Representing Variability: The Case of Life Cycle Diagrams.

ABSTRACT: Two foundational concepts in biology education are 1) offspring are not identical to their parents, and 2) organisms undergo changes throughout their lives. These concepts are included in both international and U.S. curricular standards. Research in psychology has shown that children often have difficulty understanding these concepts, as they are inconsistent with their intuitive theories of the biological world. Additionally, prior research suggests that diagrams are commonly used in instruction and that their features influence student learning. Given this prior work, we explored the characteristics of life cycle diagrams and discuss possible implications for student learning. We examined 75 life cycle diagrams from books, including five biology or general science textbooks and 25 specia

SUBMITTER: Menendez D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8711823 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature