An Integrative Approach for Teaching and Learning About Biological Evolution Through the Human Maladies of Addiction, Autoimmune Disease, Sleep Disorders, and Cancer

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate biological sciences education. To do so, it will produce a set of interactive instructional materials focused on the relevance of biological evolution in human health. Many students are introduced to biological evolution in an introductory biology course, where the topic usually receives little time in the curriculum and is presented in isolation from other content. This instruction is also typically limited to the broad concepts of natural selection and adaptation, with little connection to the molecular and/or cellular events involved in evolutionary processes. As a result, many students do not acquire a solid foundation in basic evolutionary concepts or understand how evolution is scientifically applicable to human biology. This project provides an avenue through which biological evolution can be taught and learned through the lens of medically relevant examples. This project will build, pilot, and disseminate curricular materials that clarify the evolutionary underpinnings of exemplar human diseases and health conditions for both beginning and advances biology students. It is anticipated that the project will provide new knowledge about teaching and learning about biological evolution and produce a set of instructional materials and teacher guides that can be used in a broad spectrum of courses. The project aims to develop and implement four portfolios of teaching materials that will teach evolution by focusing on four pervasive human maladies: addiction, autoimmune disease, sleep disorders, and cancer. Each of these maladies will be used as a platform for incorporating human health-related examples into undergraduate education in way that integrates natural selection across different biological levels, from the molecular and cellular to organ systems and higher. In addition, each malady will be explored from historical and sociocultural perspectives, including the socioeconomic factors involved. This structure affords great flexibility in potential uses of the portfolios. For example, an instructor could use the genetics modules across all four maladies, or work through a single malady from cell biology, to genetics, to ecology and sociological concepts. The project also intends to characterize how students interact with the teaching materials and how this interaction impacts their understanding of evolution. Specifically, the project will address the following research questions: 1) How do the portfolios of teaching materials impact student thinking about human evolution from molecular genetics to macro scale processes? 2) How do the portfolios of teaching materials impact student thinking on the nature of disease? and 3) How do the portfolios of teaching materials impact student thinking on the crosscutting and interdisciplinary nature of evolution? The project will primarily use qualitative research methods to characterize how students interact with the materials, how the materials impact student thinking, and student perception of learning. This project is supported by the NSF IUSE: EHR Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.