Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Chapter 3c of 7: Determining confidence: sex and statistics
In this article we demonstrate the use of a primary research paper as an assessment tool, helping to determine how well students understand a biological concept and their ability to interpret statistics. The article by Willingham [attached] investigates the effects of temperature in conjunction with endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on sex determination in turtles. We have designed instruction and assessments on the subject of sex determination, a topic that is conceptually uncomplicated for most students, and statistical analyses which present them with some challenges. We have made the assumption that students have learned about mechanisms of sex determination among animal taxa, know how to develop and test hypotheses, and have a basic understanding of natural selection and fitness.
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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+... |
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| Life science discipline (subject) | |
| Keywords | statistics, hypothesis test, P-value, confidence level, atrazine, red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans, endocrine disruptor, environmental contaminants |
| Key taxa | red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans |
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| Pedagogical Use Description | Instructor goals: 1) Use primary literature as a source of information about biological topics and as an assessment tool. 2) Implement an active learning strategy to help students understand the concept of statistical testing and significance. 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. |
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| Full Name of Primary Author | Diane Ebert-May |
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| Primary Author Affiliation | Michigan State University |
| Primary Author email | ebertmay@msu.edu |
| Secondary Author Name(s) | Terry L Derting 1, Janet Hodder 3, and Everett P Weber 2 |
| Secondary Author Affiliation(s) | 1 Murray State University, 2 Michigan State University, 3 University of Oregon |
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| Rights | Copyright 2008, the Ecological Society of America |
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| 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 | 2012-03-05 11:43:37 |
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| Date Last Modified | 2013-05-23 10:20:48 |
| Release Flag | Published |
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