Deconstructing evolution education: The relationship between micro- and macroevolution

Journal of Research in Science Teaching

Volumn 51, Issue 6, 2014, Pages 759-788

  Novick, Laura R ^a   Schreiber, Emily G ^a   Catley, Kefyn M ^b  

^a VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

cladograms; evolution education; science literacy; Tree of Life; tree thinking

Indexed keywords

BIOLOGY; FORESTRY;

CLADOGRAMS; EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY; INSTRUCTIONAL INTERVENTIONS; NATURAL SELECTION; SCIENCE LITERACY; SCIENTIFIC LITERACY; TREE OF LIFE; TREE THINKING;

STUDENTS;

DATA; EDUCATION; FORESTRY;

EID: 84904759892     PISSN: 00224308     EISSN: 10982736     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/tea.21161     Document Type: Article

References (82)

1. AERA, APA, & NCME. (1999). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: AERA.
2. American Museum of Natural History. (2002). Assembling the Tree of Life: Harnessing Life's History to Benefit Science and Society. Brochure produced for the National Science Foundation based on three NSF Tree of Life workshops held in 1999 and 2000 at Yale University, the University of California Davis, and the University of Texas Austin. Retrieved August 30, 2010, from http://www.phylo.org/sub-sections/outreach/outreach-b.php
3. Anderson, D. L., Fisher, K. M., &, Norman, G. J., (2002). Development and evaluation of the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 952-978.
4. Baum, D. A., &, Smith, S. D., (2013). Tree thinking: An introduction to phylogenetic biology. Greenwood Village, CO: Roberts and Company.
5. Baum, D. A., Smith, S. D., &, Donovan, S. S., (2005). The tree thinking challenge. Science, 310, 979-980.
6. Bishop, B. A., &, Anderson, C. W., (1990). Student conceptions of natural selection and its role in evolution. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27, 415-427.
7. Brunyé, T. T., Taylor, H. A., Rapp, D. N., &, Spiro, A. B., (2006). Learning procedures: The role of working memory in multimedia learning experiences. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 917-940. (Pubitemid 44755912)
8. Carpenter, S., (2012). Testing enhances the transfer of learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 279-283.
9. Carrol, S. B., Grenier, J. K., &, Weatherbee, S. D., (2005). From DNA to diversity: Molecular genetics and the evolution of animal design (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
10. Catley, K. M., (1994). Descriptions of new Hypochilus species from New Mexico and California with a cladistic analysis of the Hypochilidae (Araneae). American Museum Novitates, 3088, 1-27. Retrieved from: http://digitallibrary. amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/4985, June 8, 2010.
11. Catley, K. M., (2006). Darwin's Missing Link: A novel paradigm for evolution education. Science Education 90, 767-783. (Pubitemid 44298285)
12. Catley, K. M., Lehrer, R., &, Reiser, B., (2005) Tracing a prospective learning progression for developing understanding of evolution. Paper Commissioned by the National Academies Committee on Test Design for K-12 Science Achievement. Manuscript may be requested from Catley.
13. Catley, K. M., &, Novick, L. R., (2008). Seeing the wood for the trees: An analysis of evolutionary diagrams in biology textbooks. BioScience, 58, 976-987.
14. Catley, K. M., Novick, L. R., &, Funk, D. J., (2012). The promise and challenges of introducing tree thinking into evolution education. In, K. Rosengren, E. M. Evans, S. Brem, &, G. Sinatra, (Eds.), Evolution challenges: Integrating research and practice in teaching and learning about evolution (pp. 93-118). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
15. Catley, K. M., Phillips, B. C., &, Novick, L. R., (2013). Snakes and eels and dogs! Oh, my! Evaluating high school students' tree-thinking skills: An entry point to understanding evolution. Research in Science Education, 43, 2327-2348.
