Representing Variability: The Case of Life Cycle Diagrams

Autor/inn/en	Menendez, David; Mathiaparanam, Olympia N.; Liu, David; Seitz, Vienne; Alibali, Martha W.; Rosengren, Karl S.
Titel	Representing Variability: The Case of Life Cycle Diagrams
Quelle	In: CBE - Life Sciences Education, 19 (2020) 3, Artikel 49 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	Weitere Informationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1931-7913
Schlagwörter	Biology; Science Instruction; Visual Aids; Scientific Concepts; Standards; Teaching Methods; Learning Processes; Textbooks; Databases; Intuition; Instructional Design; Psychology; Futures (of Society); Genetics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Biologie; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Anschauungsmaterial; Standard; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Learning process; Lernprozess; Textbook; Text book; Schulbuch; Lehrbuch; Datenbank; Lesson concept; Lessonplan; Unterrichtsentwurf; Psychologie; Future; Society; Zukunft; Humangenetik
Abstract	Two foundational concepts in biology education are 1) offspring are not identical to their parents, and 2) organisms undergo changes throughout their lives. These concepts are included in both international and U.S. curricular standards. Research in psychology has shown that children often have difficulty understanding these concepts, as they are inconsistent with their intuitive theories of the biological world. Additionally, prior research suggests that diagrams are commonly used in instruction and that their features influence student learning. Given this prior work, we explored the characteristics of life cycle diagrams and discuss possible implications for student learning. We examined 75 life cycle diagrams from books, including five biology or general science textbooks and 25 specialized trade books focusing on biology for children. We also examined 633 life cycle diagrams from a publicly available online database of science diagrams. Most diagrams failed to show any within-species variability. Additionally, many diagrams had perceptually rich backgrounds, which prior research suggests might hinder learning. We discuss how the design characteristics of diagrams may reinforce students' intuitive theories of biology, which might make it difficult for students to understand key biological concepts in the future. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Society for Cell Biology. 8120 Woodmont Avenue Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20814-2762. Tel: 301-347-9300; Fax: 301-347-9310; e-mail: ascbinfo@ascb.org; Website: http://www.ascb.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01