Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37252061›Full record

ArticleEvolution2023

An interdisciplinary course on evolution and sustainability increases acceptance of evolutionary theory and increases understanding of interdisciplinary application of evolutionary theory.

Scott A Kreher, Ellen McManus

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Evolution, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Scott A KreherDominican University, River Forest, IL 60305 USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6210-4759
Ellen McManusDominican University, River Forest, IL 60305 USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Although evolutionary theory is foundational and integrative in modern biology, there remains widespread lack of acceptance among U.S. residents. An interdisciplinary approach to teaching evolutionary theory at the undergraduate level has many advantages, such as giving students a context for learning about evolution and application of evolutionary theory to other academic disciplines and everyday life. While there are foundational examples of interdisciplinary approaches to teaching evolutionary theory, there are few examples of courses with application of evolutionary theory to issues of sustainability, such as conservation or global climate change. We build on the practical and theoretical work of others to create an interdisciplinary course on evolutionary theory for non-science majors, with ties to sustainability. Our course is taught in three modules, with extensive readings and hands-on lab activities. The first module is focused on honey bee biology, with hands-on beekeeping experiences; the second module on native plants and community education on sustainability; and the third module on the evolution of the subjective human experience of free will. Results: We found that students in our course experienced an increased acceptance of evolutionary theory. We found that students also met the course leaning objectives, of basic knowledge of evolutionary theory and application of evolutionary theory to other disciplines, assessed through group and individual major assignments. We also found that students had an expanded perspective on interdisciplinary application of evolutionary theory, assessed through closed-ended survey questions and analysis of open-ended writing. Conclusions: Students in our course experienced an increase of acceptance of evolutionary theory and an expanded perspective on interdisciplinary application of evolutionary theory, despite the fact that many students were not science majors. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12052-023-00188-4.

Indexed as

Evolution acceptanceInterdisciplinaritySustainability

Identifiers

PMID37252061
PMCPMC10206573

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.