Modeling Tree-Thinking: Measuring Evolutionary Relatedness Understanding and Examining the Interaction of Factors that Influence Tree-Thinking

树形思维建模：测量进化相关性理解和检查影响树形思维的因素的相互作用

• 批准号: 2222586
• 负责人: Tina Marcroft
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Texas State University - San Marcos
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2222586&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Modeling; Tree; Thinking; Measuring; Evolutionary

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Phylogenetic trees are common diagrams in biology that depict organisms and their evolutionary history. As evolution is considered a fundamental topic that underpins much of biology, understanding these tree diagrams is critical. The ability to read such trees is often referred to as "tree-thinking" in the literature. Undergraduate students often find tree-thinking very difficult. This study is designed to examine factors that influence tree-thinking such as mental rotation and understanding of evolution. At present, little is known about the ways these factors interact and the ways in which students' everyday ideas about grouping organisms affect tree-thinking. This project aims to develop assessments of student thinking. Researchers and educators can use the knowledge gained from this study to design better interventions.The goals of this study are to (A) create an evidence-based assessment measuring multiple conceptions of evolutionary relatedness, (B) model the different factors that may influence tree-thinking, and (C) explore the ways in which undergraduate students scan tree diagrams. The assessment will be created based on the findings of the primary investigator's dissertation work. Data fit will be determined with data from over 200 participants at two undergraduate institutions. Validity will be determined using expert judgement, confirmatory factor analysis, and response process testing. Reliability will be determined by examining internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Modeling will be conducted at the same institutions with the aforementioned instrument as well as other instruments measuring factors such as spatial reasoning, evolution acceptance, evolution understanding, and tree-reading and manipulation abilities. Several models will be evaluated using structural equation modeling and later compared with model evaluation metrics such as Akaike Information Criterion. The final phase of this study will be exploratory where students from the aforementioned courses are grouped using latent profile analysis. Representatives from each group will conduct tree-thinking tasks while being monitored by eye-tracking equipment. Students' scanpaths will be examined with respect to their tree-thinking abilities. This study is designed to develop assessments of student thinking that relate to evolutionary relatedness that can be used for research purposes or in educational settings that can better explain the factors that influence tree-thinking.The project responds to the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program that aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项的全部或部分资金来源于《2021 年美国救援计划法案》（公法 117-2）。系统发育树是生物学中描述生物体及其进化历史的常见图表。由于进化被认为是支撑大部分生物学的基本主题，因此理解这些树图至关重要。阅读此类树的能力在文献中通常被称为“树思维”。本科生常常发现树思维非常困难。这项研究旨在研究影响树状思维的因素，例如心理旋转和对进化的理解。目前，人们对这些因素相互作用的方式以及学生关于有机体分组的日常想法如何影响树思维的方式知之甚少。该项目旨在对学生思维进行评估。研究人员和教育工作者可以利用从这项研究中获得的知识来设计更好的干预措施。这项研究的目标是（A）创建一个基于证据的评估，测量进化相关性的多种概念，（B）对可能影响树的不同因素进行建模-思考，以及 (C) 探索本科生浏览树形图的方式。评估将根据主要研究者论文工作的结果进行。数据拟合度将根据来自两个本科院校 200 多名参与者的数据来确定。有效性将通过专家判断、验证性因素分析和响应过程测试来确定。可靠性将通过检查内部一致性和重测可靠性来确定。建模将在同一机构使用上述仪器以及其他测量空间推理、进化接受、进化理解以及树阅读和操作能力等因素的仪器进行。将使用结构方程模型评估多个模型，然后与 Akaike 信息准则等模型评估指标进行比较。这项研究的最后阶段将是探索性的，其中使用潜在概况分析对上述课程的学生进行分组。每个小组的代表将在眼动追踪设备的监控下进行树状思维任务。学生的扫描路径将根据他们的树思维能力进行检查。本研究旨在对与进化相关性相关的学生思维进行评估，可用于研究目的或在教育环境中更好地解释影响树思维的因素。该项目响应 STEM 教育博士后研究奖学金 (STEM Ed PRF）计划旨在增强近期博士学位在 STEM、STEM 教育、教育和相关学科领域的研究知识、技能和实践，以促进他们为从事基础和应用研究做好准备，从而推进该领域的知识。该奖项反映通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，NSF 的法定使命被认为值得支持。