Evolution vs. Creationism. An Introduction, by Eugenie C. Scott. Foreword by Niles Eldredge. Univ... more Evolution vs. Creationism. An Introduction, by Eugenie C. Scott. Foreword by Niles Eldredge. University of California Press, Berkeley, USA, 2005. xxiv + 272 pp. ISBN 0-520-24650-0. "The social movement known as creationism has had a long history and a variety of manifestations through time. To understand it takes considerable study" (p. 135). So states the author in part three of this book. After reading this volume I could not agree more. Let me say at the outset that this is quite an extraordinary book, and one I predict is destined to become a classic. Eugenie Scott brings to bear her encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the conflict, passion for the subject, and deep understanding of the legal framework tempered by her long involvement as Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education. This work provides a well-balanced synthesis of the complexities of science, religion, jurisprudence, and education as they pertain to understanding the continuing dichotomy between evolution and creationism. Perhaps its greatest strength, however, is that all this information is so expertly brought together under one cover. Scott has made a concerted effort to write for an audience that includes "bright high school students and college undergraduates" (p. xvii). The book is organized into three main sections: Science, Evolution, Religion, and Creationism; A History of the Creationism/Evolution Controversy; and Selections From the Literature. In the third section, readers will find a plethora of information, including primary scientific literature, important legal opinions, legislative bills, committee reports, and obscure historical documents. Most of these selections are well chosen and provide the reader with a rich perspective of the ongoing debate. Unfortunately, many articles from the creationist literature were not included because permission to publish them was refused. Scott does her best to summarize those articles she considers important and encourages readers to explore them in their entirety. True to the spirit of the book, the final section contains an impressive and perhaps unparalleled collection of references for further exploration. In the Introduction, the author erects "three pillars of creationism" under which is claimed all arguments should fall: evolutionary theory is flawed, evolution and religion are incompatible, and fairness to both sides. As the book unfolds, all arguments do indeed appear to fall into one of these three categories. With Scott's scientific background, it is not perhaps surprising that the strongest sections are those which elaborate on the nature of science, evolutionary theory (chapters 1 and 2), and biological patterns and processes (chapter 8), although these are not without fault. The section that elaborates the principals of biological evolution is, in general, extremely well done and puts to rest any suggestion that "evolutionary theory is flawed." While the example illustrating natural selection using rabbits and myxomatosis is well presented, it should be pointed out that rabbits are not in fact rodents, but lagomorphs. Some other minor but important concerns include the correct use of terminology. A very important
Direct contact with the natural world is an essential element of environmental education and a ke... more Direct contact with the natural world is an essential element of environmental education and a key to developing environmental literacy and a stewardship ethic. But providing this experience can be challenging in urban environments where many people believe nature only occurs "outside" the city, and urban biota are often unwelcome and perceived in negative terms. Since 80% of the United States' population lives in or near urban areas, conservation educators and practitioners need to find ways to make nature accessible to this audience, thereby creating a public who can make informed decisions about environmental issues. Soil systems are an important, under-utilized resource for urban environmental education. Soils are ubiquitous and thus easily accessible and their communities can be effective focal points for introducing all levels of ecology, from populations to ecosystems. Soil and litter taxa are also intrinsically interesting, with discoveries of new species still being made in urban areas. By studying urban soil systems, students can develop an enhanced sense of place and an appreciation of the natural world and their connection to it thereby strengthening environmental stewardship. An important role exists for urban ecologists to work with educators to impart enthusiasm for and to augment educators' understanding of soil systems.
Microevolutionary mechanisms are taught almost exclusively in our schools, to the detriment of th... more Microevolutionary mechanisms are taught almost exclusively in our schools, to the detriment of those mechanisms that allow us to understand the larger picturemacroevolution. The results are demonstrable; as a result of the strong emphasis on micro processes in evolution education, students and teachers still have poor understanding of the processes which operate at the macro level, and virtually no understanding at all of the history of life on our planet. Natural selection has become synonymous with the suite of processes we call evolution. This paper makes the case for a paradigm shift in evolution education, so that both perspectives-micro and macro-are given equal weight. Increasingly, issues of bioethics, human origins, cloning, etc., are being cast in a light that requires an understanding of macroevolution. To deny our students access to this debate is to deny the call for universal science literacy. A methodology from professional practice is proposed that could achieve this goal, and discussed in light of its utility, theoretical underpinnings, and historical legacy. A mandate for research is proposed that focuses on learners' understanding of several challenging macroevolutionary concepts, including species, the formation of higher groups, deep time, and hierarchical thinking.
