Analysis of the core competence of scientific inquiry in biology tests of Beijing College Entrance Examinations from 2017 to 2023

In order to deeply understand how the biological college entrance examination tests the core competence of scientific inquiry, this paper systematically analyzes the scientific inquiry questions of Beijing College Entrance Examination from 2017 to 2023 with reference to the Biology Curriculum Standards for ordinary High Schools (2017 edition, 2020 revision). The result shows that the proportion of scientific inquiry questions is ≥40%, including two types of multiple choice questions and non-multiple choice questions, and the scope of tests covers 20 chapters in 5 modules of biology textbooks in high school. Among them, gene engineering, relationship between genes and chromosomes, immune regulation, and cell energy supply and utilization are more frequently examined. In terms of academic quality, multiple-choice questions are mostly at level 1 to 2, non-multiple-choice questions are involved at all four levels, the proportion of tests with 1 to 4 is 9%, 40%, 40% and 11%, respectively. In terms of discipline ability, multiple choice questions mainly test the ability such as understanding and application, while non-multiple choice questions focus on the ability such as application, speculation and innovation. Taking genetic engineering as an example, it is evident that scientific inquiries often involve complex experimental scenarios, high standards for academic quality and discipline ability, and integration with multiple knowledge points. This study can provide some enlightenment and reference for the cultivation of the core competence of science inquiry in biology at middle school.