Getting to Evo-Devo: Concepts and Challenges for Students Learning Evolutionary Developmental Biology

To examine how well biology majors have achieved the necessary foundation in evolution, numerous studies have examined how students learn natural selection. However, no studies to date have examined how students learn developmental aspects of evolution (evo-devo). Although evo-devo plays an increasi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CBE life sciences education 2013-09, Vol.12 (3), p.494-508
Main Authors: Hiatt, Anna, Davis, Gregory K, Trujillo, Caleb, Terry, Mark, French, Donald P, Price, Rebecca M, Perez, Kathryn E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Barriers
Biological Evolution
Biology
College Science
Concept Formation
Development
Developmental Biology - education
Educational Measurement
Evolution
Fundamental Concepts
Genetics
Interviews
Learning
Majors (Students)
Pacific Northwest
Science Instruction
Scientific Concepts
Students
Surveys
Undergraduate Students
United States (Midwest)
United States (Northeast)
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Summary:To examine how well biology majors have achieved the necessary foundation in evolution, numerous studies have examined how students learn natural selection. However, no studies to date have examined how students learn developmental aspects of evolution (evo-devo). Although evo-devo plays an increasing role in undergraduate biology curricula, we find that instruction often addresses development cursorily, with most of the treatment embedded within instruction on evolution. Based on results of surveys and interviews with students, we suggest that teaching core concepts (CCs) within a framework that integrates supporting concepts (SCs) from both evolutionary and developmental biology can improve evo-devo instruction. We articulate CCs, SCs, and foundational concepts (FCs) that provide an integrative framework to help students master evo-devo concepts and to help educators address specific conceptual difficulties their students have with evo-devo. We then identify the difficulties that undergraduates have with these concepts. Most of these difficulties are of two types: those that are ubiquitous among students in all areas of biology and those that stem from an inadequate understanding of FCs from developmental, cell, and molecular biology.
ISSN:1931-7913
1931-7913
DOI:10.1187/cbe.12-11-0203