This project is developing, field testing and assessing the effectiveness of a set of 8 interactive, online case studies that help college-level students learn and integrate their understanding of modern concepts in evolutionary biology. The studies provide richness to the understanding of evolutionary processes by integrating biological concepts across multiple scales, varying from nucleotides to populations. The case studies emphasize the molecular and biochemical bases of evolutionary processes, in conjunction with the traditionally taught concepts of population genetic variation and natural selection. Among the case studies under development are: 1) Hox genes and body plan evolution in arthropods; 2) color vision in primates; 3) body size in dogs; 4) myosin, morphology and human evolution; and 5) corticosteroid receptors in mammals. These resources for learning evolutionary concepts are being field tested and assessed in introductory and advanced biology courses. Assessments used to measure their effectiveness in helping students fill the "holes" in their understanding of evolution, and to integrate the "bits and pieces" of evolution they previously learned, are being tested for validity and reliability by triangulating with interviews and analyses of students' writing. In addition, the cases address common problems with student ideas that 1) evolution is goal directed; and 2) species are separate, stable and unchanging. Dissemination of developed resources and assessments is occurring by online distribution via the Understanding Evolution website at UC Berkeley (UE), the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent), and the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS), along with LON-CAPA and other means of online distribution, and via presentations and workshops at conferences and at other schools.
Current university-level evolution instruction often suffers from a disjointed curriculum that separates molecular and ecological processes, at times omitting the former altogether. At the same time, national reform efforts call for the principles of evolution to be taught across the curriculum. During the lifetime of our TUES award (Mar. 1, 2011 – Feb. 28, 2014), our team (Peter White, Merle Heidemann, and Jim Smith) developed, implemented, and tested the effectiveness of four cases (Mouse Fur Color, Pea Taste, Monkey Opsins and Clam Toxin) that present an integrated, comprehensive approach to teaching evolution across biological sub-disciplines. Our intent was to provide materials that post-secondary instructors could use to bolster their content knowledge and adapt for their students as they endeavor to configure their teaching to meet Vision and Change challenges. We had two major objectives in our design strategy. First, we sought to address the "silo effect" that is still the norm in many Introductory Biology course sequences, with students learning principles isolated from their overall biological context. Second, we sought to incorporate the molecular and cell biology components of evolutionary processes into undergraduate biology curricula, explicitly tying DNA replication and mutations to population-level evolutionary processes. To assess the effectiveness of the Cases, we used a pre/post assessment in eight post-secondary biology courses to test our hypothesis that student understanding of evolution can be enhanced when students learn biology in a context where integrative evolution cases are used (n = 593 students). Four of these courses used cases interwoven into the existing curriculum, and four of these courses did not. We found that students who learned biology in courses using the integrative cases performed significantly better on an evolution assessment tool that we designed and validated for the purposes of this study. Student improvement in understanding evolution was evident both in introductory molecular courses and introductory organismal courses, and appeared to be dose-dependent. Students who used integrative evolution cases during two different semesters scored highest on the evolution assessment (Tukey HSD test, p = 0.049). Taken together, our data indicate that an approach to evolution instruction that integrates evolutionary principles and concepts across the two Introductory Biology semesters can enhance student learning. The material in any given case can be used to support the teaching of evolution across the curriculum, whether within a single introductory or advanced course, or more comprehensively across several courses. The cases are presented in a way that will allow instructors to quickly see how to apply this approach. The cases we developed are housed at www.evo-ed and our materials are freely available. Dissemination is ongoing, and we generate approximately 6,000 page views per month, with materials accessed by users in 49/50 US states. We had excellent overall productivity as a team in 2013, with three publications appearing in print (Evolution: Education and Outreach, BioScience, and Buffalo Case Studies) and we gave 10 oral and poster presentations across the US and Canada. Our team is currently making plans for the next steps in this project with a planned NSF submission to the iUSE program in Jan. 2015. Dr. Peter White, who was hired as the project post-doctoral research associate, successfully competed for a tenure-track position at Michigan State University to begin in Aug. 2014, so he will remain with us on the project team.
