Performing Evolution: Role-Play Simulations

By simulating evolution through performance, students become physically, as well as mentally, engaged in thinking about evolutionary concepts. This instructional strategy redirects tension around the subject toward metacognitive reflection. Non-verbal performances like those presented here also avoid the pitfalls of relying on difficult-to-use language. This paper describes a teachable unit including the learning goals and outcomes as well as rubrics to aid assessment. Through two performance-based activities, the unit introduces the fundamental evolutionary concepts that evolution lacks forethought and that natural selection is a sorting process. By reflecting on the performances, students learn other sophisticated evolutionary concepts like hitchhiking, the effects of environmental change, and the extinction of traits. They also become aware of the scientific process, articulating hypotheses about the outcome of the simulations, collecting data, and revising their hypotheses. Discussions and homework about the performances reveal how learning progresses, and detailed rubrics help both instructors and students assess conceptual learning. This unit concludes with the opportunity for students to transfer what they have learned to new concepts: they design new performances to simulate other mechanisms of evolution, such as genetic drift, mutation, and migration.     

Botanical literacy: What and how should students learn about plants?

Botanists benefit from a scientifically literate society and an interested and botanically literate student population, and we have opportunities to promote literacy in our classes. Unfortunately, scientific illiteracy exists, in part, because students are technologically advanced but lack intellectual curiosity and rigor. Botanical illiteracy results from several interacting factors, including a lack of interest in plants and infrequent exposure to plant science before students reach college. If scientific or botanical literacy is a goal, we must understand what literacy means and how we can help students reach that goal. A model of biological literacy recognizes four levels; students enter courses at the lowest level possessing misconceptions about concepts; however, misconceptions can be used to our advantage, especially by using concept inventories. Inquiry-based instruction is advocated for all science courses, and learning theory supports inquiry. Seven principles of learning inform recommendations about how botanists should teach, including using themes and "thinking botanically" to illustrate all biological concepts. Overall, consideration of the botanical content taught is less critical than the methods used to teach that content. If botanists emphasize thinking and process skills with an understanding of concepts, we will prepare scientifically literate students and citizens and benefit from our efforts.     

Gaming as a Platform for Developing Science Practices

Gaming, an integral part of many students’ lives outside school, can provide an engaging platform for focusing students on important disciplinary core concepts as an entry into developing students’ understanding of these concepts through science practices. This article highlights how S’cape can be used to support student learning aligned with the most recent standards documents. Through combining students’ initial engagement in a motivating gaming experience with a two-experiment scaffolded inquiry sequence enhanced with information literacy-targeted homework, this article reveals how support can be offered for asking questions, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations, and engaging in argument from evidence to refine understandings of core concepts. We believe that as science teachers strive to explore important concepts with students through allowing them to actually practice science, games such as S’cape strategically leveraged and sequenced with scaffolded inquiry experiences can support these efforts.     

Improving the energy and nutrient supply for common marmoset monkeys fed under long-term laboratory conditions

BACKGROUND: Current knowledge about the optimal energy and nutrient supply for common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) is scarce, and more information is needed for establishing the underlying nutritional concepts for facilitating longevity of this species as laboratory animals for biomedical research. Methods: Two feeding experiments were conducted to yield fundamental data about feed acceptance, real feed intake, and feed preferences under laboratory conditions. Newly developed feeding concepts for marmoset monkeys were also examined in preliminary investigations to compare the outcomes with those of a commercial pelletized mixed feed. RESULTS: The first experiments showed preferences for main protein sources in the diets studied, specifically that plant proteins are more accepted than fish meal or egg protein as the main protein source. Several aroma supplements did not modify the acceptance and feed intake markedly. Conclusions: The newly developed feeding concept yielded promising preliminary data for long-term studies of energy and nutrient supply under laboratory conditions. However, studies of the fundamental requirements are still needed.     

Hands-on training about overfitting

Overfitting is one of the critical problems in developing models by machine learning. With machine learning becoming an essential technology in computational biology, we must include training about overfitting in all courses that introduce this technology to students and practitioners. We here propose a hands-on training for overfitting that is suitable for introductory level courses and can be carried out on its own or embedded within any data science course. We use workflow-based design of machine learning pipelines, experimentation-based teaching, and hands-on approach that focuses on concepts rather than underlying mathematics. We here detail the data analysis workflows we use in training and motivate them from the viewpoint of teaching goals. Our proposed approach relies on Orange, an open-source data science toolbox that combines data visualization and machine learning, and that is tailored for education in machine learning and explorative data analysis.     

