Learning Modules to Enhance Understanding of Animal Development

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Biological Sciences (61):This series of animated learning modules is designed to make the processes and mechanisms of animal development transparent to undergraduate students in biology. Module design follows pedagogical best practices by parsing the complex 3D process of development into accessible sections where text, voice, animation, and formative assessment are all combined. Assessment occurs through regular use of multiple choice questions, matching questions, data sorting and ordering questions, throughout each module. Targeted feedback is provided immediately after each assessment tool is used. The modules require students to predict what they expect to see before viewing animation segments. Users of the modules follow a learning path in which they define expectations, observe events, assess interpretation, and make new predictions. There are many elements to the modules including contextual information, animated visualization, inquiry scripts, a formative feedback loop, written explanation, a documentation tool, and summative assessment instruments.The intellectual merit of the project lies in the prescriptive nature of the learning modules. They are focused around animal development, but the learning goals of each module are discipline specific. An understanding of events and mechanisms of organismal development is central to many areas within biology (introductory biology, phylogeny, evolutionary biology, developmental biology, macroevolution, molecular biology, evolutionary development, and invertebrate/vertebrate zoology), but the way in which developmental information is used varies greatly. In phylogeny, shared features indicate shared ancestry whereas in developmental biology, morphological change is correlated with gene expression. By surrounding state-of-the-art, biologically accurate animations with different sets of learning challenges, students are challenged to analyze development in different contexts, rather than to memorize morphological sequences. This project is designed to have a broad impact because the learning modules are packaged for users from many different areas of study, in both upper and lower division courses, and feature a learning script for instructors. To ensure that the materials are appropriately directed, students from underrepresented STEM groups are critiquing content and design during module formulation. The module developers include students, faculty at a research university and a community college, animators, and professional evaluators of written and visual educational materials. The learning value of the modules are being assessed locally first so that improvements can be made as needed; however,web dissemination with properly selected descriptors permits easy access for students, faculty, and interested parties around the globe.