Purposeful instruction in tree thinking can guide students in building their understanding of evolutionary relatedness, and the use of phylogenetic trees as mental and physical models aids their developing knowledge.
NGSS promotes deep, foundational knowledge of evolutionary theory; however, it falls short in recommending explicit instruction in tree thinking and use of phylogenetics.
Owing to a lack of instruction in tree thinking, these are just some of the common misconceptions that exist as students approach phylogenetic analysis.
However, as others have discussed, limited explicit instruction in tree thinking in K 12 classrooms, as well as inaccurate representations of phylogenetics in classroom textbooks, leaves students vulnerable to enduring misconceptions and a limited understanding of evolutionary concepts (Catley and Novick, 2008).
At Lincoln Center, for example, Mr. Kiley's instructions for tree care were ignored, and when his original grove of sycamores died, his plans were forgotten.
The interviews (n = 21) began before students received instruction about evolutionary trees and ended after instruction on evolutionary trees had concluded in the course.
For this reason, Baum et al. (2005) recommend that evolution education include clear and explicit instruction on building trees as well as on reading relationships and traits depicted in phylogenetic trees.
First, prior to receiving instruction about evolutionary trees, most students, except those who completed AP Biology in high school, did not use an evolutionary framework to interpret relatedness on cladograms.
Further, after multiple learning opportunities, including broad instruction on phylogenetic trees, targeted instruction for evolutionary relationships, textbook readings, and homework, slightly more than half of groups and less than half of individuals provided correct answers coupled with correct reasoning for taxa-relatedness questions.
Lack of experience could be due to many factors, such as class absences (rare during phylogenetic tree instruction), non-participation in group instructional activities, or poor study habits.
