Recent science education reform efforts (Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action, the AP Biology Frameworks and the Next Generation Science Standards [www.nextgenscience.org/]) emphasize the importance of evolution as a major unifying theme in the science curriculum and in understanding life processes. They further identify inquiry-based laboratory experiences as key to helping students gain a better understanding of evolution and highlight the need for controlled studies to test such interventions. A major impediment in involving students in the experimental study of evolutionary processes is that the evolutionary process is difficult or impossible to demonstrate in the classroom. Current efforts rely on simulations with limited opportunities to test hypotheses and to learn how science is practiced. This project specifically and directly addresses these challenges through ongoing development and testing of Avida-ED, an educational software tool derived from an experimental digital tool used by scientists to study bio/computational evolution. It was first developed under an NSF CCLI award (031484). Activities planned will provide in-depth faculty development through a national series of workshops, and an expansion of an ongoing national study of the effectiveness of this approach for learning about evolution and the nature of science.
Avida-ED engages students in observation and manipulation of populations of self-replicating, autonomous digital organisms while they are actively evolving. It is built on top of a proven experimental evolution research platform, so students can perform experiments to test evolutionary hypotheses that they generate on their own in the same modeling system used by scientists. Evidence from on-going national classroom studies indicates the unique value of being able to directly observe evolution in action in this digital environment. Pilot studies show that Avida-ED is effective in (i) overcoming common misconceptions about evolutionary mechanisms and (ii) increasing acceptance of evolutionary science. This study examines these issues in more detail, including cognitive and non-cognitive elements of active learning when using digital evolution models. These constitute some of the first quasi-experimental classroom studies in evolution education. Other activities planned include a series of national workshops to provide profession development in the use of Avida-ED to over 150 faculty
This project is funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate of Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education in support of efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/
