choice in which
answers had to be justified. The average number of questions per questionnaire
was 12. Questionnaires were validated by specialists, teachers, and with prior
applications and split half reliability tests that produced average values of 0.57.
A brief selection of questions from the eight questionnaires can be found in the
appendix. In order to obtain previous ideas from the questionnaires in the case of
multiple-choice questions, the cut frequency was set at 10%, which means that
only ideas of options that have a minimum frequency of 30 assertions were taken
into account. The procedure for with the justified option was to put them into
groups according to similarity.
Interview scripts (the interviews were recorded and transcribed) were drawn
up in accordance with the results obtained from the questionnaires and were
applied to a sample of students whose replies were good, average and poor.
CELL REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSES IN HIGH SCHOOL 273

Population
The sample consisted of 1200 students who were selected at random and by
strata, covering three years of schooling and two shifts at the college. First year
students (both shifts in all cases) had previously taken a general biology course at
junior high school. Those from the second year had taken another biology course
focused on cell, live origin, evolution and genetics, and, for those in the third year
topics on biology were selected for those students that had chosen a biology as
specialization area and constituted approximately 55% of the total population of
the third scholar year. The college is located in Mexico City and most of the
students are of middle-class background. Each questionnaire was answered by
300 students (100 students per each academic year) and two questionnaires were
assigned to each student.

Data collection
Students’ previous ideas were identified from each questionnaire, taking into
account the option selected and the justifications they gave. There was a great
dispersion of ideas and in order to group them, the cut frequency was set at
10%. Students’ justification of the selected option was analysed. When the choice
was not supported by justification, the latter was taken as the student’s idea. Then,
identified previous ideas were grouped by similarity and the remaining were
formed into one and comprehensive single sentence. Data from interviews were
related to ideas from questionnaires in order to confirm the interpretation that was
made.

Results
In order to show students’ ideas, from the general processes of living things to cell
in all the topics, the results were organized in three main categories: general pro-
cesses, processes in pluricellular organisms, and cell processes. Table 1 shows the
students’ ideas for each topic. Percentages follow each idea, and these percentages
formed by joined similar or complementary ideas is the mean of each percentages.
Several problems concerning comprehension that had originated in previous
ideas were identified. These problems appear across all levels from general to
cellular. The most significant are:

. the articulation between structural units cells and multicellular organisms;

. the functioning of cell membrane;
. confusion between photosynthesis and respiration;
. the classification of organisms as simple and complex and the incorrect
inferences made about the cell;
. confusion between meiosis and mitosis;
. the differentiation of concepts like genetic code, chromosome, DNA, etc.;
. structural organization and external morphological differences are trans-
ferred to cell processes’
. problems with recognizing a variety of cell forms and size.
274 F. FLORES ET AL.

Table 1. Students’ ideas by topic and levels.

Levels

Topic General Organism Cellular

Respiration Energy is obtained from Plants perform Unicellular organisms

respiration so that the photosynthesis in respire anaerobically
organisms can perform day and respiration because they are simple
their functions (40.6%) at night (39%) (15.6%)

Oxygen purifies blood Photosynthesis is Unicellular organisms do

(39.6%) similar to not have the same type
respiration (11%) of respiration as multi-
Respiration is an cellular organisms (15%)
exchange of gases Plants do not need
(59.3%) oxygen to breathe, Respiration takes place in
they are anaerobic chloroplasts (16%) and
Aerobic respiration takes (23%) Golgi apparatus (10%)
place in the organs or
tissues (36.6%)

Only land organisms can

be aerobic (10%)

Water in Water is food or a The stomata close to The semi-permeable

plants nutrient that provides regulate water loss membrane lets the water
energy (44%) (26.3%) cells needs go through
(37%)
Water is the solvent of The plant roots take
nutritional substances water to all the Water goes through pores,
(33%) cells (16%) tubes or vassels in the
membrane (10%)
Water participates in
photosynthesis and For osmosis to take place
respiration (31%) there must be different
amounts of liquids on
Photosynthesis is a both sides of the
process where plant membrane (10%)
needs sunlight, water
and minerals from the The membrane stabilizes
ground that takes up liquids, there must be an
through its roots and as equilibrium (10%)
result there is an
exchange of gases (36%) The vacuole is a water
store (53%)

In an environment with an
excess of water, the cell
only takes the water it
needs (10%)

The nucleus regulates the

amount of water in the
cell and shares out the
nutrients (13.8%)
CELL REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSES IN HIGH SCHOOL 275