Field observations have shownCoelotes atropos to be winter-active and tolerant of a wid e environ... more Field observations have shownCoelotes atropos to be winter-active and tolerant of a wid e environmental gradient . This study suggests that low temperature tolerance is achieved by a combination o f behavioral thermoregulation and physiological adaptation . It was found that the two populations studied, on e living at 732 m elevation and the other at sea level, were not significantly different in their ability to supercool . However, a highly significant relationship between body weight and ability to supercool was demonstrated suc h that immature stages are far more tolerant of low temperatures than adults . Juvenile spiders were not only abl e to tolerate sub-zero temperatures, but also demonstrated an ability to cold acclimate . They were active in th e supercooled state and capable of silk production at -5 °C. Mechanisms which may account for the loss o f supercooling ability are discussed as well as the implications of such a change for habitat utilization and lif e cycle strategy .
A Palearctic spider, Linyphia triangularis (Clerck 1757), has been accidentally introduced to the... more A Palearctic spider, Linyphia triangularis (Clerck 1757), has been accidentally introduced to the U.S.A. and populations successfully established in Maine. The date, origin, and focal point(s) of introduction are unknown, but suspected to be recent, European, and maritime. Extensive historical collections, records of maritime commerce, and recent chronological collections support this hypothesis. Results of cursory surveys in 1999 and 2000 indicate that L. triangularis is now widely distributed in Maine with specimens taken in 15 of 16 counties. The potential impact(s) of L. triangularis on the native araneofauna are unknown, but possibly detrimental. In Europe, this species exhibits aggressive behaviors (e.g., web ''take-overs'') toward conspecifics and congenerics.
Enhancing Learning Using Adaptive Computerized Tutoring in K-12 Settings Gautam Biswas 1 (gautam.... more Enhancing Learning Using Adaptive Computerized Tutoring in K-12 Settings Gautam Biswas 1 ([email protected]) Daniel Schwartz 2 & Kefyn M. Catley 3 Carol O’Donnell (Carol.O’[email protected]) & Robin Harwood Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Dept. of Education, Washington, DC 20208 Department of Computer Science Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240 School of Education, Stanford University Department of Biology, Western Carolina University Barry Gholson ([email protected]) Art Graesser & Scotty D. Craig Stephanie Siler ([email protected]) Department of Psychology The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152 Department of Psychology Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Wayne Ward 1 ([email protected]) & Ronald Cole 2 Center for Computational Language & Ed. Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 Boulder Language Technologies Keywords: Adaptive computerized tutoring; dialog; self- regulated learning; deep-level reasoning; s...
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2009
College students with stronger and weaker backgrounds in biology were asked to infer whether one ... more College students with stronger and weaker backgrounds in biology were asked to infer whether one taxon (e.g., a certain reptile) uses the same enzyme to help regulate cell function as comparison taxon A (e.g., a certain amphibian) or comparison taxon B (e.g., a certain mammal). Color pictures of the named taxa were provided. Inferences were made in one of three conditions: Two conditions gave subjects the evolutionary relationships among the taxa (amphibians, reptiles, and mammals in the example), in one of two diagrammatic formats; the third, baseline, condition did not provide such information. Subjects uniformly made the incorrect inference in the baseline condition. Providing the evolutionary diagrams had different effects depending on the diagrammatic format and the biology background of the subjects.
International Conference of Learning Sciences, Jun 29, 2010
Tree-thinking is increasingly recognized as a crucial skill in the biological sciences. However, ... more Tree-thinking is increasingly recognized as a crucial skill in the biological sciences. However, for students, the task is wrought with challenges. Even as representations are meant to facilitate reasoning about difficult concepts such as macroevolution and the phylogenetic relationships among taxa, existing tree diagrams that are so crucial to the biologist‟s profession present many challenges that hinder students‟ understanding. The presenters in this symposium take multiple theoretical and methodological lenses to examine the many-faceted challenges of tree-thinking with representations – from the issues of representation and symbolization, to the cognitive and developmental issues of reasoning, to the implementation of a classroom intervention. Brought together in this symposium, the researchers initiate an ongoing agenda to understand and to design interventions that will support students‟ reasoning with this important representational tool.
