Analyzing Upper Level Undergraduate Knowledge of Evolutionary Processes: Can Class Discussions Help?

Tran, Mark V.; Weigel, Emily G.; Richmond, Gail

For biologists, a proper understanding of evolutionary processes is fundamentally important. However, undergraduate biology students often struggle to understand evolutionary processes, replacing factual knowledge with misconceptions on the subject. Classroom discussions can be effective active learning tools used to address these misconceptions and build undergraduate knowledge of evolution. This study aimed to (a) quantify knowledge and misconceptions of evolutionary processes among upper level undergraduate students and (b) analyze how knowledge and misconceptions changed throughout a semester-long, discussion-based course. Precourse assessment scores revealed that student knowledge of evolution was low, even among students who had previously taken evolution-based courses. Improvement shown on postcourse assessments suggests that classroom discussion can help strengthen student understanding of evolution and address misconceptions.

BIOLOGICAL evolution education; HIGHER education; BIOLOGY education in universities & colleges; DISCUSSION in education; BIOLOGY students; COLLEGE curriculum

Journal of College Science Teaching, 2014, Vol 43, Issue 5, p87

0047-231X

Academic Journal

10.2505/4/jcst14_043_05_87