Investigating Undergraduate Students’ Use of Intuitive Reasoning and Evolutionary Knowledge in Explanations of Antibiotic Resistance

Richard, Melissa; Coley, John D.; Tanner, Kimberly D.

doi:10.1187/cbe.16-11-0317

Cited by 29 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(55 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Even though this percentage only reflects usage of the term and does not gauge possible explanations, it was still drastically higher than the percentage of evolutionary explanations found in Paper II and considered to be very low by the authors (Singh et al, 2016). However, note that accepting that antibiotic resistance is an example of evolution does not imply understanding of the mechanisms (Richard, Coley & Tanner, 2017). Similar results were found for online websites that were among the top results for searches on Google.…”

Section: Evolutionary Explanations For Antibiotic Resistancesupporting

confidence: 63%

“…For example, understanding why antibiotics have no effect on viruses or why humans do not become resistant is foremost a microbiological question. Nevertheless, these are two very common misunderstandings found among pupils (Lind Pantzare et al, 2015), biology students (Richard, Coley & Tanner, 2017) as well as adults (e.g. André et al, 2010).…”

Section: Teaching Evolutionary Explanations Of Antibiotic Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that this is the last compulsory biology course in Sweden, it is highly relevant in the context of Vision II of scientific literacy, which concerns the broader public rather than a future scientific workforce. Against this background, it is troubling that antibiotic resistance seems to be one of the more difficult topics in this course, shown by needs-based reasoning as well as confusion about who actually becomes resistant (Lind Pantzare et al, 2014;Richard, Coley & Tanner, 2017).…”

Section: Teaching Evolutionary Explanations Of Antibiotic Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Richard, Coley and Tanner (2017) investigated three forms of intuitive reasoning associated with antibiotic resistance -teleological, anthropocentric and essentialist -in students at various levels, as well as in biological faculty. Their findings show that all three forms of intuitive reasoning were prevalent in all student groups (including advanced biology majors) and significantly correlated to misconceptions on antibiotic resistance (Richard, Coley & Tanner, 2017).…”

Section: Antibiotic Resistance In School Curriculamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Somewhat contrary to the studies mentioned above, a recent study showed that although a large majority of biology students and faculty agreed with the claim that antibiotic resistance is an example of evolution, misconceptions and intuitive reasoning are widespread among the student group. This implies that it is not enough to simply point out the association between antibiotic resistance and evolution, but that details on the workings need to be taught and effectively communicated (Richard, Coley and Tanner, 2017). …”

Section: Antibiotic Resistance In Light Of Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Evolving germs – Antibiotic resistance and natural selection in education and public communication

Bohlin¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics threatens modern healthcare on a global scale. Several actors in society, including the general public, must become more involved if this development is to be countered. The conveyance of relevant information provided through education and media reports is therefore of high concern. Antibiotic resistance evolves through the mechanisms of natural selection; in this way, a sound understanding of these mechanisms underlies explanations of causes and the development of effective risk-reduction measures. In addition to natural selection functioning as an explanatory framework to antibiotic resistance, bacterial resistance as a context seems to possess a number of qualities that make it suitable for teaching natural selection -a subject that has been proven notoriously hard to teach and learn. A recently suggested approach for learning natural selection involves so-called threshold concepts, which encompass abstract and integrative ideas. The threshold concepts associated with natural selection include, among others, the notions of randomness as well as vast spatial and temporal scales. Illustrating complex relationships between concepts on different levels of organization is one, of several, areas where visualizations are efficient. Given the often-imperceptible nature of threshold concepts as well as the fact that natural selection processes occur on different organizational levels, visual accounts of natural selection have many potential benefits for learning.Against this background, the present dissertation explores information conveyed to the public regarding antibiotic resistance and natural selection, as well as investigates how these topics are presented together, by scrutinizing media including news reports, websites, educational textbooks and online videos. The principal method employed in the media studies was content analysis, which was complemented with various other analytical procedures. Moreover, a classroom study was performed, in which novice pupils worked with a series of animations explaining the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Data from individual written assignments, group questions and video-recorded discussions were collected and analyzed to empirically explore the potential of antibiotic resistance as a context for learning about evolution through natural selection.Among the findings are that certain information, that is crucial for the public to know, about antibiotic resistance was conveyed to a low extent through wide-reaching news reporting. Moreover, explanations based on natural selection were rarely included in accounts of antibiotic resistance in any of the examined media. Thus, it is highly likely that a large proportion of the population is never exposed to explanations for resistance development ii during education or through newspapers. Furthermore, the few examples that were encountered in newspapers or textbooks were hardly ever visualized, but presented only in textual form. With regard to videos purporting to explain natural selec...

