Evolution, Education and
Evaluation: Tree-thinking in
Intro Biology
Phil Gibson
OU TSI October 20, 2011
Miller, J.D., E.C. Scott, and S.
Okamato. 2006. Public
Acceptance of Evolution.
Science. 313: 765-766.
The Basic Ideas of Tree-thinking
“Nothing in biology makes sense except
in the light of evolution." Theodosius
Dobzhansky (1973)
“Nothing in evolution makes sense
except in the light of phylogeny.”
(Society of Systematic Biologists
2001).
“Nothing makes sense in phylogeny
except in the light of DNA.”
(Kalinowski et al. 2010)
Tree-Thinking
Tree-Thinking
What we want to know
• Question #1: What is the relationship between
ability to read phylogenetic trees relate and
acceptance of evolution?
• Question #2: How does student understanding of
natural selection and genetics relate to
understanding and acceptance of evolution?
• Question #3: Will a tree-thinking based curriculum
using active learning modules improve student
understanding and acceptance of evolution and
evolutionary theory?
BIOL 1134 Evolution, Ecology, &
Diversity
1. Encourage understanding and appreciation for major, modern
biological thought and theories:
–
Unity and diversity of life (DNA and genetic variation)
–
History of life (evolution and phylogeny)
–
Relationship between structure and function (adaptation)
–
Focus on life at the individual, population, community, and
ecosystem levels (hierarchical organization, interdependence)
2.
Develop student skills, understanding, and appreciation for the
nature of science.
–
Thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving in biology.
–
Prediction and hypothesis testing in science.
–
Data collection, analysis, and interpretation
–
Group collaboration and interactions.
Tree-thinking Curriculum Structure
DNA & Genetics
Inheritance &
Pedigrees
Phylogenetics
Read & Construct
Trees
Evolution
Concepts &
Mechanisms
Application
(Biodiversity
surveys,
adaptations,
speciation etc.)
Components of the curriculum.
• Genetic basis of phylogeny & tree
thinking: genetics, inheritance, and population
genetics
• Principles of tree-thinking: how-to of
phylogeny construction and interpretation
• Application of tree-thinking: opportunities to
collect and analyze data, processes of
hypothesis development and testing
• Modules: Case study, group inquiry, active
learning
Pedigree Analysis & Genetics
Phylogeny of Domestic Dog
Breeds – Result of Artificial
Selection
Platypus Reproduction &
Mammalian Evolution
Pollination and Floral Evolution
A Deadly Passion: Evolution
of Sexual Cannibalism
Scorpion
Praying mantis
Australian redback spider
Assessment & Evaluation
• Measure of the Acceptance of the Theory
of Evolution (MATE): 20 question Likert-scale
survey (Rutledge & Sadler 2007)
• Tree-thinking Challenge, Understanding
Phylogenetic Trees, Tree Thinking Concept
Inventory Variety of questions to read and
construct phylogenetic trees. (Baum et al. 2005,
Meir et al. 2007, Neagle 2009)
• Concept Inventory of Natural Selection,
Genetics Concept Assessment (Anderson &
Fisher 2002, Smith et al. 2008)
MATE pre-post Comparison
*
100.0
*
*
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
F09 pre
F09 post
S10 pre
S10 post
F10 pre
F10 post
S11 pre
S11 post
Tree Reading Assessments
25
20
15
10
5
0
F09 pre
F09 post
S10 pre
S10 post
F10 pre
F10 post
S11 pre
S11 post
MATE & TTCI Spring 2011
120
100
MATE score
80
60
Pre-test
Post-test
40
20
0
0
5
10
15
Tree-Thinking Concept Inventory score
20
25
MATE, Natural Selection & Genetics
120
100
MATE Score
80
60
Pre-test
Post-test
40
20
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Genetics & Natural Selection Concept Inventory Score
35
40
Normalized Learning Gain
1
TRA/TTCI
MATE
Normailized Gain
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
F09
S10
F10
-0.2
Curriculum
S11
Deeper Analysis & the Education Literature
• The education literature is rich
with techniques for further
analysis
• Item Analysis, Discrimination
Index calculations, Cronbach’s α
provide further insights that
basic statistics don’t reveal.
• Further analysis of specific
questions and answers.
What we’ve learned so far. . .
• Tree-thinking curriculum appears to increase
understanding and acceptance of evolutionary theory.
• Acceptance of evolution is related to tree-thinking
ability knowledge of natural selection, and knowledge
of genetics.
• Better assessments are needed.
• There’s more work to do!
Acknowledgements
• National Science Foundation
– DUE #0940835
• The University of Oklahoma
– College of Arts and Sciences,
Department of Botany and Microbiology,
Department of Zoology
• J. Cooper, M. Jones, S. Rhodes, A.
Makowicz, C. Poindexter, M. Gibson,
D. Washecheck
All research conducted under OU IRB# 12682