Water in Water cleans, transports Water goes through Membrane select the
animals and separates the organs and nutrients necessary to
compounds (75%) tissues by means cell (10%)
of cell layers
Water is a food (50.3%) (26.3%) Water takes place in cell
respiration (21%)
Water is a dissolvent for Water eliminates
organisms (19%) waste from cell Nucleus regulates and
(26.3%) performs cell functions
(14%)
Humans eliminate
water to regulate
temperature (31%)

Plant Photosynthesis takes The leaves take the The membrane and/or cell
nutrition place during the day nutrients the wall select the necessary
and respiration at plants need (10%) nutrients so that they
night (38.6%) can go inside the cell
Dark phase of photo- (10%)
Photosynthesis is an synthesis takes
exchange of gases place at night and
(55%) during this oxygen
is released (38.6%)
Plants take nutrients
like water, proteins Leaves absorb sun-
and mineral salts light and its energy
from the environ- (14%)
ment (21%)

Plant The light phase takes Chlorophyll gives the

nutrition place during the day plants their green
and in this phase colour (50.7%)
energy is absorbed
(10%)

An organic compound
in one that has life or
is one that comes from
living things (16%)

Photosynthesis is a
process in which the
plant needs sunlight,
water and minerals
from the ground that
takes up through its
roots and result an
exchange of gases
(36%)

Animal Blood transport In animals, food is Carbohydrates, lipids and

nutrition nutrients (40.3%) first degraded and proteins enter the cell by
then synthesized means of osmosis
Vitamins are nutrients (10%) (36.3%)
that provide energy
(10%)

Continued
276 F. FLORES ET AL.

Table 1. continued
Levels

Topic General Organism Cellular

Organic compounds are Spiders, paramecia, Cell organelles are like

found in living things yeasts and the organs (10%)
(12%) human being can
be autotrophus Digestion in the cell is a
(43.7%) trituration, disintegra-
tion, or filtration (10%)

Cell shapes Factors that alter cell Cells modify their Plants cells can have
shape can be genetic, shape through the different shapes (51.6%)
environmental and growth and
social (12.3%) development of the Plant cells are all the same
organism of which (25.6%)
they form part
(41%) Animal cells are generally
round (43%)
Cell from the same
organs or different
organisms are
different due to the
size and shape of
the organs (40.3%)

Structures like bone

(64%), cartilage
(74%) or hair (60%)
are not made up
by cells

Nails (84.3%) and the

pupil (58.3%) are
made up of cells

Cell size Cell size can be affected Cells change in size Cell that perform different
by food, water, disease along with the functions have different
and genetic factors growth of a sizes (19.6%)
(49%) multicellular
organism (30%) The size of the cell is like
that of molecules and
The cell size in the atoms (72.3%)
same organs of
different organisms
is different due to
the difference in
size organs (10%)

The cell size in an

organ depends on
the type and size of
the organism (23%)
CELL REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSES IN HIGH SCHOOL 277

Reproduction For sexual reproduction Plants reproduce Asexual reproduction is

to exist, sexual contact asexually, there is equivalent to cell
is necessary (11%) no contact between multiplication (34%)
them (10%)
Cell multiplication is
Pollen is like a seed obtained from division,
(10%) without previous
processes (32%)
In human reproduc-
tion, two cells join Cell is an homogeneous
together and act entity that divides itself
together (they (34%)
continue to be two)
(14.7%) Mitosis is a bipartition
(34%)
Human beings does
not originate from Meiosis is a sexual
one cell because reproduction mechanism
human are multi- (10%)
cellular (29.3%)
Chromosomes only
In tissue regeneration, intervene in
the new cells are reproduction (10%)
initially different
due to many DNA or the genetic code
factors such as: ensures that the cells
being young, that are produced are the
strong, differences same (11%)
in genetic informa-
tion, after a certain The nucleus is the
period of time they organelle in which
become the same reproduction is carried
because they get old out (16%)
(10%)

The equitable contri-

bution of genetic
material from both
progenitors is not
identified in human
being (10%)

Analysis
From the results obtained, it is possible to establish the principal students’ views
or representations at two levels. One is of a general order that refers to processes in
organisms (multicellular organisms and their functions) and the other refers to
specific problems in understanding the structural and functional characteristics
of the cell. Some of these results are in agreement with those found in the reviewed
literature. These two descriptive levels are presented below.

General conceptions about organisms

Primarily, students’ conceptions presented a clear differentiation between struc-
ture and functions in plants and animals. However, some processes are understood
in a confused way. General conceptions are as follows.
278 F. FLORES ET AL.

