A learning progression for deepening students' understandings of modern genetics across the 5th–10th grades

Abstract

Over the past several decades, there has been a tremendous growth in our understanding of genetic phenomena and the intricate and complicated mechanisms that mediate genetic effects. Given the complexity of content in modern genetics and the inadequacy of current instructional methods and materials it seems that a more coherent and extensive approach to teaching modern genetics is needed. Learning progressions provide such an approach by describing the learning of core concepts in a domain as it unfolds over multiple grades and grade bands. In this paper we suggest a learning progression for modern genetics that spans grades 5-10. We describe the learning progression in terms of three key aspects of teaching and learning modern genetics: (1) the big ideas in modern genetics, and the knowledge and abilities that students should master by the end of compulsory education; and (2) the progression of learning that students are expected to make over several grades; and (3) the identification of learning performances and development of assessments for the proposed progression. We conclude by identifying the implications for instruction and research that stem from our analysis of the research base in genetics education, and our development of a theoretical progression for learning the big ideas in modern genetics. ß

Reaching a Consensus on the Definition of Genetic Literacy that Is Required from a Twenty-First-Century Citizen

“…Expert answers on conceptual knowledge could, for the most part, be classified according to the framework of Duncan et al (2009). Three additional categories (I, J, and K in Table 1) were formed to include answers that did not fit the framework.…”

“…The components previously suggested for a learning progression in modern genetics by Duncan et al (2009) proved useful as a framework to analyze the answers classified under conceptual knowledge. The Duncan et al (2009) framework is based on the suggestion of Stewart et al (2005) that knowledge of three integrated conceptual models is necessary to truly understand genetic phenomena: (i) the genetic model, which deals with the patterns of inheritance observed when organisms reproduce sexually and the probabilities with which different patterns are likely to occur; (ii) the meiotic model, which relates to the cellular processes underlying gene recombination, sorting, and transfer from one generation to the next; and (iii) the molecular model, which deals with the mechanisms that link genes to their biological outcomes.…”

“…The Duncan et al (2009) framework is based on the suggestion of Stewart et al (2005) that knowledge of three integrated conceptual models is necessary to truly understand genetic phenomena: (i) the genetic model, which deals with the patterns of inheritance observed when organisms reproduce sexually and the probabilities with which different patterns are likely to occur; (ii) the meiotic model, which relates to the cellular processes underlying gene recombination, sorting, and transfer from one generation to the next; and (iii) the molecular model, which deals with the mechanisms that link genes to their biological outcomes. The framework of Duncan et al (2009) expanded these three models to include the environment as the context in which genetic processes take place and emphasized the role of proteins in the development of traits. We found the eight components listed in Duncan et al's (2009) suggested framework useful for classifying the answers of the conceptual knowledge type.…”

Modeling the Development of Vocational Competence: a Psychometric Model for Economic Domains

“…The design of a vocational learning progression requires either strong familiarity with the vocational area or interactions with vocational experts to determine which vocational activities are more or less complex and how the capacity to achieve them might develop over time (Duncan et al 2009;Plummer and Krajcik 2010). Ideally, the progression model reflects the structures of the vocational curriculum and instruction (Pellegrino 2012) and includes examples of student work at each level (Mislevy and Haertel 2006;Taylor 2013;Wilson 2005).…”

Improved student linkage of mendelian and molecular genetic concepts through a yeast‐based laboratory module

“…With this approach, students approach their study of basic inheritance armed with the knowledge of the molecular processes that make it possible. This knowledge, in turn, facilitates the study of how different genes functionally interact to produce the complex phenotypes that underlie the vast majority of traits [1,5]. Such knowledge provides all students with the ability to competently engage in debate and make critical decisions on medical and political issues that may powerfully affect their lives.…”