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EvolvingSTEM: A microbial evolution-in-action curriculum that enhances learning of evolutionary biology and increases interest in STEM

View ORCID ProfileVaughn S. Cooper, Taylor M. Warren, Abigail M. Matela, Michael Handwork, Shani Scarponi
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/514513
Vaughn S. Cooper
1Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA USA
2Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA USA
3Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH USA
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  • For correspondence: vaughn.cooper@pitt.edu
Taylor M. Warren
3Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH USA
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Abigail M. Matela
1Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA USA
2Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA USA
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Michael Handwork
4Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, NH USA
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Shani Scarponi
4Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, NH USA
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Abstract

Evolution is a central, unifying theory for all of life science, yet the subject is poorly represented in most secondary-school biology courses, especially in the United States. One challenge to learning evolution is that it is taught as a conceptual, retrospective subject with few tangible outcomes for students. These typical passive learning strategies lead to student disengagement with the material and misunderstanding of evolutionary concepts. To promote greater investment and comprehension, we developed EvolvingSTEM, an inquiry-based laboratory curriculum that demonstrates concepts of natural selection, heredity, and ecological diversity through experimental evolution of a benign bacterium. Students transfer populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens growing on plastic beads, which selects for biofilm formation and mutants with new, conspicuous phenotypes. We introduced our curriculum to four introductory high school biology classes alongside their standard curriculum materials and found that students who learned evolution through EvolvingSTEM scored significantly better on a common assessment targeted to Next Generation Science Standards than students taught only the standard curriculum. This latter group subsequently achieved similar scores once they too completed our curriculum. Our work demonstrates that inquiry-based, hands-on experiences with evolving bacterial populations can greatly enhance student learning of evolutionary concepts.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 09, 2019.
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EvolvingSTEM: A microbial evolution-in-action curriculum that enhances learning of evolutionary biology and increases interest in STEM
Vaughn S. Cooper, Taylor M. Warren, Abigail M. Matela, Michael Handwork, Shani Scarponi
bioRxiv 514513; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/514513
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EvolvingSTEM: A microbial evolution-in-action curriculum that enhances learning of evolutionary biology and increases interest in STEM
Vaughn S. Cooper, Taylor M. Warren, Abigail M. Matela, Michael Handwork, Shani Scarponi
bioRxiv 514513; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/514513

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