16. Chanderbali, A. S., Yoo, M. J., Zahn, L. M., Brockington, S. F., Wall, P. K., Gitzendanner, M. A.,..., &, Soltis, P. S., (2010). Conservation and canalization of gene expression during angiosperm diversification accompany the origin and evolution of the flower. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 22570-22575.
17. Chang, H.-Y., &, Linn, M. C., (2013). Scaffolding learning from molecular visualizations. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50, 858-886.
18. Cohen, J., (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
19. Cooper, M. M., Corley, L. M., &, Underwood, S. M., (2013). An investigation of college chemistry students' understanding of structure-property relationships. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50, 699-721.
20. Cooper, M. M., Underwood, S. M., Hilley, C. Z., &, Klymkowsky, M. W., (2012). Development and assessment of a molecular structure and properties learning progression. Journal of Chemical Education, 89, 1351-1357.
21. Cracraft, J., &, Donoghue, M. J., (Eds.). (2004a). Assembling the tree of life. New York: Oxford University Press.
22. Cracraft, J., &, Donoghue, M. J., (2004b). Assembling the tree of life: Where we stand at the beginning of the 21st century. In, J. Cracraft, &, M. J. Donoghue, (Eds.), Assembling the tree of life (pp. 553-561). New York: Oxford University Press.
23. Darwin, C., (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection (1st ed.). London: John Murray.
24. Dauer, J. T., Momsen, J. L., Speth, E. B., Makohon-Moore, S. C., &, Long, T. M., (2013). Analyzing change in students' gene-to-evolution models in college-level introductory biology. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50, 639-659.
25. Demastes, S. S., Good, R. G, &, Peebles, P., (1996). Patterns of conceptual change in evolution. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33, 407-431. (Pubitemid 126420853)
26. Freeman, S., (2011). Biological science: Evolution, diversity, & ecology (Vol. 2). Boston, MA: Benjamin Cummings.
27. Freeman, S., &, Herron, J. C., (2007). Evolutionary analysis (4th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
28. Futuyma, D. J., (2004). The fruit of the tree of life. In, J. Cracraft, &, M. J. Donoghue, (Eds.), Assembling the tree of life (pp. 25-39). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
29. Futuyma, D. J., (2013). Evolution (3rd ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.
30. Goldsmith, D. W., (2003). The great clade race: Presenting cladistic thinking to biology majors & general science students. The American Biology Teacher, 65, 679-682. (Pubitemid 37524513)
31. Gregory, T. R., (2008). Understanding evolutionary trees. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 1, 121-137.
32. Halverson, K. L., Pires, C. J., &, Abell, S. K., (2011). Exploring the complexity of tree thinking expertise in an undergraduate systematics course. Science Education, 95, 794-823.
33. Hegarty, M., &, Just, M. A., (1993). Constructing mental models of machines from text and diagrams. Journal of Memory and Language, 32, 717-742.
34. Hegarty, M., &, Stull, A. T., (2012). Visuospatial thinking. In, K. J. Holyoak, &, R. G. Morrison, (Eds.), Oxford handbook of thinking and reasoning. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
35. Hennig, W., (1966). Phylogenetic systematics. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
36. Hillis, D. M., (2004). The tree of life and the grand synthesis of biology. In, J. Cracraft, &, M. J. Donoghue, (Eds). Assembling the tree of life (pp. 545-547). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
37. Hulse, S. H., Egeth, H., &, Deese, J., (1980). The psychology of learning (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
38. Hynd, C. R., McWhorter, J. Y., Phares, V. L., &, Suttles, C. W., (1994). The role of instructional variables in conceptual change in high school physics topics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31, 933-946.
39. Jaffe, E., (2008). Will that be on the test ? Observer, 21 (10), 18-21.
40. Jensen, M. S., &, Finley, F. N., (1996). Changes in students' understanding of evolution resulting from different curricular and instructional strategies. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33, 879-900. (Pubitemid 126420874)
