An Avida-ED digital evolution curriculum for undergraduate biology

Abstract

We present an inquiry-based curriculum based on the digital evolution platform Avida-ED (http://avida-ed.msu.edu). We designed an instructional sequence and lab book consisting of an introduction to Avida-ED and a set of three lessons focused on specific evolutionary concepts. These served to familiarize students with experimental evolution and Avida-ED. Students then developed independent Avida-ED research projects to test their own questions. Curriculum design and implementation occurred over the course or two semesters, with a pilot implementation in the first semester, followed by curriculum revision and full implementation in the second semester. The curriculum was implemented in an undergraduate Introductory Cell and Molecular Biology course at a major research university. Full implementation of the curriculum in semester two involved the use of Avida-ED mainly in the teaching lab in parallel with a bacterial antibiotic resistance experimental research stream, allowing students to draw connections between Avidian digital evolution and the evolution of antibiotic resistance in microbial populations. After carrying out the introductory exercises, students developed independent Avida-ED projects to test their own research questions, and presented their data to researchers in the NSF-funded BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. Preliminary results of our studies to assess the impacts of an Avida-ED curriculum indicate a positive effect on student learning of evolutionary concepts, particularly in increasing the level of complexity of student explanations about the random nature of mutation.

Genie: an interactive real-time simulation for teaching genetic drift

“…In fact, the most well-known of these tools, Avida-ED, has been shown to serve multiple teaching purposes. First, digital simulations like Avida-ED or Genie provide an experimental platform in which students can test the effect of core evolutionary mechanisms; second, these simulations encourage students to use inquiry-based learning; and third, the simulations allow students to learn concepts in a manner that is transferable across levels of biological complexity ( Bray Speth et al 2008 ; Robert 2007 ; Smith et al 2016 ). Simulations also provide multiple independent instances for students to observe the stochasticity in genetic drift, unlike a lesson that only walks through changes in allele frequencies.…”

Genie: An interactive real-time simulation for teaching genetic drift

“…In the case of evolution teaching, strategies that favor student's development of critical thinking skills are especially useful. For instance, tools and methods that aid in creating and testing hypotheses have been effective in improving student's understanding and acceptance of evolutionary theory (Lark et al 2018;Smith et al 2016). Likewise, instruction using computer simulation programs has proven to be valuable in facilitating student's recognition of the breadth of evolutionary mechanisms that can act in a population (Kliman 2001).…”

A digital technology‐based introductory biology course designed for engineering and other non‐life sciences STEM majors

“…In Integrative Biology , Avida‐ED assignments and independent research accounted for forty percent of a student's course grade with the first five activities designed to support student understanding of evolution and learning of the experimental system specifically, and of experimentation in science generally. Avida‐ED digital evolution lab exercises were either modified from previously produced curriculum materials or newly created to develop expertise in the features of the Avida‐ED program, incorporate assessment of science and engineering process skills, and extend the coverage of evolutionary concepts. As Avida‐ED constitutes an actual experimental study system, and not a simulation of biological processes, each of these activities involve the generation of novel data, and the results of a lab exercise will likely not be as the instructor would predict for each individual student.…”