3.1.1. Students’ Understanding of Gene Concept. As a response
to item (2) “which cells of an individual contain the genes
that determine his/her inherited characteristics?” 48% of the
English students and 23% of the Turkish students stated
that chromosomes containing the genes which determine the
inherited characteristics are found in all cells. In response to
item (5) “where is the gene for eye color located?” 74% of the
English students and 37% of the Turkish students stated that
it is found in all cells. Another item in this category is item(7)
and this item expects students to state that in all the somatic
cells of an individual, there are the same genes; hence, eye and
skin cells have the identical genetic information. 43% of the
English students and 31% of the Turkish students responded
to item (7) correctly .The proportion of the English students
giving correct answers to all of the three questions in this
category was 26%and that of the Turkish students was 11%.