Prevalence and Persistence of Misconceptions in Tree Thinking
| Autor: | Tyler A. Kummer, Clinton J. Whipple, Jamie L. Jensen |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Persistence (psychology) QH301-705.5 Computer science media_common.quotation_subject 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Education Reading (process) evolution Similarity (psychology) ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION Mathematics education Biology (General) lcsh:QH301-705.5 Evolutionary theory media_common lcsh:LC8-6691 LC8-6691 lcsh:Special aspects of education General Immunology and Microbiology Phylogenetic tree business.industry 4. Education Research 05 social sciences 050301 education Common ancestry Special aspects of education Focus (linguistics) phylogenetic trees Tree (data structure) lcsh:Biology (General) misconception Artificial intelligence General Agricultural and Biological Sciences business 0503 education |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 17, Iss 3 (2016) Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 17, Iss 3, Pp 389-398 (2016) |
| ISSN: | 1935-7877 |
| Popis: | Darwin described evolution as “descent with modification.” Descent, however, is not an explicit focus of most evolution instruction and often leaves deeply held misconceptions to dominate student understanding of common ancestry and species relatedness. Evolutionary trees are ways of visually depicting descent by illustrating the relationships between species and groups of species. The ability to properly interpret and use evolutionary trees has become known as “tree thinking.” We used a 20-question assessment to measure misconceptions in tree thinking and compare the proportion of students who hold these misconceptions in an introductory biology course with students in two higher-level courses including a senior level biology course. We found that misconceptions related to reading the graphic ( reading the tips and node counting ) were variably influenced across time with reading the tips decreasing and node counting increasing in prevalence. On the other hand, misconceptions related to the fundamental underpinnings of evolutionary theory ( ladder thinking and similarity equals relatedness ) proved resistant to change during a typical undergraduate study of biology. A possible new misconception relating to the length of the branches in an evolutionary tree is described. Understanding the prevalence and persistence of misconceptions informs educators as to which misconceptions should be targeted in their courses. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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