41. Kahana, M. J., (2012). Foundations of human memory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
42. Kaplan, R. M., &, Saccuzzo, D. P., (2009). Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
43. Kendeou, P., Smith, E. R., &, O'Brien, E. J., (2013). Updating during reading comprehension: Why causality matters. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39, 854-865.
44. Kowalski, P., &, Taylor, A. K., (2009). The effect of refuting misconceptions in the introductory psychology class. Teaching of Psychology, 36, 153-159.
45. Liu, W., Li, Y., Learn, G. H., Rudicell, R. S., Robertson, J. D., Keele, B. F.,..., &, Hahn, B. H., (2010). Origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in gorillas. Nature, 467, 420-425.
46. MacDonald, T., &, Wiley, E. O., (2012). Communicating phylogeny: Evolutionary tree diagrams in museums. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 5, 14-28.
47. Marcos, J. F., Gandia, M., Harries, E., Carmona, L., &, Munoz, A., (2012). Antifungal peptides: Exploiting non-lytic mechanisms and cell penetration properties. In, K. Rajasekaran, J. W. Cary, J. M. Jaynes, &, E. Montesinos, (Eds.), Small wonders: Peptides for disease control (ACS Symposium Series, 1095. pp. 337-357). Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.
48. Mason, L., Gava, M., &, Boldrin, A., (2008). On warm conceptual change: The interplay of text, epistemological beliefs, and topic interest. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 291-309.
49. Mayer, R. E., (1989). Systematic thinking fostered by illustrations in scientific text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 240-246.
50. Mayer, R. E., (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
51. Meir, E., Perry, J., Herron, J. C., &, Kingsolver, J., (2007, September). College students' misconceptions about evolutionary trees. The American Biology Teacher Online, 69 (7), 71-76.
52. Morabito, N., Catley, K. M., &, Novick, L. R., (2010). Reasoning about evolutionary history: The effects of biology background on post-secondary students' knowledge of most recent common ancestry and homoplasy. Journal of Biological Education, 44, 166-174.
53. Nadelson, L. S., &, Southerland, S. A., (2010). Development and preliminary evaluation of the Measure of Understanding of Macroevolution: Introducing the MUM. The Journal of Experimental Education, 78, 151-190.
54. National Research Council. (2012). Discipline-based education research: Understanding and improving learning in undergraduate science and engineering., S. R. Singer, N. R. Nielsen, &, H. A. Schweingruber, (Eds.). Committee on the Status, Contributions, and Future Directions of Discipline-Based Education Research. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
55. Novick, L. R., (2006a). The importance of both diagrammatic conventions and domain-specific knowledge for diagram literacy in science: The hierarchy as an illustrative case. In, D. Barker-Plummer, R. Cox, &, N. Swoboda, (Eds.), Diagrammatic representation and inference (Diagrams 2006), LNAI 4045 (pp. 1-11). Berlin: Springer-Verlag. (Pubitemid 44097459)
56. Novick, L. R., (2006b). Understanding spatial diagram structure: An analysis of hierarchies, matrices, and networks. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 1826-1856. (Pubitemid 44359081)
57. Novick, L. R., &, Catley, K. M., (2007). Understanding phylogenies in biology: The influence of a Gestalt perceptual principle. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 13, 197-223.
58. Novick, L. R., &, Catley, K. M., (2012). Assessing students' understanding of macroevolution: Concerns regarding the validity of the MUM. International Journal of Science Education, 34, 2679-2703.
59. Novick, L. R., &, Catley, K. M., (2013). Reasoning about evolution's grand patterns: College students' understanding of the tree of life. American Educational Research Journal, 50, 138-177.
