A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education
Evolution is a cornerstone theory in biology, yet many undergraduate students have difficulty understanding it. One reason for this is that evolution is often taught in a macro-scale context without explicit links to micro-scale processes. To address this, we developed a series of integrative evolut...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2015-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v16i2.876 |
| _version_ | 1819002404864000000 |
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| author | Peter John Thomas White Merle K. Heidemann James J. Smith |
| author_facet | Peter John Thomas White Merle K. Heidemann James J. Smith |
| author_sort | Peter John Thomas White |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evolution is a cornerstone theory in biology, yet many undergraduate students have difficulty understanding it. One reason for this is that evolution is often taught in a macro-scale context without explicit links to micro-scale processes. To address this, we developed a series of integrative evolution cases that present the evolution of various traits from their origin in genetic mutation, to the synthesis of modified proteins, to how these proteins produce novel phenotypes, to the related macro-scale impacts that the novel phenotypes have on populations in ecological communities. We postulated that students would develop a fuller understanding of evolution when learning biology in a context where these integrative evolution cases are used. We used a previously developed assessment tool, the ATEEK (Assessment Tool for Evaluating Evolution Knowledge), within a pre-course/post-course assessment framework. Students who learned biology in courses using the integrative cases performed significantly better on the evolution assessment than did students in courses that did not use the cases. We also found that student understanding of evolution increased with increased exposure to the integrative evolution cases. These findings support the general hypothesis that students acquire a more complete understanding of evolution when they learn about its genetic and molecular mechanisms along with macro-scale explanations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T23:04:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-73d8ddbfa07b433eba5d544818ffb9ca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-7877 1935-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T23:04:34Z |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-73d8ddbfa07b433eba5d544818ffb9ca2022-12-21T19:23:55ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education1935-78771935-78852015-12-0116215716610.1128/jmbe.v16i2.876A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution EducationPeter John Thomas White0Merle K. Heidemann1James J. Smith2Lyman Briggs College, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823Department of Geological Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824Lyman Briggs College, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823Evolution is a cornerstone theory in biology, yet many undergraduate students have difficulty understanding it. One reason for this is that evolution is often taught in a macro-scale context without explicit links to micro-scale processes. To address this, we developed a series of integrative evolution cases that present the evolution of various traits from their origin in genetic mutation, to the synthesis of modified proteins, to how these proteins produce novel phenotypes, to the related macro-scale impacts that the novel phenotypes have on populations in ecological communities. We postulated that students would develop a fuller understanding of evolution when learning biology in a context where these integrative evolution cases are used. We used a previously developed assessment tool, the ATEEK (Assessment Tool for Evaluating Evolution Knowledge), within a pre-course/post-course assessment framework. Students who learned biology in courses using the integrative cases performed significantly better on the evolution assessment than did students in courses that did not use the cases. We also found that student understanding of evolution increased with increased exposure to the integrative evolution cases. These findings support the general hypothesis that students acquire a more complete understanding of evolution when they learn about its genetic and molecular mechanisms along with macro-scale explanations.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v16i2.876 |
| spellingShingle | Peter John Thomas White Merle K. Heidemann James J. Smith A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| title | A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education |
| title_full | A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education |
| title_fullStr | A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education |
| title_short | A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education |
| title_sort | cross course investigation of integrative cases for evolution education |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v16i2.876 |
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