An approach to improving science knowledge about energy balance and nutrition among elementary- and middle-school students

Unhealthy diets, lack of fitness, and obesity are serious problems in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control, Surgeon General, and Department of Health and Human Services are calling for action to address these problems. Scientists and educators at Baylor College of Medicine and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute teamed to produce an instructional unit, "Food and Fitness," and evaluated it with students in grades 3-7 in Houston, Texas. A field-test group (447 students) completed all unit activities under the guidance of their teachers. This group and a comparison group (343 students) completed pre and postassessments measuring knowledge of concepts covered in the unit. Outcomes indicate that the unit significantly increased students' knowledge and awareness of science concepts related to energy in living systems, metabolism, nutrients, and diet. Pre-assessment results suggest that most students understand concepts related to calories in food, exercise and energy use, and matching food intake to energy use. Students' prior knowledge was found to be much lower on topics related to healthy portion sizes, foods that supply the most energy, essential nutrients, what "diet" actually means, and the relationship between body size and basal metabolic rate.     

Developing Inquiry through Activities that Integrate Fieldwork and Microcomputer-Based Technology

This article describes an activity that integrates both mathematics and science while inviting students to make connections between the two and learn significant concepts in a meaningful way. Students work within the real-world context of wildlife population scenarios to make predictions, test their hypotheses, and determine and construct graphs that best represent their data while learning the importance of animal habitats and the factors that impact wildlife populations in continually changing ecosystems. Discussion and experiences with students prior to this activity should ensure that they understand ideas about carrying capacity, components of habitat, and limiting factors.     

Student responses to a hands-on kinesthetic lecture activity for learning about the oxygen carrying capacity of blood

This article describes a new hands-on, or "kinesthetic," activity for use in a physiology lecture hall to help students comprehend an important concept in cardiopulmonary physiology known as oxygen carrying capacity. One impetus for designing this activity was to address the needs of students who have a preference for kinesthetic learning and to help increase their understanding and engagement during lecture. This activity uses simple inexpensive materials, provides an effective model for demonstrating related pathophysiology, and helps promote active learning. The activity protocol and its implementation are described here in detail. We also report data obtained from student surveys and assessment tools to determine the effectiveness of the activity on student conceptual learning and perceptions. A brief multiple-choice pretest showed that although students had already been introduced to the relevant concepts in lecture, they had not yet mastered these concepts before performing the activity. Two postactivity assessments showed that student performance was significantly improved on the posttest compared with the pretest and that information was largely retained at the end of the course. Survey data showed that one-half of the students stated kinesthetic learning as among their learning preferences, yet nearly all students enjoyed and were engaged in this hands-on kinesthetic activity regardless of their preferences. Most students would recommend it to their peers and expressed a desire for more kinesthetic learning opportunities in the lecture curriculum.     

EcoPred: an educational individual based model to explain biological control,a case study within an arable land

ABSTRACT

Individual based models (IBMs) are up-to-date tools both in research and educational areas. Here we introduce an IBM built on NetLogo platform that simulates a top-down trophic cascade controlled by the pressure exerted by two model predators (web-building spiders and ground runner spiders) on a model pest (the olive fruit fly) within a hypothetical agricultural landscape (the olive crop). EcoPred is an IBM that aims to be an educational tool that can help teachers to explain concepts related to ecology in a modern, enjoyable and comprehensive way. EcoPred reflects the changes on a fly population within a simulated olive crop according to (1) the mortality rate caused by the predation of two spider species and energy loss, (2) the energy gain by feeding on flowers and (3) the reproduction rate in olive trees. The model was tested with 26 students achieving very good results in terms of acceptance and interest on the learning method. EcoPred can be used for educational purposes with 16 year old students and older to explain ecological concepts such as trophic level, species interactions, limiting factor and biological control in an interactive way simultaneously introducing students to biology oriented programming languages.     

A different way of teaching the reflection of light: Using the clock model

The goal of this study is to present and evaluate a different way of teaching concepts related to the reflection of light (incident beam, reflecting beam, angle of incidence, angle of reflection, surface, regular reflection, and diffuse reflection). The participants were 42 sixth-grade students (between the ages of 11 and 12) attending a public middle school in the eastern region of Turkey. Students were given the opportunity to learn concepts related to reflection while performing experiments and making observations on their own with a mirror and clock model created by the teacher. The study enabled students to learn about the subject of reflection in a meaningful way, showing a full grasp of the concepts based on both interviews and students worksheets. The implications of these results could help teachers to support students’ learning of concepts related to light based on the exhibited benefits of using a clock model.     

