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Dr. Dianne Anderson is the program director of ¹ú²ú¾çÂ鶹¾ç's Master of Science in General Biology program, and teaches classes at the undergraduate and graduate level. In addition to her teaching, she conducts research on student learning of challenging biology concepts. The products of her research, a diagnostic test called the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) and biology concept cartoons, are used by teachers, researchers, and professors in classrooms across the country.

The CINS was published in 2002, then it was revised in 2013 to increase the readability and to create two versions: a middle school version and a high school/college version.  If you are a teacher or professor and would like to use one of these versions at no charge, submit a request here: dianneanderson@pointloma.edu.

Teachers can use concept cartoons to probe the ideas held by students, and then can adjust instruction to help to move students to scientific understanding. The concept cartoon collection is available at no charge and can be accessed in two ways: 1) by searching for "Anderson" here: or 2)

In addition to her research and teaching, Anderson maintains an extensive collection of more than 110 species of plants at her home near campus that she uses in teaching some of her courses. She grew up on a farm in Idaho, but she and her husband, who also teaches at ¹ú²ú¾çÂ鶹¾ç, have lived in San Diego for over 30 years. They have two married children, both ¹ú²ú¾çÂ鶹¾ç graduates, and now 6 grandchildren.

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