Title |
Teaching Tree-Thinking to Undergraduate Biology Students
|
---|---|
Published in |
Evolution: Education and Outreach, July 2010
|
DOI | 10.1007/s12052-010-0254-9 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Richard P. Meisel |
Abstract |
Evolution is the unifying principle of all biology, and understanding how evolutionary relationships are represented is critical for a complete understanding of evolution. Phylogenetic trees are the most conventional tool for displaying evolutionary relationships, and "tree-thinking" has been coined as a term to describe the ability to conceptualize evolutionary relationships. Students often lack tree-thinking skills, and developing those skills should be a priority of biology curricula. Many common student misconceptions have been described, and a successful instructor needs a suite of tools for correcting those misconceptions. I review the literature on teaching tree-thinking to undergraduate students and suggest how this material can be presented within an inquiry-based framework. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United States | 1 | 50% |
Unknown | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Scientists | 1 | 50% |
Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 11 | 5% |
Brazil | 3 | 1% |
Malaysia | 2 | <1% |
Canada | 2 | <1% |
Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
Germany | 1 | <1% |
Czechia | 1 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
Colombia | 1 | <1% |
Other | 4 | 2% |
Unknown | 180 | 87% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 42 | 20% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 35 | 17% |
Student > Bachelor | 28 | 14% |
Student > Master | 25 | 12% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 20 | 10% |
Other | 39 | 19% |
Unknown | 18 | 9% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 119 | 57% |
Social Sciences | 22 | 11% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 14 | 7% |
Earth and Planetary Sciences | 6 | 3% |
Immunology and Microbiology | 4 | 2% |
Other | 18 | 9% |
Unknown | 24 | 12% |