Education Commons^™

Assessing The Impact Of Historical Story Telling On Student Learning Of Natural Selection, Janice Marie Fulford

Dissertations

Research suggests that because of its historical nature, the learning of evolutionary biology is problematic compared to that of other science disciplines. While explanations used in historical sciences often employ historical narratives, which are distinct from narratives in other contexts, such as stories, the two types of narratives have structural similarities that suggest the potential role of stories based in the history of science for the teaching of evolutionary biology. Stephen Klassen, a prominent science educator, has studied how stories from the history of physics can promote the learning of and attitudes towards science. Klassen’s pioneering work identifies structural components …

An Account Of Novice Phylogenetic Tree Construction From The Problem-Solving Research Tradition, Terrance E. Brisbin

Dissertations

Both the content and strategic knowledge used in phylogenetic tree construction are described to account for novice performance. A review of the literature is used to place this research with respect to studies in: problem solving studies (both expert, and novice), the history and practice of evolutionary systematics, and the teaching of evolution. The computer-based problem-solving environment is discussed along with model problems used for the research.

Each of the five research problems consists of an encoded matrix containing phylogenetic data organized by taxa and characters. Twelve participants (high school students) volunteered to solve the research problems, on their own …

A Limnological Investigation Of A Tropical Fresh-Water Ecosystem: The Belize River, Belize, Central America, Victor J. Gonzalez

Dissertations

The limnology of the Belize River, from the region of Spanish Lookout to the region of Belize City, was investigated from 1977 through 1979. The investigation was done primarily during the months of May through August, covering the two seasonal changes--wet and dry--that occur in this tropical region. The investigation sought to describe various parameters of the Belize River so as to gain an understanding of this tropical fresh-water ecosystem and to provide basic information needed for the development of management programs.

Water samples were collected from eight stations and analyzed for acidity, alkalinity, carbon dioxide, chloride, sodium chromate, hexavalent …