This article reports the results of an experiment involving 108 college students with varying bac... more This article reports the results of an experiment involving 108 college students with varying backgrounds in biology. Subjects answered questions about the evolutionary history of sets of hominid and equine taxa. Each set of taxa was presented in one of three diagrammatic formats: a noncladogenic diagram found in a contemporary biology textbook or a cladogram in either the ladder or tree format. As predicted, the textbook diagrams, which contained linear components, were more likely than the cladogram formats to yield explanations of speciation as an anagenic process, a common misconception among students. In contrast, the branching cladogram formats yielded more appropriate explanations concerning levels of ancestry than did the textbook diagrams. Although students with stronger backgrounds in biology did better than those with weaker biology backgrounds, they generally showed the same effects of diagrammatic format. Implications of these results for evolution education and for diagram design more generally are discussed.
Although differently formatted cladograms (hierarchical diagrams depicting evolutionary relations... more Although differently formatted cladograms (hierarchical diagrams depicting evolutionary relationships among taxa) depict the same information, they may not be equally easy to comprehend. Undergraduate biology students attempted to translate cladograms from the diagonal to the rectangular format. The "backbone" line of each diagonal cladogram was slanted either up or down to the right. Eye movement analyses indicated that the students had a general bias to scan from left to right. Their scanning direction also depended on the orientation of the "backbone" line, resulting in upward or downward scanning, following the directional slant of the line. Because scanning down facilitates correct interpretation of the nested relationships, translation accuracy was higher for the down than for the up cladograms. Unfortunately, most diagonal cladograms in textbooks are in the upward orientation. This probably impairs students' success at tree thinking (i.e., interpreting and reasoning about evolutionary relationships depicted in cladograms), an important twenty-first century skill.
International Journal of Science Education, Nov 1, 2012
In a recent article, Nadelson and Southerland (2010. Development and preliminary evaluation of th... more In a recent article, Nadelson and Southerland (2010. Development and preliminary evaluation of the Measure of Understanding of Macroevolution: Introducing the MUM. The Journal of Experimental Education, 78, 151–190) reported on their development of a multiple-choice concept inventory intended to assess college students' understanding of macroevolutionary concepts, the Measure of Understanding Macroevolution (MUM). Given that the only existing evolution inventories assess understanding of natural selection, a microevolutionary concept, a valid assessment of students' understanding of macroevolution would be a welcome and necessary addition to the field of science education. Although the conceptual framework underlying Nadelson and Southerland's test is promising, we believe the test has serious shortcomings with respect to validity evidence for the construct being tested. We argue and provide evidence that these problems are serious enough that the MUM should not be used in its current form to measure students' understanding of macroevolution.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, May 3, 2010
The authors argue that some diagrams in biology textbooks and the popular press presented as depi... more The authors argue that some diagrams in biology textbooks and the popular press presented as depicting evolutionary relationships suggest an inappropriate (anagenic) conception of evolutionary history. The goal of this research was to provide baseline data that begin to document how college students conceptualize the evolutionary relationships depicted in such noncladogenic diagrams and how they think about the underlying evolutionary processes. Study 1 investigated how students (n ¼ 50) interpreted the evolutionary relationships depicted in four such evolutionary diagrams. In Study 2, new students (n ¼ 62) were asked to interpret what the students in Study 1 meant when they used the terms evolved into/from and ancestor/descendant of. The results show the interpretations fell broadly into two categories: (a) evolution as an anagenic rather than cladogenic process, and (b) evolution as a teleological (purposedriven) process. These results imply that noncladogenic diagrams are inappropriate for use in evolution education because they lead to the misinterpretation of many evolutionary processes.
This study presents the findings of an analysis of evolutionary diagrams found in 31 biology text... more This study presents the findings of an analysis of evolutionary diagrams found in 31 biology textbooks for students ranging from middle school to the undergraduate level. Since the early 1990s, cladograms have found their way into high school biology textbooks, yet we know little about their effectiveness as interpretive and instructional tools in biology education. In this article we document the frequency and types of cladograms found in 31 textbooks, and classify and survey the other types of evolutionary diagrams used in the texts. Although cladograms comprised approximately 72 percent of the diagrams overall, we found virtually no attempt to explain their structure and theoretical underpinnings. Various other noncladogenic evolutionary diagrams, comprising 28 percent of the total, were distributed throughout all textbooks studied. On the basis of our analysis, we conclude that many of these evolutionary diagrams are confusing and may reinforce alternative conceptions of macroevolution. Biology educators should therefore recognize these problems and take measures to ameliorate their effects.
Evolution vs. Creationism. An Introduction, by Eugenie C. Scott. Foreword by Niles Eldredge. Univ... more Evolution vs. Creationism. An Introduction, by Eugenie C. Scott. Foreword by Niles Eldredge. University of California Press, Berkeley, USA, 2005. xxiv + 272 pp. ISBN 0-520-24650-0. "The social movement known as creationism has had a long history and a variety of manifestations through time. To understand it takes considerable study" (p. 135). So states the author in part three of this book. After reading this volume I could not agree more. Let me say at the outset that this is quite an extraordinary book, and one I predict is destined to become a classic. Eugenie Scott brings to bear her encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the conflict, passion for the subject, and deep understanding of the legal framework tempered by her long involvement as Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education. This work provides a well-balanced synthesis of the complexities of science, religion, jurisprudence, and education as they pertain to understanding the continuing dichotomy between evolution and creationism. Perhaps its greatest strength, however, is that all this information is so expertly brought together under one cover. Scott has made a concerted effort to write for an audience that includes "bright high school students and college undergraduates" (p. xvii). The book is organized into three main sections: Science, Evolution, Religion, and Creationism; A History of the Creationism/Evolution Controversy; and Selections From the Literature. In the third section, readers will find a plethora of information, including primary scientific literature, important legal opinions, legislative bills, committee reports, and obscure historical documents. Most of these selections are well chosen and provide the reader with a rich perspective of the ongoing debate. Unfortunately, many articles from the creationist literature were not included because permission to publish them was refused. Scott does her best to summarize those articles she considers important and encourages readers to explore them in their entirety. True to the spirit of the book, the final section contains an impressive and perhaps unparalleled collection of references for further exploration. In the Introduction, the author erects "three pillars of creationism" under which is claimed all arguments should fall: evolutionary theory is flawed, evolution and religion are incompatible, and fairness to both sides. As the book unfolds, all arguments do indeed appear to fall into one of these three categories. With Scott's scientific background, it is not perhaps surprising that the strongest sections are those which elaborate on the nature of science, evolutionary theory (chapters 1 and 2), and biological patterns and processes (chapter 8), although these are not without fault. The section that elaborates the principals of biological evolution is, in general, extremely well done and puts to rest any suggestion that "evolutionary theory is flawed." While the example illustrating natural selection using rabbits and myxomatosis is well presented, it should be pointed out that rabbits are not in fact rodents, but lagomorphs. Some other minor but important concerns include the correct use of terminology. A very important
Direct contact with the natural world is an essential element of environmental education and a ke... more Direct contact with the natural world is an essential element of environmental education and a key to developing environmental literacy and a stewardship ethic. But providing this experience can be challenging in urban environments where many people believe nature only occurs "outside" the city, and urban biota are often unwelcome and perceived in negative terms. Since 80% of the United States' population lives in or near urban areas, conservation educators and practitioners need to find ways to make nature accessible to this audience, thereby creating a public who can make informed decisions about environmental issues. Soil systems are an important, under-utilized resource for urban environmental education. Soils are ubiquitous and thus easily accessible and their communities can be effective focal points for introducing all levels of ecology, from populations to ecosystems. Soil and litter taxa are also intrinsically interesting, with discoveries of new species still being made in urban areas. By studying urban soil systems, students can develop an enhanced sense of place and an appreciation of the natural world and their connection to it thereby strengthening environmental stewardship. An important role exists for urban ecologists to work with educators to impart enthusiasm for and to augment educators' understanding of soil systems.
Microevolutionary mechanisms are taught almost exclusively in our schools, to the detriment of th... more Microevolutionary mechanisms are taught almost exclusively in our schools, to the detriment of those mechanisms that allow us to understand the larger picturemacroevolution. The results are demonstrable; as a result of the strong emphasis on micro processes in evolution education, students and teachers still have poor understanding of the processes which operate at the macro level, and virtually no understanding at all of the history of life on our planet. Natural selection has become synonymous with the suite of processes we call evolution. This paper makes the case for a paradigm shift in evolution education, so that both perspectives-micro and macro-are given equal weight. Increasingly, issues of bioethics, human origins, cloning, etc., are being cast in a light that requires an understanding of macroevolution. To deny our students access to this debate is to deny the call for universal science literacy. A methodology from professional practice is proposed that could achieve this goal, and discussed in light of its utility, theoretical underpinnings, and historical legacy. A mandate for research is proposed that focuses on learners' understanding of several challenging macroevolutionary concepts, including species, the formation of higher groups, deep time, and hierarchical thinking.
