Novel Approach to Teaching Evolution - Science

Children taught genetics first increase their understanding of evolution.

Credit: Miki Yoshihito, Flickr


Even those letters for genetic code are too intimidating since teaching genetics starts long before that with Gregor Mendel and different-colored pea flowers.  (WIKI:  Gregor Mendel)


Evolution is a difficult concept for many students at all levels, however, a study publishing on May 23 in the open access journal PLOS Biology has demonstrated a simple cost-free way to significantly improve students' understanding of evolution at the secondary level: teach genetics before you teach them evolution.

Currently in the UK setting the two modules are taught in isolation often with long time intervals between. The team, led by Professor Laurence Hurst at the Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath hypothesised that since core concepts of genetics (such as DNA and mutation) are so intimately linked to the core concepts of evolution, then priming students with genetics information might help their understanding of evolution.

Phys.org:  Improve evolution education by teaching genetics first

I just verified in my ol' Dad's book, "Heredity, Genes, and Chromosomes," teaching Mendel's Laws is the immediate launch into the discussion in Chapter One.  His applied research was in population genetics but all geneticists have a fascination with evolution and he thought that as a fourth-year course for Biology majors.  All of those students had taken courses in genetics in that curriculum long before the fourth year.


The researchers conducted a large controlled trial of almost 2000 students aged 14-16 in 78 classes from 23 schools across the south and south west of the UK, in which teachers were asked to teach genetics before evolution or evolution before genetics.

The students were tested prior to teaching and after. The five year study, found that those taught genetics first improved their test scores by an average of seven per cent more than those taught evolution first.

- PO

The interested student is invited to review the entire article but that's enough of a teaser for it and gives sufficient justification for standing on the point it's better to teach genetics first.


I don't recall much emphasis on either genetics or evolution at the high school level and sure it was ages ago but evolution and genetics were hardly secrets.  Of course we were aware of such things because back then we could look at the windows and see fuckin' dinosaurs, fer chrissakes.

Mitosis and Meiosis got attention in that ancient curriculum probably because they're novel processes and may generate some scientific ooh wow for kids but I don't recall it going much deeper at the time.


An article about the evolution of Eohippus (i.e. horse) is one of the Greatest Hits for Ithaka which tells me people are hungry for the knowledge and presumably because it wasn't previously presented well.  (Ithaka:  Evolution of Eohippus (Horse))

That one has logged about three thousand reads so the interest is there.  Li'l Nicola Crosley still hasn't cracked the Greatest Hits and it's not likely she will threaten the really big hitters like the story of Eohippus.

Would someone please put that poor girl over the top since the objective is to wipe out Joe the Diseased Lung.  (Ithaka:  Remember Gonzo Journalism? Nicola Crosley Does Something Else with My First Orgy)