Modeling Tree-Thinking: Measuring Evolutionary Relatedness Understanding and Examining the Interaction of Factors that Influence Tree-Thinking

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。系统发育树是生物学中描述生物体及其进化史的常见图表。由于进化被认为是支撑许多生物学的基本主题，理解这些树形图是至关重要的。在文学作品中，阅读这种树的能力通常被称为“树思维”。本科生经常发现树式思维非常困难。这项研究旨在研究影响树思维的因素，如心理旋转和对进化的理解。目前，人们对这些因素相互作用的方式以及学生对生物分组的日常想法如何影响树思维知之甚少。这个项目旨在发展对学生思维的评估。研究人员和教育工作者可以利用从这项研究中获得的知识来设计更好的干预措施。本研究的目标是(A)创建一个基于证据的评估，测量进化相关性的多种概念，(B)建立可能影响树思维的不同因素的模型，以及(C)探索本科生扫描树图的方式。评估将根据主要研究者的论文工作结果创建。数据拟合将根据来自两所本科院校的200多名参与者的数据来确定。效度将通过专家判断、验证性因素分析和反应过程测试来确定。可靠性将通过检查内部一致性和重测可靠性来确定。建模将在同一机构进行，使用上述仪器以及其他测量因素的仪器，如空间推理，进化接受，进化理解，树木阅读和操作能力。几个模型将使用结构方程模型进行评估，然后与模型评估指标（如赤池信息标准）进行比较。本研究的最后阶段将是探索性的，来自上述课程的学生将使用潜在剖面分析进行分组。每个小组的代表将在眼球追踪设备的监控下进行树思维任务。学生的扫描路径将根据他们的树思维能力进行检查。这项研究的目的是开发与进化相关性相关的学生思维评估，可用于研究目的或在教育环境中，可以更好地解释影响树思维的因素。该项目响应STEM教育博士后研究奖学金（STEM Ed PRF）计划，旨在提高STEM， STEM教育，教育和相关学科的近期博士的研究知识，技能和实践，以促进他们从事基础和应用研究的准备，从而推进该领域的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Phylogenetic trees are common diagrams in biology that depict organisms and their evolutionary history. As evolution is considered a fundamental topic that underpins much of biology, understanding these tree diagrams is critical. The ability to read such trees is often referred to as "tree-thinking" in the literature. Undergraduate students often find tree-thinking very difficult. This study is designed to examine factors that influence tree-thinking such as mental rotation and understanding of evolution. At present, little is known about the ways these factors interact and the ways in which students' everyday ideas about grouping organisms affect tree-thinking. This project aims to develop assessments of student thinking. Researchers and educators can use the knowledge gained from this study to design better interventions.The goals of this study are to (A) create an evidence-based assessment measuring multiple conceptions of evolutionary relatedness, (B) model the different factors that may influence tree-thinking, and (C) explore the ways in which undergraduate students scan tree diagrams. The assessment will be created based on the findings of the primary investigator's dissertation work. Data fit will be determined with data from over 200 participants at two undergraduate institutions. Validity will be determined using expert judgement, confirmatory factor analysis, and response process testing. Reliability will be determined by examining internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Modeling will be conducted at the same institutions with the aforementioned instrument as well as other instruments measuring factors such as spatial reasoning, evolution acceptance, evolution understanding, and tree-reading and manipulation abilities. Several models will be evaluated using structural equation modeling and later compared with model evaluation metrics such as Akaike Information Criterion. The final phase of this study will be exploratory where students from the aforementioned courses are grouped using latent profile analysis. Representatives from each group will conduct tree-thinking tasks while being monitored by eye-tracking equipment. Students' scanpaths will be examined with respect to their tree-thinking abilities. This study is designed to develop assessments of student thinking that relate to evolutionary relatedness that can be used for research purposes or in educational settings that can better explain the factors that influence tree-thinking.The project responds to the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program that aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.