Field observations have shownCoelotes atropos to be winter-active and tolerant of a wid e environ... more Field observations have shownCoelotes atropos to be winter-active and tolerant of a wid e environmental gradient . This study suggests that low temperature tolerance is achieved by a combination o f behavioral thermoregulation and physiological adaptation . It was found that the two populations studied, on e living at 732 m elevation and the other at sea level, were not significantly different in their ability to supercool . However, a highly significant relationship between body weight and ability to supercool was demonstrated suc h that immature stages are far more tolerant of low temperatures than adults . Juvenile spiders were not only abl e to tolerate sub-zero temperatures, but also demonstrated an ability to cold acclimate . They were active in th e supercooled state and capable of silk production at -5 °C. Mechanisms which may account for the loss o f supercooling ability are discussed as well as the implications of such a change for habitat utilization and lif e cycle strategy .
A Palearctic spider, Linyphia triangularis (Clerck 1757), has been accidentally introduced to the... more A Palearctic spider, Linyphia triangularis (Clerck 1757), has been accidentally introduced to the U.S.A. and populations successfully established in Maine. The date, origin, and focal point(s) of introduction are unknown, but suspected to be recent, European, and maritime. Extensive historical collections, records of maritime commerce, and recent chronological collections support this hypothesis. Results of cursory surveys in 1999 and 2000 indicate that L. triangularis is now widely distributed in Maine with specimens taken in 15 of 16 counties. The potential impact(s) of L. triangularis on the native araneofauna are unknown, but possibly detrimental. In Europe, this species exhibits aggressive behaviors (e.g., web ''take-overs'') toward conspecifics and congenerics.
Enhancing Learning Using Adaptive Computerized Tutoring in K-12 Settings Gautam Biswas 1 (gautam.... more Enhancing Learning Using Adaptive Computerized Tutoring in K-12 Settings Gautam Biswas 1 ([email protected]) Daniel Schwartz 2 & Kefyn M. Catley 3 Carol O’Donnell (Carol.O’[email protected]) & Robin Harwood Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Dept. of Education, Washington, DC 20208 Department of Computer Science Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240 School of Education, Stanford University Department of Biology, Western Carolina University Barry Gholson ([email protected]) Art Graesser & Scotty D. Craig Stephanie Siler ([email protected]) Department of Psychology The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152 Department of Psychology Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Wayne Ward 1 ([email protected]) & Ronald Cole 2 Center for Computational Language & Ed. Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 Boulder Language Technologies Keywords: Adaptive computerized tutoring; dialog; self- regulated learning; deep-level reasoning; s...
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2009
College students with stronger and weaker backgrounds in biology were asked to infer whether one ... more College students with stronger and weaker backgrounds in biology were asked to infer whether one taxon (e.g., a certain reptile) uses the same enzyme to help regulate cell function as comparison taxon A (e.g., a certain amphibian) or comparison taxon B (e.g., a certain mammal). Color pictures of the named taxa were provided. Inferences were made in one of three conditions: Two conditions gave subjects the evolutionary relationships among the taxa (amphibians, reptiles, and mammals in the example), in one of two diagrammatic formats; the third, baseline, condition did not provide such information. Subjects uniformly made the incorrect inference in the baseline condition. Providing the evolutionary diagrams had different effects depending on the diagrammatic format and the biology background of the subjects.
International Conference of Learning Sciences, Jun 29, 2010
Tree-thinking is increasingly recognized as a crucial skill in the biological sciences. However, ... more Tree-thinking is increasingly recognized as a crucial skill in the biological sciences. However, for students, the task is wrought with challenges. Even as representations are meant to facilitate reasoning about difficult concepts such as macroevolution and the phylogenetic relationships among taxa, existing tree diagrams that are so crucial to the biologist‟s profession present many challenges that hinder students‟ understanding. The presenters in this symposium take multiple theoretical and methodological lenses to examine the many-faceted challenges of tree-thinking with representations – from the issues of representation and symbolization, to the cognitive and developmental issues of reasoning, to the implementation of a classroom intervention. Brought together in this symposium, the researchers initiate an ongoing agenda to understand and to design interventions that will support students‟ reasoning with this important representational tool.