Plants. Nutrition – ‘plants take nutritive substances from the environment’:

although students recognize photosynthesis as an important process and identify
plants as autotrophy organisms, they continue, as in lower educational levels
(Wandersee 1993, Cañal 1999), to consider that plants take nutrients from the
soil by means of their roots. ‘Water provides energy’: this conception is very
extended (Barak et al. 1997) and presents the idea that all the substances living
beings need provide them with energy, like a source that enters the organisms like
a substance. Respiration – ‘photosynthesis and respiration are equivalent pro-
cesses’: this is one of the best documented confusions (Songer and Mintzes
1994) and has to do – together with other aspects – with teaching at the basic
levels when teachers put emphasis on the importance of production of oxygen
by plants. ‘Plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen’: this conception of
respiration-photosynthesis is reinforced by the relation that has been made of
the complementary needs of plants and animals – which appears in most of text-
books from the most basic education level – that while some need carbon dioxide,
others needs oxygen. Reproduction – ‘sexual and asexual reproduction in plants is
not differentiated’: this conception can be inferred from problems in identifying
reproductive structures of plants and common observations about vegetative
reproduction through cuttings.

Animals. Structure and function – ‘there is no basic knowledge of the functioning

of the apparatuses and systems of animals’: as in the case of plants, a main problem
for understanding cell processes concerns basic processes of organisms (Lazarowits
and Penso 1992). For example, students do not give sufficient descriptions about
what happens to food in different organs of the digestive apparatus, the processes
of formation of the zygote or about what happens to oxygen in the lungs. Nutrition
– ‘Water provides energy’: this conception has the same origin as the one com-
mented on for plants. Respiration – ‘Respiration is an exchange of gases’: respira-
tion is only thought of as the need to intake oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.
‘Animals are aerobic’: this is closely linked to the need for oxygen. Some students
consider plants to be anaerobic because they do not need oxygen but rather carbon
dioxide, as their conception of plants is extended to believe that unicellular organ-
isms are anaerobic.

Cell conceptions

General conception. The anthropomorphic view is a highly generalized aspect that

comes from basic teaching (Giordan et al. 1994), is well analysed in many studies
(Dryfus and Jungwirth 1988, 1989, Garcı́a Zaforas 1991, Taber and Watts 1996)
and is shown in different subjects, for example, respiration in cells needs oxygen in
the same way as humans do. Another expressions of this view is that ‘cells take
what they need from the environment and a cell ‘‘makes decisions’’ about its
requirements’. These ideas are reflected mainly in the processes of osmosis and
phagocytosis where the cell ‘knows’ what it must allow to go through or take from
the environment (also described in Dreyfus and Jungwirth 1989). In the same
sense is the students’ idea that ‘cell reproduction originates in two cells’, which
has as main analogy source of the sexual reproduction in macroscopic animals.
CELL REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSES IN HIGH SCHOOL 279

Concerning the functional similarity of organs and systems within the cell,
results show that there is a second level in the analogy with macroscopic organ-
isms, in which students establish an isomorphism between processes correspond-
ing to organs, systems and the cellular processes, for example, for them the process
of nutrition in the cell is similar to the digestive system where food is ground and
processed. Lazarowitz and Penso (1992) have reported similar results. Another
idea is that ‘animal and plant cell processes are different, therefore differences
between multicellular organisms are applied to cells’, for example, the association
is presented between mitosis and asexual reproduction in plant cells. Another
example is that they conceive plant respiration as anaerobic, a characteristic that
they transfer to the cell.
Environmental factors act on cells as on organisms; ideas like ‘Environmental
factors modify cell size’ and ‘the cell like other living beings needs energy’
probably have their origin in factors like alimentation and disease. The
idea about energy, which is correct in appearance, generates various
conceptual problems. One of them is that the concept of energy is used as
the end and cause of all processes; another is that energy is considered an
entity with substance. For this reason, students believe that substances like
water and various compounds directly provide energy or are transformed in
energy.

Interpretation of cell processes. Regarding terms, function confusion and misunder-

standing processes, students’ interpretations are related, mainly, to the confusion
of terms and with the misunderstanding of the function of the structures of the
cell. Some problems are related to general aspects like conceptions of the processes
of transfers of organs and organisms to cell level: ‘Mitosis and meiosis are the
same’. This has been reported (Lodgen 1982) and shows that certain processes,
which are insisted on in school, are interpreted only schematically. ‘A multicellular
organism must come from two cells’: this idea is also taken from sexual reproduc-
tion and shows the confusion between the process of fertilization and reproduction
of a zygote. The process of mitosis does not appear to be related to the origin and
maintenance of multicellularity. ‘Water molecules are not subject to processes in
the cell’: as pointed previously, water is considered a direct nutrient. Usually, the
biochemical processes are not connected with the functioning of the cell or other
processes of living things. Finally, one of the most widespread idea is that ‘the
nucleus regulates and executes all cell processes’.

