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Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Chapter 5a of 7: Novel assessments: detecting success in student learning

This article illustrates how multiple methods can be used to assess student understanding of the “novel weapons hypothesis” presented in the Callaway and Ridenour review of theories regarding invasive plant species[attached]. The paper introduces students to concepts of natural selection, fitness, competition, and invasion of exotic species. The assessments we describe here engage students in diverse ways to demonstrate their understanding. Multiple and varied assessments give students feedback about their progress, help instructors to determine their next instructional steps, and communicate to students what they need to know and do, and motivate them to continue challenging themselves to learn (Pellegrino et al. 2001). Learning through assessment offers students ways of building their understanding by using models, theories, and “cause and effect” explanations that support successful knowledge transfer (Mayer et al. 1996). The use of multiple representations, such as definitions, analogies, visual models, and examples, helps students to understand and remember scientific concepts, while allowing them and the instructor to assess their understanding. The “novel weapons” paper provides students with opportunities to build a deeper understanding of basic biological concepts and develop problem-solving skills, as they explore theories and hypotheses about plant invasions.
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Resource Group "Pathways to Scientific Teaching" is based on a series of two-page articles published in "Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment" from August 2004 to June 2006 that illustrated effective instructional methods to help students gain conceptual understanding in ecology (Diane Ebert-May and Janet Hodder, 2008).

This installment of the Pathways to Scientific Teaching series describes one or more instructional strategies that use scientific papers to teach selected concepts. While specific journal articles are used in demonstrating these strategies, we would like to emphasize that each activity in the Pathways series has been designed for use with any scientific article on a similar topic, and not just the example shown here.

Note that in addition to undergraduate faculty, many high school teachers can use these articles as well in their biology courses.
Resource Group Link http://ecoed.esa.org/index.php?P=AdvancedSearch&Q=Y&FK=%22Pathways+to+...
Primary or BEN resource type
Secondary resource type
Discipline Specific Core Concepts
Life science discipline (subject)
Keywords novel weapons hypothesis, invasive plant species, natural selection, fitness, competition, invasion, models, cause and effect
Audience
Intended End User Role
Language
Educational Language
Pedagogical Use Category
Pedagogical Use Description Students read the Calloway and Ridenour paper as homework, focusing on the learning goals [described]. This instructional design alternates assessments used inside or outside the class with short lectures or discussions. Just as research results direct scientists to their next experiments, student responses obtained in these assessments inform subsequent discussion or lecture segments.

This installment of the Pathways to Scientific Teaching series describes one or more instructional strategies that use scientific papers to teach selected concepts. While specific journal articles are used in demonstrating these strategies, we would like to emphasize that each activity in the Pathways series has been designed for use with any scientific article on a similar topic, and not just the example shown here.

Note that in addition to undergraduate faculty, many high school teachers can use these articles as well in their biology courses.
Aggregation Level
Structure
Full Name of Primary Author Diane Ebert-May
Primary Author Controlled Name
Primary Author Affiliation Michigan State University
Primary Author email ebertmay@msu.edu
Secondary Author Name(s) Kathy S Williams 1, Doug Luckie 2, Janet Hodder 3, Suzanne Koptur 4
Secondary Author Affiliation(s) 1 San Diego State University; 2 Michigan State University; 3 University of Oregon; 4 Florida International University.
Added By Id
  • Celia
Rights Copyright 2008, the Ecological Society of America
License
Publisher
Review type
Drought and Water Ecosystem Services Collection Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection Off
Big Data Collection Off
Editors Choice No
Resource Status
Date Of Record Submission 2011-12-02
I Agree to EcoEdDL's Copyright Policy & Terms of Use No
Date Of Record Release 2012-03-07 08:51:10
Last Modified By Id
  • mcmilla
Date Last Modified 2013-05-23 10:23:00
Release Flag Published

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