The Ups and Downs of Frogs

Vocabulary is the essential element of comprehending concepts in content areas. Many words used in science content-area materials are used to define concepts and to increase the conceptual development of the content area. Conceptual development is a major goal of content-area instruction. Without a clear understanding of the language of the science content, students will certainly experience difficulty and a lack of interest with their science content-area material. Providing students with inquiry strategic vocabulary strategies can significantly support their understanding and interest concerning the language of science. As a result of using engaged vocabulary strategies, teachers can help students bridge the gap between the language of the science content and the language and background knowledge that students bring to the class. This article is easily adaptable for grades 6-12, and it is applicable to all science areas. It provides the middle and high school science teacher with five engaged learning vocabulary strategies that will help students become active participants in the learning process as they master their content area material. In addition, the article offers a pre- and postevaluation Science Vocabulary Questionnaire.     

运用探究方法,进行建构教学

探究学习是美国芝加哥大学教授施瓦布(Schwabjj)倡导的,通过学生自主参与获得知识的过程,培养学生的探究能力.建构主义认为知识应该是学生在一定的情境下,通过意义建构的方式获得的.这些是新课程标准带来的新教育教学理念.如何将探究性学习与基础知识的教学统一起来,让学生通过探究性学习来建构概念,是新课程改革中需要深入研究的问题.     

The effect of case teaching on meaningful and retentive learning when studying genetic engineering

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of case teaching on how students learn about genetic engineering, in terms of meaningful learning and retention of learning. The study was designed as quasi-experimental research including 63 8th graders (28 boys and 35 girls). To collect data, genetic engineering achievement tests were developed by the researchers and concept maps (CMs) were used. In the study, the experimental group (n = 31) experienced case teaching, while the comparison group (n = 32) experienced ordinary teaching. To analyse the data from achievement test scores, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Mann–Whitney U test were used. In analysis of the CMs, the number of concepts, number of connecting phrases, number of examples used in the maps and shape of the maps were determined. The analyses showed that the mean achievement scores of the groups significantly differed in favour of the experimental group. Also, retention of the learning in the experimental group was observed. The number of concepts used in CMs did not significantly differ, while the number of connecting phrases in both groups differed significantly in favour of the experimental group. In addition, the students in the experimental group changed their initial hierarchical maps into branched maps, indicating more connection to other concepts.     

Teaching cardiovascular physiology with equivalent electronic circuits in a practically oriented teaching module

Here, we report on a new tool for teaching cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology that promotes qualitative as well as quantitative thinking about time-dependent physiological phenomena. Quantification of steady and presteady-state (transient) cardiovascular phenomena is traditionally done by differential equations, but this is time consuming and unsuitable for most undergraduate medical students. As a result, quantitative thinking about time-dependent physiological phenomena is often not extensively dealt with in an undergraduate physiological course. However, basic concepts of steady and presteady state can be explained with relative simplicity, without the introduction of differential equation, with equivalent electronic circuits (EECs). We introduced undergraduate medical students to the concept of simulating cardiovascular phenomena with EECs. EEC simulations facilitate the understanding of simple or complex time-dependent cardiovascular physiological phenomena by stressing the analogies between EECs and physiological processes. Student perceptions on using EEC to simulate, study, and understand cardiovascular phenomena were documented over a 9-yr period, and the impact of the course on the students' knowledge of selected basic facts and concepts in cardiovascular physiology was evaluated over a 3-yr period. We conclude that EECs are a valuable tool for teaching cardiovascular physiology concepts and that EECs promote active learning.     

Using student feedback to construct an assessment rubric for a concept map in physiology

Constructing quality assessment rubrics can be challenging, especially when they are used for integrated, group-centered, applied learning. We describe a collaborative assessment task in which groups of second-year dentistry students developed a complex concept map. In groups of four, the students were given a written, simulated, medical history of a patient and required to construct a concept map illustrating relevant pathophysiological concepts and pharmacological interventions. This report describes a research project aimed at making educational goals of the task more explicit through investigating student and faculty member understandings of the criteria that might be used to assess the concept map. Information was gathered about the perceptions of students in relation to the learning goals associated with the task. These were compared with faculty member perceptions. The findings were used to develop an assessment rubric intended to be more accessible to learners. The new rubric used the language of both faculty members and students to more clearly represent expectations of each criterion and standard. This assessment rubric will be used in 2005 for the next phase of the project.     