Cell structure and spatial characteristics. Students recognize that the cell is the
structural unit in which organisms are formed. However there are several difficul-
ties with their internal structure. ‘Cell organelles have unknown functions’: this
corresponds to assigning the nucleus all functions, the unknown function of cell
membrane or the Golgi apparatus. It emphasizes the fact that the name of the
organelles are known but not their corresponding function. The shape of the cell is
determined by the shape and size of the organs to which it belongs: once again
transfer from macroscopic to microscopic levels is shown. Figure 1 shows two
diagrams that illustrates the students’ representation of the cell and the principal
conceptual problems.
280 F. FLORES ET AL.

Figure 1. Multicellular-cellular and confusing and misunderstanding

terms schemes.

Conclusions
The perspective provided by the analysis is one that shows serious problems with
respect to the appearance of numerous previous ideas that show students’ lack
CELL REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSES IN HIGH SCHOOL 281

important knowledge of various processes of pluricellular organisms, which they

use as an analogy for representing the cell.
Results show that in students’ constructions of an integrated representation –
including levels of differentiation and articulation – of a cell and its processes,
several levels of comprehension are present and range from general functions of
living organisms to cell structure and functioning. There are some difficulties
present in the comprehension of the functioning of organs and apparatus belonging
to macroscopic organisms that are transferred to the cell. This is persistent among
students, resulting from the analogy students make between different levels of cell
organization.
The use of the analogical scheme ‘multicellular–cellular’ by students might
have implications for difficulties, as they have to establish abstract representations
for cellular structures and functions. Above all, implications concern the construc-
tion of explanations about multicellular functioning, starting from conceptualiza-
tion about the cell itself. This scheme does not permit an understanding of the
differences and similarities between plant and animals.
Likewise, results exhibit different processes – at a multicellular level – that
involve comprehension problems – between functions and processes – expressed,
for example, by confusion among mitosis and meiosis concepts. Problems of
understanding and persistence of previous ideas in this field might be related to
a long process of schooling in biology that emphasizes description of processes
among living things. This needs further analysis.
Longitudinal views – general living processes to cell – might be useful for
analysing other themes and concepts in biology that students have special
difficulty in understanding. It might also be useful to analyse, in great depth,
students’ difficulties in constructing representations of processes at a cellular
level. Another question to analyse is how dangerous or useful can isomorphism
be for the comprehension of complex themes in biology, as it is shown in this and
other studies.

Teaching implications
Usually, programmes of study in this field and biology textbooks – at secondary
and high school level – present basic processes of living things as separated ele-
ments. It is, therefore, difficult to teach a process like respiration that goes from a
pluricellular level up to a cellular one. It is also hard to explain the functioning of
diverse organs and organisms if the cell level is detached from other levels of
organization. Such difficulties, as already mentioned, have severe repercussions
for the understanding of cell themes and biology as a whole.
Confusions between terms and processes like respiration and photosynthesis,
or mitosis and meiosis, might originate in the emphasis given in class and text-
books at lower educational levels. For example, the ‘need for oxygen’ in human
respiration and the production of oxygen by photosynthesis leads to confusion over
the different role played by these terms and processes.
These conclusions signal a possible direction for change in teaching: address
the detected problems from the start – the relationship between multicellular and
cellular levels – and clarify – for an integral view – the net of complex processes
performed at different levels of organization.
282 F. FLORES ET AL.

Suggestions
Relation between multicellular and cellular processes. It is necessary for teachers to
make an effort to teach a general process like respiration or reproduction from
multicellular organisms to cell. It is also helpful if a detailed description of rela-
tionships between processes in the cell and how these processes determine multi-
cellular ones is described. It is recommended that special attention be given to the
‘multicellular–cellular’ scheme where analogies may introduce conflicting inter-
pretations. Certainly, the use of analogies is important and necessary but teachers
need to use them carefully and point out the limits of them and the necessity for
constructing formal representations.

Establishing levels of complexity. In accordance with the previous statement, it is

useful to consider that scientific concepts have different levels of understanding
and scope within scientific theories, therefore such concepts cannot be dealt with
the same way. Concepts need to be located in a context that provides students with
elements for constructing and assigning meaning to scientific concepts. In corre-
spondence to links between general and cellular processes, treatment of these levels
of organization can start with the most general aspects that are closest to students’
experience.