This article reports the results of an experiment involving 108 college students with varying bac... more This article reports the results of an experiment involving 108 college students with varying backgrounds in biology. Subjects answered questions about the evolutionary history of sets of hominid and equine taxa. Each set of taxa was presented in one of three diagrammatic formats: a noncladogenic diagram found in a contemporary biology textbook or a cladogram in either the ladder or tree format. As predicted, the textbook diagrams, which contained linear components, were more likely than the cladogram formats to yield explanations of speciation as an anagenic process, a common misconception among students. In contrast, the branching cladogram formats yielded more appropriate explanations concerning levels of ancestry than did the textbook diagrams. Although students with stronger backgrounds in biology did better than those with weaker biology backgrounds, they generally showed the same effects of diagrammatic format. Implications of these results for evolution education and for diagram design more generally are discussed.
Although differently formatted cladograms (hierarchical diagrams depicting evolutionary relations... more Although differently formatted cladograms (hierarchical diagrams depicting evolutionary relationships among taxa) depict the same information, they may not be equally easy to comprehend. Undergraduate biology students attempted to translate cladograms from the diagonal to the rectangular format. The "backbone" line of each diagonal cladogram was slanted either up or down to the right. Eye movement analyses indicated that the students had a general bias to scan from left to right. Their scanning direction also depended on the orientation of the "backbone" line, resulting in upward or downward scanning, following the directional slant of the line. Because scanning down facilitates correct interpretation of the nested relationships, translation accuracy was higher for the down than for the up cladograms. Unfortunately, most diagonal cladograms in textbooks are in the upward orientation. This probably impairs students' success at tree thinking (i.e., interpreting and reasoning about evolutionary relationships depicted in cladograms), an important twenty-first century skill.
International Journal of Science Education, Nov 1, 2012
In a recent article, Nadelson and Southerland (2010. Development and preliminary evaluation of th... more In a recent article, Nadelson and Southerland (2010. Development and preliminary evaluation of the Measure of Understanding of Macroevolution: Introducing the MUM. The Journal of Experimental Education, 78, 151–190) reported on their development of a multiple-choice concept inventory intended to assess college students' understanding of macroevolutionary concepts, the Measure of Understanding Macroevolution (MUM). Given that the only existing evolution inventories assess understanding of natural selection, a microevolutionary concept, a valid assessment of students' understanding of macroevolution would be a welcome and necessary addition to the field of science education. Although the conceptual framework underlying Nadelson and Southerland's test is promising, we believe the test has serious shortcomings with respect to validity evidence for the construct being tested. We argue and provide evidence that these problems are serious enough that the MUM should not be used in its current form to measure students' understanding of macroevolution.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, May 3, 2010
The authors argue that some diagrams in biology textbooks and the popular press presented as depi... more The authors argue that some diagrams in biology textbooks and the popular press presented as depicting evolutionary relationships suggest an inappropriate (anagenic) conception of evolutionary history. The goal of this research was to provide baseline data that begin to document how college students conceptualize the evolutionary relationships depicted in such noncladogenic diagrams and how they think about the underlying evolutionary processes. Study 1 investigated how students (n ¼ 50) interpreted the evolutionary relationships depicted in four such evolutionary diagrams. In Study 2, new students (n ¼ 62) were asked to interpret what the students in Study 1 meant when they used the terms evolved into/from and ancestor/descendant of. The results show the interpretations fell broadly into two categories: (a) evolution as an anagenic rather than cladogenic process, and (b) evolution as a teleological (purposedriven) process. These results imply that noncladogenic diagrams are inappropriate for use in evolution education because they lead to the misinterpretation of many evolutionary processes.
This study presents the findings of an analysis of evolutionary diagrams found in 31 biology text... more This study presents the findings of an analysis of evolutionary diagrams found in 31 biology textbooks for students ranging from middle school to the undergraduate level. Since the early 1990s, cladograms have found their way into high school biology textbooks, yet we know little about their effectiveness as interpretive and instructional tools in biology education. In this article we document the frequency and types of cladograms found in 31 textbooks, and classify and survey the other types of evolutionary diagrams used in the texts. Although cladograms comprised approximately 72 percent of the diagrams overall, we found virtually no attempt to explain their structure and theoretical underpinnings. Various other noncladogenic evolutionary diagrams, comprising 28 percent of the total, were distributed throughout all textbooks studied. On the basis of our analysis, we conclude that many of these evolutionary diagrams are confusing and may reinforce alternative conceptions of macroevolution. Biology educators should therefore recognize these problems and take measures to ameliorate their effects.
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Papers by Kefyn Catley