Abstract
Molecular biology and genetics have become very important parts of a secondary education curriculum at the turn of 21st century. However, there is still a limited evidence of how much students understand these topics.
Aim of this study was to examine students' understanding of basic concepts of molecular biology and genetics after the end of secondary education and to identify possible misconceptions they hold. Combination of open, open-ended and multiple-choice tasks was utilized for the evaluation.
We tested 316 first-year bachelor students from 21 universities in the Czech Republic in autumn 2019. Answers reveal that students struggle to understand life-long role of DNA in the cell and the amount of its control over the living body and its influence on the phenotype.
Described misconceptions are crucial for further improvements in educational practice and their possible origin is discussed.