Using simulations in PowerPoint to teach natural selection
Instructor guide
Instruction was built for an online course, but can be used as a take-home assignment for face-toface or hybrid courses.
Before instruction
Post the “Genetic Variation: The basis of natural selection” tutorial to the course management
site. [This step is only for users of the textbook Hoefnagels Biology: The Essentials]
Post the assignment template (a PowerPoint file) to the course management site.
Post relevant chapters from your textbook alongside the assignment template.
Set up a forum for student discussion on the course management site.
Review the answer key to the assignment.
Introduction
Gain attention: Email the class and post the assignment description to the discussion board in the
course management system.
Establish purpose: Explain to students over email and in the course discussion board that the goal
of instruction is for them to learn to illustrate and describe natural selection.
Arouse interest: In the introduction of the instruction/assignment, be sure to highlight that all
students have seen organisms that seem perfectly adapted to their environments. How do
evolutionary biologists explain this observance?
Provide overview: Explain in the assignment description that the learners will first watch the
tutorial and then will create an example of natural selection using PowerPoint or Google
Docs.
Body
Stimulate recall of prior knowledge: Post the assignment alongside the ebook readings on natural
selection for the students’ reference.
Present information and examples: The animated tutorial, which the instructor will post to the
website, will feature examples of and information about natural selection.
Focus attention: Be sure to inform students that the attached PowerPoint presentation should be
used as a template for their assignment.
Prompt use of learning strategies/Guide practice: Both the attached tutorial and the attached
PowerPoint will guide students through learning strategies and practical situations.
Provide feedback: The instructor should be available for student help through the assignment. Set
up a forum for students to discuss the assignment and instruction with each other.
Conclusion
Summarize and review: The penultimate question in the PowerPoint assignment asks students to
synthesize their learning. Students that struggle with this portion of the assignment should
be encouraged to seek help from classmates or the instructor.
Transfer learning: The final question in the PowerPoint assignment requires students to transfer
learning to a situation beyond the current assignment.
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Remotivate and close: Once the submission window has closed for the assignment, glance
through a few of the assignments and determine if students have completed the assignment
as expected. If expectations are not met, then give further instructions and open the
submission window again. If expectations are met, reiterate via email and discussion post
that this assignment was meant to give them a perspective for why organisms have the
adaptations that we observe.
Assess learning: Look through each submitted assignment carefully, checking for
misunderstandings about terms or the process of natural selection. Use the key as a guide.
Feedback: Give thorough feedback on each submitted PowerPoint assignment. Use the “Review”
tool in PowerPoint to apply feedback directly to points of text or image. Inform students
when feedback is available for their assignment, and encourage them to contact you if they
are confused about their grade or if they need further explanation on any topic.
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Learning goal
Students in a college biology course will illustrate and describe a theoretical example of natural
selection using Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Docs presentation tool.
Rationale
Evolution and natural selection are challenging concepts for students to fully understand.
A cultural or religious shroud sometimes clouds these topics. Beyond socioreligious
complications, students often seem to oversimplify the concepts underlying natural selection and
evolution.
I have spoken at length with a biology professor at the University of Oklahoma about the
challenges of teaching evolution. She admits that some students are always skeptical about the
subject and are unwilling to commit themselves to learning it. Others are curious, but tend to
adopt many common misconceptions about how evolution works. She explained that students do
okay with multiple-choice questions, but “students often have trouble articulating how natural
selection works on open-ended exam questions.” She went on to say that many students
improperly invoke purpose or intent when explaining how a species has evolved: “they'll say
something that incorrectly implies some sort of forward-thinking on the part of each species, like
‘The beak has to be that shape in order to pollinate the plant.’” In other words, students are able
to recall facts about evolution, but they do not understand the concepts underlying the facts.
This professor’s testimony about her class’ struggles with overcoming misconceptions
about evolution and natural selection inspired development of this assignment. The learning goal
of instruction—for students to illustrate and describe a theoretical example of natural selection—
demands that students apply their knowledge to a unique (self-created) circumstance. Through
the simulation, students will learn how natural selection looks in a way that is difficult to see
outside of a digital environment. At the end of the simulation, students must identify if evolution
occurred and describe which characteristics of the simulation led them to their answer. These
objectives reinforce conceptual learning.
Learning objectives
Students are expected to be proficient with either Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Docs
Presentation tool prior to instruction.
Following instruction, the student will use Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Docs to…
1. Create a theoretical population of an organism.
1a) Define “population.”
1b) Define “organism.”
2. Propose a situation in which natural selection would occur.
2a) Recall the definition of natural selection.
2b) Define “selective force.”
2c) Provide an example of a selective force.
3. Illustrate how a selective force shapes a population.
3a) Describe how a selective force shapes a population.
4. Assess if evolution has occurred in a population.
4a) Explain why and how a population changed between generations.
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Objectives matrix
During assessment, the major steps are simulations and the intermediate steps require
paper and pencil performance.
Learning
objectives
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
Classification
Format of
Assessment
Description of test
form
Sample items
1
Synthesis
Performance
Simulation
Students will use
shape and color
tools to create
variation in their
theoretical
population of
organisms
1a
Knowledge
Paper and
pencil
Short answer
Students will type
the definition of
population.
1b
Knowledge
Paper and
pencil
Short answer
Students will type
the definition of
organism.
2
Synthesis
Performance
Simulation
Students will
include in their
PowerPoint
presentation the
conditions that are
necessary for
evolution to occur.
2a
Knowledge
Paper and
pencil
Short answer
Students will type
the definition of
natural selection
2b
Knowledge
Paper and
pencil
Short answer
Students will type
the definition of
selective force
2c
Application
Paper and
pencil
Short answer
Students will type
an example of a
selective force that
will operate on
their population
5
3
Analysis
Performance
Simulation
Students will
create a 2nd
generation of their
population to show
how the selective
force operates.
3a
Application
Paper and
pencil
Constructed
answer
Students will write
a few sentences in
a textbox about
how their chosen
selective force
shaped their
population.
4
Evaluation
Paper and
pencil
Constructed
answer
Students will write
in a textbox
whether evolution
has occurred in
their population.
4a
Evaluation
Paper and
pencil
Constructed
answer
Students will
extend the results
of their simulation
to a broader
contextual
framework. They
will type why and
how populations
change as a result
of evolution.