Publications

15. Uminski, C., Tisdale, T., Osterhage, J., Wright, L. K, & Newman, D. L. (submitted). Lost in transcription: Drawings on biology exam "cheat sheets" reveal student misunderstandings about diagrams of DNA. 

14. Burgess, T., Uminski, C., Alicea, G., & Couch, B. A. (submitted). The impact of external resource use on the validity of score interpretation for a biology concept assessment administered out-of-class. 

13.  Uminski, C., Newman, D. L., & Wright, L. K. (submitted). The illusion of clarity in familiar genetics diagrams. 

12.  Sankar, U., Silldorff, E. P., Uminski, C., & Crowther, G. J. (in revision). Animal and alien examples in assessments have the potential to elicit higher-order thinking about human physiology. 

11.  Esparza, D., Amin, N. E., Frings, F. G., Halmo, S., Hazlett, Z. S., Heim, A. B., Uminski, C., Von der Mehden, B., Wright, A. M., Yang, M. (in press). For trainees, by trainees: Supporting discipline-based education research scholars-in-training through career transitions with inclusive, accessible professional development. In Eston, C., Lightner, T., Greenler, R (Eds.), Understanding Membership Diversity and Supporting Equitable STEM Communities. Lexington Books. 

10.  Uminski, C., Newman, D. L., & Wright, L. K. (2025). Misshaped chromosomes, mismatched chromatids, and missized genes: Easy edits may help mitigate misconceptions commonly represented in published scientific figures. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 26(2), e00083-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00083-25

9.  Uminski, C., Cammarota, C., Couch, B. A., Wright, L. K. & Newman, D. L. (2025). Biology exams rarely use visual models to engage higher-order cognitive skills.  PLoS ONE, 20(7), e0317077. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0317077

8.  Uminski, C., Sujith, S., Nallani, A., Armpriest, B., Wright, L. K.,  Newman, D. L. & Yang, M. (2025). Showing the bonds—A subtle but important difference in figure design that may alleviate student confusion about ATP hydrolysis. microPublication Biology. https://doi.org/10.17912/micropub.biology.001540 

7.  Uminski, C.,  Wright, L. K., & Newman, D. L. (2025). Sketchy understandings: Drawings reveal where students may need additional support to understand scale and abstraction in common representations of DNA.  Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 26(2), e00070-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00070-25

6.  Uminski, C., Newman, D. L. & Wright, L. K.  (2025). Probing visual literacy skills reveals unexpected student conceptions of chromosomes. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 24(1), ar17. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.24-07-0176

5.  Uminski, C. & Couch, B. A. (2024). Identifying factors associated with instructor implementation of three-dimensional assessments in undergraduate biology courses. PLoS ONE, 19(10), e0312252. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312252

4.  Newman, D. L., Uminski, C., & Wright, L. K. (2024). Student-generated analogies for learning about information flow. CourseSource, 11. https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2024.14

3.  Uminski, C., Burbach, S. M., & Couch, B. A. (2024). Undergraduate biology lecture courses predominantly test facts about science rather than scientific practices. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 23(2), ar19. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.23-12-0244

2.  Uminski, C., Hubbard, J. K., & Couch, B. A. (2023). How administration stakes and settings affect student behavior and performance on a biology concept assessment. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 22(2), ar27. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.22-09-0181

1.  Uminski, C. & Couch, B. A. (2021). GenBio-MAPS as a case study to understand and address the effects of test-taking motivation in low-stakes program assessments. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 20(2), ar20. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-10-0243