Previous ideas. It is convenient not to consider previous ideas as isolated concep-

tual entities, because they present sets of concepts that make it possible to establish
interrelations among them (Flores and Gallegos 1998), as they belong to a con-
ceptual frame (Driver and Easley 1978). The results of this report suggest an
interpretation of students’ ideas in this interrelated fashion would allow fruitful
teaching practice. In this sense, teachers need to promote a teaching strategy that
takes into account broad problems like anthropomorphic views, and avoid dealing
with previous ideas in an isolated fashion.

A context in the class. Representing concepts in a field as vast as that of the cell
makes it necessary to consider that, in a teaching situation students, must be
immersed in an atmosphere that does not permit the isolation of concepts and
cell processes. This atmosphere implies that in all actions teachers decide to
carry out, students would have referents like a problem to understand, diverse
additional features as text, experiments, use of history of science, simulators,
etc., that will allow them to make relations, inferences and construct explanations
that make possible the construction of an articulated cell and cell processes
representations.

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Appendix
Selection of some questions that form part of the questionnaires:
Water in animals
In animal cells, the passage of substances through the membrane is regulated by:
(1) Different amounts of substances dissolved in water inside and outside the
cell.
(2) Equal amounts of substances dissolved in water inside and outside the
cell.
(3) Intracellular movements that displace the substances through the cell
membrane.
How do you explain this?
Water is necessary in the inside of animal cells to:
(1) Give chemical energy to the cell so that it can perform all its functions.
(2) Dissolve substances and participate in chemical reactions.
(3) Decompose and give hydrogen and oxygen for intracellular chemical
reactions.
(4) Act as an organic compound that the cell needs to feed itself.
Give reasons for your answer.

Water in plants
When a plant is left without water for several days, it shrivels up because:
(1) plant respiration is not favoured.
(2) the plant is not kept swollen.
(3) the plant is not provided with energy.
(4) hormone activity is not regulated.
When a plant is adapted to living in a temperate climate, how can it regulate water
loss on a hot day?
CELL REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSES IN HIGH SCHOOL 285

(1) By decreasing the amount of stomata (pores found in the leaves)

(2) By increasing the protective layers.
(3) By closing the stomata.
(4) By decreasing cell activities.

How do you explain this?

Cell shape
Cells are:
(1) All flat
(2) All three-dimensional
(3) Some flat and other three-dimensional.
Why?

Which of the following structures are constituted by cells?

Bone ( ) Blood ( )
Liver ( ) Teeth ( )
Skin ( ) Cartilage ( )
Nails ( ) Pupil ( )
Hair ( )

Nutrition in animals
With respect to nutrition, organisms are classified as autotrophs (they synthesize
their own food) and heterotrophs (they take synthesized food). Write number 1 for
autotrophs and 2 for heterotrophs for the following organisms:
Spider__ paramecia___ yeast___ man___ maize___ lactobacillus___ dolphin__
Intestinal worm___ elodea (Anacharis ssp)___ fungus___

Which nutrients are organic in the following list?

(1) Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
(2) Water, minerals and some gases in the air.
(3) Hydrochloric acid, strontium sulphur and calcium.
(4) Vitamins, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates.
Explain why you consider them to be organic.

Nutrition in plants
What is the process of nutrition in plants like?
In which organelle is photosynthesis carried out? ( )
a) mitochondrion b) chloroplast c) amyloplast d) vacuole.

Reproduction
Tissues continually substitute those cells that are dying or being lost through
natural processes, for example: the life of a red globule (erythrocyte) is approxi-
mately 15 days, the spleen and the red bone marrow constantly form new cells to
replace the dead ones. How does this cell replacement take place?
286 CELL REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSES IN HIGH SCHOOL

(1) Through bipartition of the cells, without movement of chromosomes or

the presence of a spindle.
(2) Through a process of indirect division with the movement of chromo-
somes and the presence of a spindle.
(3) Through a process of direct division that does not guarantee the equal
distribution of chromosomes to daughter cells.
How do you explain this?

It is frequent to hear that when a person likes a plant, they ask for a piece to plant.
By means of which process is the new plant formed?
(1) Through asexual reproduction.
(2) Through sexual reproduction.
How do you explain this?

Respiration
When do plants breathe?
a) during the day b) during the night c) always d) never
Explain your answer.

How does the nucleus participate in respiration?

Cell size
Most cells have a size between:
(1) 0.1–0.001 mm
(2) 0.001–0.00001 mm
(3) 0.00001–0.0000001 mm
Do you think bone cells have the same size when you were a baby as they do now
that you are a young person?
a) yes b) no
Why?