Beyond Punnett squares: Student word association and explanations of phenotypic variation through an integrative quantitative genetics unit investigating anthocyanin inheritance and expression in Brassica rapa Fast plants.

ABSTRACT: Genetics instruction in introductory biology is often confined to Mendelian genetics and avoids the complexities of variation in quantitative traits. Given the driving question "What determines variation in phenotype (Pv)? (Pv=Genotypic variation Gv + environmental variation Ev)," we developed a 4-wk unit for an inquiry-based laboratory course focused on the inheritance and expression of a quantitative trait in varying environments. We utilized Brassica rapa Fast Plants as a model organism to study variation in the phenotype anthocyanin pigment intensity. As an initial curriculum assessment, we used free word association to examine students' cognitive structures before and after the unit and explanations in students' final research posters with particular focus on variation (Pv = Gv + Ev).

SUBMITTER: Batzli JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4152203 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature