Abstract
Contrary to the situation at primary, middle, and secondary school levels, university science courses provide students with very few opportunities to reflect upon the nature of science (NOS). The first goal of this study was to provide evidence that the co-construction of evolutionary trees, an important component of university biology education, can be used as a platform to introduce undergraduates to some aspects of NOS, such as the importance of (1) hypothesis, (2) human creativity, and (3) cooperation and collaboration in the development of scientific knowledge. The second goal was to provide evidence that this approach could be used without sacrificing student mastery of the drawing of phylogenetic trees in a scientific and reasonable way. The data was derived from 68 undergraduates’ (39 females and 29 males, 17–22 years old) written responses and audio and video recordings in a university biology course in Colombia. The findings show that the co-construction of phylogenetic trees can offer potential contributions to the introduction of undergraduates to some aspects of NOS and the promotion of their understanding of these visual representations. This study contributes to the development of a research-based university science education that can inform the design of a NOS curriculum for higher education.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Zaide Katherine Montes Ortiz and Juan Diego Pyco Gutiérrez for their assistance in transcribing the audio recordings. Also, we would like to express our deepest appreciation to the participants who agreed to contribute to this project.
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Appendices
Appendix 1. The Diversity of Life Survey (adapted from Young et al. 2013, p. 5)
Part One
Assume that you are working for the natural history museum of your university. Your museum has specimens of the following 20 groups of organisms in its collection. Your task is to design a tree that will help guide visitors to the collection.
Your tree should include all the groups of organisms listed below and communicate the ways they are evolutionarily related to one another. On the next page, draw a tree diagram to show the relationships between these organisms.
You can include additional text and graphics that you think will help visitors understand how you have organized these groups of organisms. There is no right or wrong answer to this task, but it is important that you are able to argue why you organized these groups of organisms in that way.
Part Two
In your opinion, is the tree you designed valid? Explain why or why not.
Appendix 2. Survey
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1.
The list of 20 groups of organisms was in English. Was this a difficulty for you to carry out the activity? Explain why or why not.
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2.
In addition to (1) developing of hypotheses, (2) creativity, and (3) collaborative and cooperative work, what other aspects of the nature of science do you consider that could be represented in the activity?
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3.
Have you had the opportunity to reflect explicitly on the nature of science in other university courses?
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a.
Yes
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b.
No
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a.
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4.
In your opinion, is it important to reflect explicitly on the nature of sciences in the Biology of Organisms course? Explain why or why not.
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Archila, P.A., Molina, J. & de Mejía, AM.T. Introducing Undergraduates to the Nature of Science Through the Co-construction of Evolutionary Trees Evidence from a University Biology Course. Res Sci Educ 50, 1917–1942 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9758-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9758-z