Developing a flexible learning activity on biodiversity and spatial scale concepts using open‐access vegetation datasets from the National Ecological Observatory Network

Biodiversity is a complex, yet essential, concept for undergraduate students in ecology and other natural sciences to grasp. As beginner scientists, students must learn to recognize, describe, and interpret patterns of biodiversity across various spatial scales and understand their relationships with ecological processes and human influences. It is also increasingly important for undergraduate programs in ecology and related disciplines to provide students with experiences working with large ecological datasets to develop students’ data science skills and their ability to consider how ecological processes that operate at broader spatial scales (macroscale) affect local ecosystems. To support the goals of improving student understanding of macroscale ecology and biodiversity at multiple spatial scales, we formed an interdisciplinary team that included grant personnel, scientists, and faculty from ecology and spatial sciences to design a flexible learning activity to teach macroscale biodiversity concepts using large datasets from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). We piloted this learning activity in six courses enrolling a total of 109 students, ranging from midlevel ecology and GIS/remote sensing courses, to upper‐level conservation biology. Using our classroom experiences and a pre/postassessment framework, we evaluated whether our learning activity resulted in increased student understanding of macroscale ecology and biodiversity concepts and increased familiarity with analysis techniques, software programs, and large spatio‐ecological datasets. Overall, results suggest that our learning activity improved student understanding of biological diversity, biodiversity metrics, and patterns of biodiversity across several spatial scales. Participating faculty reflected on what went well and what would benefit from changes, and we offer suggestions for implementation of the learning activity based on this feedback. This learning activity introduced students to macroscale ecology and built student skills in working with big data (i.e., large datasets) and performing basic quantitative analyses, skills that are essential for the next generation of ecologists.     

Using a high-fidelity patient simulator with first-year medical students to facilitate learning of cardiovascular function curves

Students are relying on technology for learning more than ever, and educators need to adapt to facilitate student learning. High-fidelity patient simulators (HFPS) are usually reserved for the clinical years of medical education and are geared to improve clinical decision skills, teamwork, and patient safety. Finding ways to incorporate HFPS into preclinical medical education represents more of a challenge, and there is limited literature regarding its implementation. The main objective of this study was to implement a HFPS activity into a problem-based curriculum to enhance the learning of basic sciences. More specifically, the focus was to aid in student learning of cardiovascular function curves and help students develop heart failure treatment strategies based on basic cardiovascular physiology concepts. Pretests and posttests, along with student surveys, were used to determine student knowledge and perception of learning in two first-year medical school classes. There was an increase of 21% and 22% in the percentage of students achieving correct answers on a posttest compared with their pretest score. The median number of correct questions increased from pretest scores of 2 and 2.5 to posttest scores of 4 and 5 of a possible total of 6 in each respective year. Student survey data showed agreement that the activity aided in learning. This study suggests that a HFPS activity can be implemented during the preclinical years of medical education to address basic science concepts. Additionally, it suggests that student learning of cardiovascular function curves and heart failure strategies are facilitated.     

Using Avida-ED for Teaching and Learning About Evolution in Undergraduate Introductory Biology Courses

Evolution is a complex subject that requires knowledge of basic biological concepts and the ability to connect them across multiple scales of time, space, and biological organization. Avida-ED is a digital evolution educational software environment designed for teaching and learning about evolution and the nature of science in undergraduate biology courses. This study describes our backward design approach to developing an instructional activity using Avida-ED for teaching and learning about evolution in a large-enrollment introductory biology course. Using multiple assessment instruments, we measured student knowledge and understanding of key principles of natural selection before and after instruction on evolution (including the Avida-ED activity). Assessment analysis revealed significant post-instruction learning gains, although certain evolutionary principles (most notably those including genetics concepts, such as the genetic origin of variation) remained particularly difficult for students, even after instruction. Students, however, demonstrated a good grasp of the genetic component of the evolutionary process in the context of a problem on Avida-ED. We propose that: (a) deep understanding of evolution requires complex systems thinking skills, such as connecting concepts across multiple levels of biological organization, and (b) well designed use of Avida-ED holds the potential to help learners build a meaningful and transferable understanding of the evolutionary process. An erratum to this article can be found at