A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education
A Cross-Course Investigation of Integrative Cases for Evolution Education
复制标题
进化论教育综合案例的跨课程调查
DOI：
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发表时间：
2015
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
James J. Smith
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Peter White;Merle K. Heidemann;James J. Smith
进化论是生物学的基石理论，但许多本科生很难理解它。原因之一是，进化论通常是在宏观尺度的背景下进行教授的，而与微观尺度的过程没有明确的联系。为了解决这个问题，我们开发了一系列综合进化案例，展示了各种性状的进化，从基因突变的起源，到修饰蛋白质的合成，到这些蛋白质如何产生新的表型，再到新表型对生态群落中种群的相关宏观影响。我们假设学生在使用这些综合进化案例的背景下学习生物学时会对进化有更全面的理解。我们在课前/课后评估框架内使用了之前开发的评估工具 ATEEK（评估进化知识的评估工具）。在使用综合案例的课程中学习生物学的学生在进化评估中的表现明显优于在不使用案例的课程中学习的学生。我们还发现，随着接触综合进化案例的增多，学生对进化的理解也随之增加。这些发现支持了一个普遍的假设，即当学生了解进化的遗传和分子机制以及宏观解释时，他们会对进化有更全面的理解。
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.