Classroom activities to promote a deep understanding of evolution among biology majors in introductory courses

生物科学（61）.进化论是生物学的中心统一理论，但许多学生对此知之甚少。大量的证据表明，进化论本质上是一个很难学习的理论，部分原因是：1）学生往往缺乏理解进化论的概念背景，对进化论有误解; 2）进化论很难观察; 3）进化论经常在大型讲座中教授。三十年的研究为克服这些障碍指明了一条清晰的道路。特别是，教师可以1）设计教学，以解决学生的误解，2）说明尽可能具体的进化变化，3）强调科学思维，4）给学生多个关键概念的例子，5）将主动学习练习纳入讲座。该项目正在解决这些建议的方法，以提高在本科层次的进化教学，通过一系列的20个研究为基础的课堂活动，生物学专业的生物学入门课程的发展。这些活动的开展以有效课程设计的循证原则为指导。每项活动都通过学生访谈、学生工作录像、学生调查以及教学前后学生概念的比较进行仔细评估。经过验证的标准化考试也被用来衡量学生在整个课程中的学习情况。正在通过一系列经同行审查的出版物、会议介绍和讲习班传播课堂活动和评价结果的说明。此外，还通过在线教学录像数据库提供课堂活动录像，供可能采用这些材料的人使用。美国本科生生物学教育的智力价值评论一再呼吁在这个项目中正在开发的课堂活动。这些活动的一个新特点是，它们被设计为将基因组学的最新发现带入课堂，目的是吸引学生，并作为消除关于自然选择如何发生的常见误解的有效策略。更广泛的影响这个项目的主要影响是改善美国本科生关于进化论的教育，通过创建其他教师可以使用的课堂活动，特别是在大招生的入门课程中，并通过为教师提供示范性教学实践模型，他们可以从中创建自己的活动。这个项目由生物科学理事会的基金共同资助，新兴前沿司。

Biological Sciences (61). Evolution is the central unifying theory of biology, but is poorly understood by many students. A large body of evidence shows that evolution is an inherently difficult theory to learn, in part because 1) students often lack the conceptual background to understand evolution, and have misconceptions about it, 2) evolution can be difficult to observe, and 3) evolution is often taught in large lecture-based classes. Three decades of research have charted a clear path for overcoming these obstacles. In particular, instructors can 1) design instruction to address student misconceptions, 2) illustrate evolutionary changes as concretely as possible, 3) emphasize scientific thinking, 4) give students multiple examples of key concepts, and 5) incorporate active learning exercises into lectures. This project is addressing these recommended ways to improve instruction of evolution at the undergraduate level through development of a series of 20 research-based classroom activities for teaching evolution to biology majors in introductory undergraduate biology courses. Development of the activities is being guided by evidence-based principles for effective course design. Each activity is being carefully evaluated through student interviews, video recordings of students working, student surveys, and comparison of student conceptions before and after instruction. Validated standardized tests are also being used to measure student learning across the entire course. Descriptions of the classroom activities and results from the evaluations are being disseminated through a series of peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations and workshops. In addition, videos of the classroom activities are being made available through an online database of teaching videos for use by potential adopters of the materials. Intellectual merit Reviews of undergraduate biology education in the United States have repeatedly called for the kinds of classroom activities that are being developed in this project. A novel feature of these activities is that they are being designed to bring recent discoveries in genomics into the classroom, for the purpose of engaging students and as an effective strategy for dispelling common misconceptions regarding how natural selection occurs. Broader impacts The primary impact of this project is on improving undergraduate education about evolution in the United States, both by creating classroom activities that other instructors can use, particularly in large enrollment introductory courses, and by providing instructors with a model of exemplary teaching practices, from which they can create their own activities.This project is being co-funded by funds from the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Emerging Frontiers Division.