Abstract
For a lot of students, learning biology is like learning a new language. There are new terms and concepts that a lot of new students have never heard of. Evolution is the cornerstone for understanding biology, yet it is one of the more misunderstood topics. In combination with learning new terms and concepts some students come in with preconceived ideas about evolution or misunderstandings about how evolution and the phylogenetic tree work. The research indicates instructors attempting active learning techniques to increase understanding of the phylogenetic tree with mixed results, where there appears to be some improvement but nothing significant. This research set out to attempt an innovative active learning approach to help students understand the phylogenetic tree and specifically the classification system using Decision-Based Learning. Decision-Based Learning is an approach that focuses on conditional knowledge (understanding the when and under what conditions of a problem). It is a teaching method that guides students through a decision model and organizes the material into a central location. The decision models have a similar design to a phylogenetic tree allowing for an easy transition to using a decision model for explaining and understanding the phylogenetic tree and classification system. This study aims to determine if students' understanding of the classification system improves over time once a decision-based learning assignment is incorporated by comparing exam scores. Also, the student and instructor perspectives of the assignments are assessed through interviews. This is to accomplish a complete understanding of how the decision-based learning assignments are affecting the students and instructors.
Degree
PhD
College and Department
David O. McKay School of Education; Instructional Psychology and Technology
Rights
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Cavan, Melissa, "Organismal Classification and the Phylogenetic Tree: Improving its Teaching Using Decision-Based Learning" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 10747.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/10747
Date Submitted
2025-04-21
Document Type
Dissertation
Handle
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd13583
Keywords
phylogenetic tree, teaching methods, decision-based learning, evolution
Language
english