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...

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Autores principales:	Peter John Thomas White, Merle K. Heidemann, James J. Smith
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2015
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/73d8ddbfa07b433eba5d544818ffb9ca
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:73d8ddbfa07b433eba5d544818ffb9ca2021-11-15T15:04:03ZA Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education10.1128/jmbe.v16i2.8761935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/73d8ddbfa07b433eba5d544818ffb9ca2015-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v16i2.876https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885Evolution 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.Peter John Thomas WhiteMerle K. HeidemannJames J. SmithAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 16, Iss 2, Pp 157-166 (2015)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Peter John Thomas White Merle K. Heidemann James J. Smith A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education
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.
format	article
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
title	A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education
title_short	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_sort	cross-course investigation of integrative cases for evolution education
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2015
url	https://doaj.org/article/73d8ddbfa07b433eba5d544818ffb9ca
work_keys_str_mv	AT peterjohnthomaswhite acrosscourseinvestigationofintegrativecasesforevolutioneducation AT merlekheidemann acrosscourseinvestigationofintegrativecasesforevolutioneducation AT jamesjsmith acrosscourseinvestigationofintegrativecasesforevolutioneducation AT peterjohnthomaswhite crosscourseinvestigationofintegrativecasesforevolutioneducation AT merlekheidemann crosscourseinvestigationofintegrativecasesforevolutioneducation AT jamesjsmith crosscourseinvestigationofintegrativecasesforevolutioneducation
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A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education

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