show abstract

Section: Evolutionary Explanations For Antibiotic Resistancesupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Teaching Evolutionary Explanations Of Antibiotic Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Teaching Evolutionary Explanations Of Antibiotic Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Antibiotic Resistance In School Curriculamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Antibiotic Resistance In Light Of Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Evolving germs – Antibiotic resistance and natural selection in education and public communication

Bohlin¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Assessing how well students understand the molecular basis of evolution by natural selection

Sievers

Reemts

Dickinson

et al. 2022

Biochem Molecular Bio Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Researchers have called for undergraduate courses to update teaching frameworks based on the Modern Synthesis with insights from molecular biology, by stressing the molecular underpinnings of variation and adaptation. To support this goal, we developed a modified version of the widely used Assessing Conceptual Reasoning of Natural Selection (ACORNS) instrument. The expanded tool, called the E-ACORNS, is explicitly designed to test student understanding of the connections among genotypes, phenotypes, and fitness. E-ACORNS comprises a slight modification to the ACORNS open-response prompts and a new scoring rubric. The rubric is based on five core concepts in evolution by natural selection, with each concept broken into elements at the novice, intermediate, and expert-level understanding. Initial tests of the E-ACORNS showed that (1) upper-level undergraduates can score responses reliably and quickly, and (2) students who were just starting an introductory biology series for majors do not yet grasp the molecular basis of phenotypic variation and its connection to fitness.

show abstract

yEvo: A modular eukaryotic genetics and evolution research experience for high school students

Taylor,

Warwick,

Skophammer

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The resources for carrying out and analyzing microbial evolution experiments have become more accessible, making it possible to expand these studies beyond the research laboratory and into the classroom. We developed five connected, standards‐aligned yeast evolution laboratory modules, called “yEvo,” for high school students. The modules enable students to take agency in answering open‐ended research questions. In Module 1, students evolve baker's yeast to tolerate an antifungal drug, and in subsequent modules, investigate how evolved yeasts adapted to this stressful condition at both the phenotype and genotype levels. We used pre‐ and post‐surveys from 72 students at two different schools and post‐interviews with students and teachers to assess our program goals and guide module improvement over 3 years. We measured changes in student conceptions, confidence in scientific practices, and interest in STEM careers. Students who participated in yEvo showed improvements in understanding of activity‐specific concepts and reported increased confidence in designing a valid biology experiment. Student experimental data replicated literature findings and has led to new insights into antifungal resistance. The modules and provided materials, alongside “proof of concept” evaluation metrics, will serve as a model for other university researchers and K − 16 classrooms interested in engaging in open‐ended research questions using yeast as a model system.

show abstract

Investigating Undergraduate Students’ Use of Intuitive Reasoning and Evolutionary Knowledge in Explanations of Antibiotic Resistance

Cited by 29 publications

References 34 publications

Evolving germs – Antibiotic resistance and natural selection in education and public communication

Evolving germs – Antibiotic resistance and natural selection in education and public communication

Assessing how well students understand the molecular basis of evolution by natural selection

yEvo: A modular eukaryotic genetics and evolution research experience for high school students

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About