Concept Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS)

Purpose

The Concept Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) assesses students’ understanding of natural selection with 20 multiple-choice questions that cover 10 concepts in natural selection: biotic potential, carrying capacity, limited resources, limited survival, genetic variation, the origin of variation, variation is inherited, differential survival, change in potential, and the origin of species,

Population

The CINS is commonly administered in introductory biology courses for majors and non majors.

Typical Performance

Anderson and colleagues (2002) report course averages for non-majors ranging from 41% to 56% after instruction.

Example question

Validity

The was developed by Anderson, Fisher, and Norman in 2002.

Anderson, D. L., Fisher, K. M., & Norman, G. J. (2002). Development and evaluation of the conceptual inventory of natural selection. Journal of research in science teaching, 39(10), 952-978.

Research

Anderson, D. L., Fisher, K. M., & Norman, G. J. (2002). Development and evaluation of the conceptual inventory of natural selection. Journal of research in science teaching, 39(10), 952-978.

Evans, P., & Anderson, D. L. (2013, April). The Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection a decade later: Development and pilot testing of a middle school version leads to a revised college/high school version. In annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) (pp. 6-9).

Example LASSO Report

Please follow this link to our example report for concept inventories.