60. Novick, L. R., &, Catley, K. M., (2014a). Fostering 21st century evolutionary reasoning in undergraduates: A research-based approach to teaching tree thinking. Manuscript in preparation.
61. Novick, L. R., &, Catley, K. M., (2014b). When relationships depicted diagrammatically conflict with prior knowledge: An investigation of students' interpretations of evolutionary trees. Science Education, 98, 269-304.
62. Novick, L. R., Catley, K. M., &, Funk, D. J., (2010). Characters are key: The effect of synapomorphies on cladogram comprehension. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 3, 539-547.
63. Novick, L. R., Catley, K. M., &, Funk, D. J., (2011). Inference is bliss: Using evolutionary relationship to guide categorical inferences. Cognitive Science, 35, 712-743.
64. Novick, L. R., Shade, C. K., &, Catley, K. M., (2011). Linear versus branching depictions of evolutionary history: Implications for diagram design. Topics in Cognitive Science, 3, 536-559.
65. Novick, L. R., Stull, A. T., &, Catley, K. M., (2012). Reading phylogenetic trees: Effects of tree orientation and text processing on comprehension. BioScience, 62, 757-764.
66. O'Hara, R. J., (1998). Population thinking and tree thinking in systematics. Zoologica Scripta, 26, 323-329. (Pubitemid 28224033)
67. Opfer, J. E., Nehm, R. H., &, Ha, M., (2012). Cognitive foundations for science assessment design: Knowing what students know about evolution. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49, 744-777.
68. Paivio, A., (1986). Mental representations: A dual coding approach. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
69. Pashler, H., Bain, P., Bottge, B., Graesser, A., Koedinger, K., McDaniel, M., &, Metcalfe, J., (2007). Organizing instruction and study to improve student learning (NCER 2007-2004). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ncer.ed.gov
70. Perry, J., Meir, E., Herron, J. C., Maruca, S., &, Stal, D., (2008). Evaluating two approaches to helping college students understand evolutionary trees through diagramming tasks. CBE Life Science Education, 7, 193-201.
71. Phillips, B. C., Novick, L. R., Catley, K. M., &, Funk, D. J., (2012). Teaching tree thinking to college students: It's not as easy as you think. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 5, 595-602.
72. Sandoval, W. A., &, Reiser, B. J., (2003). Explanation-driven inquiry: Integrating conceptual and epistemic scaffolds for scientific inquiry. Science Education, 88, 345-372.
73. Sandvik, H., (2008). Tree thinking cannot taken for granted: Challenges for teaching phylogenetics. Theory in Biosciences, 127, 45-51.
74. Stangor, C., (1998). Research methods for the behavioral sciences. Boston: MA: Houghton Mifflin.
75. Stull, A. T., Hegarty, M., Dixon, B., &, Stieff, M., (2012). Representational translation with concrete models in organic chemistry. Cognition and Instruction, 30, 404-434.
76. Thanukos, A., (2009). A name by any other tree. Evolution: Education & Outreach, 2, 303-309.
77. Treisman, A., &, Gelade, G., (1980). A feature-integration theory of attention. Cognitive Psychology, 12, 97-136.
78. Whitley, K. N., Novick, L. R., &, Fisher, D., (2006). Evidence in favor of visual representation for the dataflow paradigm: An Experiment Testing LabVIEW's Comprehensibility. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64, 281-303. (Pubitemid 43267742)
79. Wiley, E. O., Siegel-Causey, D., Brooks, D. R., &, Funk, V. A., (1991). The compleat cladist (Special Publication No. 19). Lawrence, KS: The University of Kansas Museum of Natural History.
80. Wolfe, J. M., (1994). Guided Search 2.0: A revised model of visual search. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1, 202-238.
81. Yates, T. L., Salazar-Bravo, J., &, Dragoo, J. W., (2004). The importance of the tree of life to society. In, J. Cracraft, &, M. J. Donoghue, (Eds.), Assembling the tree of life (pp. 7-17). New York: Oxford University Press.
82. Yeh, Y.-F. Y., &, McTigue, E. M., (2009). The frequency, variation, and function of graphical representations within standardized state science tests. School Science and Mathematics, 109, 435-449.