Working Group
This Working Group will develop tools to diagnose the conceptual understanding of key aspects of evolutionary thinking. Collectively, these Evolution Concept Inventories (EvoCI) can be used to conduct hypothesis-based research on how students learn evolution. We will begin by identifying concepts to target, modeling our diagnostic questions on existing concept inventories (CIs) like the Concept Inventory of Natural Selection. The questions will be multiple choice format and the incorrect choices for each question will be based on common misconceptions synthesized from the literature. CIs are useful for assessing conceptual understanding of evolution in individual classrooms, and also across institutions and curricula at the national level. The tools will be available through the ciHUB, an online portal that administers the questions and generates instructors’ reports. Our collaboration provides a base for future expansion, as more CIs that measure evolutionary understanding are developed.
Evoci toolkit: concept inventories to assess conceptual understanding of evolution
| PI(s): | Rebecca Price (University of Washington-Bothell) Kathryn Perez (University of Wisconsin at La Crosse) |
| Start Date: | 10-Oct-2010 |
| End Date: | 10-Oct-2012 |
| Keywords: | education |
This Working Group will develop tools to diagnose the conceptual understanding of key aspects of evolutionary thinking. Collectively, these Evolution Concept Inventories (EvoCI) can be used to conduct hypothesis-based research on how students learn evolution. We will begin by identifying concepts to target, modeling our diagnostic questions on existing concept inventories (CIs) like the Concept Inventory of Natural Selection. The questions will be multiple choice format and the incorrect choices for each question will be based on common misconceptions synthesized from the literature. CIs are useful for assessing conceptual understanding of evolution in individual classrooms, and also across institutions and curricula at the national level. The tools will be available through the ciHUB, an online portal that administers the questions and generates instructors’ reports. Our collaboration provides a base for future expansion, as more CIs that measure evolutionary understanding are developed.
Related products
Publications- The Dominance Concept Inventory: A Tool for Assessing Undergraduate Student Alternative Conceptions about Dominance in Mendelian and Population Genetics J. K. Abraham, K. E. Perez and R. M. Price. 2014, The Dominance Concept Inventory: A Tool for Assessing Undergraduate Student Alternative Conceptions about Dominance in Mendelian and Population Genetics, Cell Biology Education, volume 13, issue 2, pp. 349-358
- The Genetic Drift Inventory: a tool for measuring what undergraduates have mastered about genetic drift. Price RM, Andrews TM, McElhinny TL, Mead LS, Abraham JK, Thanukos A, Perez KE. 2014. The Genetic Drift Inventory: a tool for measuring what undergraduates have mastered about genetic drift. CBE-Life Science Education. 13(1), 65â75. DOI: 10.1187/cbe.13-08-0159
- Getting to Evo-Devo: Concepts and Challenges for Students Learning Evolutionary Developmental Biology A. Hiatt, G. K. Davis, C. Trujillo, M. Terry, D. P. French, R. M. Price and K. E. Perez. 2013, Getting to Evo-Devo: Concepts and Challenges for Students Learning Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Cell Biology Education, volume 12, issue 3, pp. 494-508
- The EvoDevoCI: A Concept Inventory for Gauging Students' Understanding of Evolutionary Developmental Biology K. E. Perez, A. Hiatt, G. K. Davis, C. Trujillo, D. P. French, M. Terry and R. M. Price. 2013, The EvoDevoCI: A Concept Inventory for Gauging Students' Understanding of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Cell Biology Education, volume 12, issue 4, pp. 665-675
- Biology Undergraduates' Misconceptions about Genetic Drift T. M. Andrews, R. M. Price, L. S. Mead, T. L. McElhinny, A. Thanukos, K. E. Perez, C. F. Herreid, D. R. Terry and P. P. Lemons. 2012, Biology Undergraduates' Misconceptions about Genetic Drift, Cell Biology Education, volume 11, issue 3, pp. 248-259
- Biology undergraduates' misconceptions about genetic drift Andrews, T., Price, R., Mead, L., McElhinny, T., Thanukos, A., Perez, K., Herreid, C., Terry, D., Lemons, P. (2012) Biology undergraduates' misconceptions about genetic drift. CBE--Life Sciences Education, 11, 248-259.
- Perez KE and Price RM. 2015. The Echoes of an Adaptationist Legacy: (Not) Teaching Non-adaptive Evolution. 118th Annual Meeting of the Texas Academy of Science, Science Education Section. San Antonio, TX.
- Price RM and Perez KE. 2014. Can teaching nonadaptive mechanisms of evolution improve understanding of natural selection? Lessons learned from developing concept inventories about evolution. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research, Minneapolis, MN.
- Hiatt A, French D, Perez K, Price RM, Davis G, Terry M. 2014. The EvoDevoCI: A new measure of evolutionary understanding. National Association of Biology Teachers. Atlanta, GA.
- Perez, K.E., Price, R. 2012. Concept inventories to assess student understanding of evolution: genetic drift, population-thinking and evo-devo. 1st Joint World Congress on Evolutionary Biology, Ottowa, Canada
- Hiatt, A., Perez, K.E., Davis, G., Trujillo, C., Terry, M., Price, R. 2012. Evo-Devo in the classroom: target concepts and students' challenges. 1st Joint World Congress on Evolutionary Biology, Ottowa, Canada.
- Hiatt A, Perez KE, Davis G, Terry M, Trujillo C, French D, Price RM. 2012. Evo-devo: target concepts and studentsâ challenges. National Association of Biology Teachers, Dallas, TX.
- Price RM, Andrews TM, Mead LS, McElhinny TL, Thanukos A, Perez KE, Herreid CF, Terry DR, and Lemons PP. 2012. Misconceptions that biology undergraduates have about genetic drift. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research, Minneapolis, MN.
