Exploration of Bioinformatics Skills in Pre-service Biology Teachers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35877/454RI.asci4399Keywords:
Bioinformatics Skills, Comparative Study, Pre-service Biology TeachersAbstract
This study analyzes the bioinformatics skills and a selection of related experiences of student biology teachers who had varying amounts of formal training in courses on bioinformatics. Data were collected using a qualitative approach from 26 students who did and 23 students who did not take the bioinformatics course. The data collection instrument consisted of three opinion-based items and three items that tested cognitive performance. Qualitative data analyses made use of thematic analysis supported by diagramming; cognitive performances were analyzed by descriptive statistics. The results indicated descriptive differences in the skill profiles of the two groups, including tool use, reflective learning practices, perceived task difficulty, and biology knowledge scores-70.29% for students with course exposure and 63.63% for those without course exposure. As an exploratory study, these findings provide empirical insight into the distribution of bioinformatics-related competencies and learning experiences among prospective biology teachers. Therefore, future studies should consider longitudinal or experimental designs to better understand how bioinformatics learning can be optimally integrated into biology teacher education.
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References
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Welch, L., Lewitter, F., Schwartz, R., Brooksbank, C., Radivojac, P., Gaeta, B., & Schneider, M. V. (2014). Bioinformatics curriculum guidelines: toward a definition of core competencies. PLOS computational biology, 10(3), e1003496.
Wightman, B., & Hark, A. T. (2012). Integration of bioinformatics into an undergraduate biology curriculum and the impact on development of mathematical skills. Biochemistry and molecular biology education, 40(5), 310-319.
Wu, H., & Palani, A. (2015, October). Bioinformatics curriculum development and skill sets for bioinformaticians. In 2015 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) (pp. 1-7). IEEE.
Cresiski, R. H. (2014). Undergraduate bioinformatics workshops provide perceived skills. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 15(2), 292-294.
Ditty, J. L., Kvaal, C. A., Goodner, B., Freyermuth, S. K., Bailey, C., Britton, R. A., ... & Kerfeld, C. A. (2010). Incorporating genomics and bioinformatics across the life sciences curriculum. PLoS biology, 8(8), e1000448.
Drew, J., Morgan, W., Galindo, S., Kleinschmit, A. J., McWilliams, M., Pauley, M., ... & Rosenwald, A. (2023, November). Revisiting barriers to implementation of bioinformatics into life sciences education. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 8, p. 1317191). Frontiers Media SA.
El Islami, R. A. Z., Sari, I. J., & Utari, E. (2023). Conceptualizing bioinformatics education in STEM literacy development for pre-service biology teachers. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 10(12), 193-202.
Gao, L., & Guo, M. (2023). A course?based undergraduate research experience for bioinformatics education in undergraduate students. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 51(2), 189-199.
Gupta, Y. M., Kirana, S. N., Homchan, S., & Tanasarnpaiboon, S. (2023). Teaching Python programming for bioinformatics with Jupyter notebook in the Post?COVID?19 era. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 51(5), 537-539.
Hotaling, S., Slabach, B. L., & Weisrock, D. W. (2018). Next-generation teaching: a template for bringing genomic and bioinformatic tools into the classroom. Journal of Biological Education, 52(3), 301-313.
Howard, D. R., Miskowski, J. A., Grunwald, S. K., & Abler, M. L. (2007). Assessment of a bioinformatics across life science curricula initiative. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 35(1), 16-23.
Luscombe, N. M., Greenbaum, D., & Gerstein, M. (2001). What is bioinformatics? An introduction and overview. Yearbook of medical informatics, 10(01), 83-100.
Machluf, Y., & Yarden, A. (2013). Integrating bioinformatics into senior high school: design principles and implications. Briefings in bioinformatics, 14(5), 648-660.
Machluf, Y., Gelbart, H., Ben-Dor, S., & Yarden, A. (2017). Making authentic science accessible—the benefits and challenges of integrating bioinformatics into a high-school science curriculum. Briefings in bioinformatics, 18(1), 145-159.
Madlung, A. (2018). Assessing an effective undergraduate module teaching applied bioinformatics to biology students. PLoS computational biology, 14(1), e1005872.
Magana, A. J., Taleyarkhan, M., Alvarado, D. R., Kane, M., Springer, J., & Clase, K. (2014). A survey of scholarly literature describing the field of bioinformatics education and bioinformatics educational research. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 13(4), 607-623.
Martins, A., Fonseca, M. J., Lemos, M., Lencastre, L., & Tavares, F. (2020). Bioinformatics-based activities in high school: fostering students’ literacy, interest, and attitudes on gene regulation, genomics, and evolution. Frontiers in microbiology, 11, 578099.
Mulder, N., Schwartz, R., Brazas, M. D., Brooksbank, C., Gaeta, B., Morgan, S. L., ... & Welch, L. (2018). The development and application of bioinformatics core competencies to improve bioinformatics training and education. PLoS computational biology, 14(2), e1005772.
Sangeda, R. Z., Mwakilili, A. D., Masamu, U., Nkya, S., Mwita, L. A., Massawe, D. P., ... & Makani, J. (2021, June). A Baseline Evaluation of Bioinformatics Capacity in Tanzania Reveals Areas for Training. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 6, p. 665313). Frontiers Media SA.
Sari, I. J., El Islami, R. A. Z., Suparman, S., & Lutfi, A. (2024). Pemanfaatan Bioinfomatics Tools dalam Pembelajaran Genetika Bagi Dosen Pendidikan Biologi di Salah Satu Universitas Di Ternate. Jurnal Pengabdian Dinamika, 11(2), 45-61.
Sari, I. J., El Islami, R. A. Z., Zakaria, Z., Nuangchalerm, P., Suparman, S., & Maharani, S. (2025). Perceptions of Indonesian and Thai science lecturers on e-BIMO in science teacher education programs.
Sayres, M. A. W., Hauser, C., Sierk, M., Robic, S., Rosenwald, A. G., Smith, T. M., ... & Pauley, M. A. (2018). Bioinformatics core competencies for undergraduate life sciences education. PloS one, 13(6), e0196878.
Stangherlin Machado Paixão-Côrtes, V., Ritzel Paixão-Côrtes, W., de Borba Campos, M., & Norberto de Souza, O. (2018, June). A panorama on selection and use of bioinformatics tools in the Brazilian University context. In International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 553-573). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Welch, L., Lewitter, F., Schwartz, R., Brooksbank, C., Radivojac, P., Gaeta, B., & Schneider, M. V. (2014). Bioinformatics curriculum guidelines: toward a definition of core competencies. PLOS computational biology, 10(3), e1003496.
Wightman, B., & Hark, A. T. (2012). Integration of bioinformatics into an undergraduate biology curriculum and the impact on development of mathematical skills. Biochemistry and molecular biology education, 40(5), 310-319.
Wu, H., & Palani, A. (2015, October). Bioinformatics curriculum development and skill sets for bioinformaticians. In 2015 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) (pp. 1-7). IEEE.
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Published
2026-04-30
How to Cite
Sari, I. J., Maida, C., Yustika, D., El Islami, R. A. Z., & Santoso, M. I. . (2026). Exploration of Bioinformatics Skills in Pre-service Biology Teachers. Journal of Applied Science, Engineering, Technology, and Education, 8(1), 164–174. https://doi.org/10.35877/454RI.asci4399
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Copyright (c) 2026 Indah Juwita Sari, R. Ahmad Zaky El Islami, Citra Maida, Diana Yustika, Muhammad Iman Santoso (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
