OpenEvo Publication
OpenEvo Publication
Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2020). Challenges with conceptualizations of evolution in biology education. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26589.64484
In this article, we take a closer look at some examples of current discourse, standards, educational materials, and assessment tools of evolution education and point out a number of challenges regarding how our field tends to frame the evolutionary analysis of, especially, human-related traits of behavior, cognition, and culture.
Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2020). Conceptual clarification of evolution as an interdisciplinary science. EdArXiv. https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/vr4t5
This article aims to provide evolution educators with a short review of current discourse in evolution science and a conceptual clarification of core concepts in evolutionary theory, in the service of promoting deeper and transferable understanding of these concepts in evolution education.
Eirdosh, D. & Hanisch, S. (2022, preprint) Understanding Evolution As If By Design? The challenges and opportunities of reasoning about agency in evolutionary biology and society. OpenEvo Book Review and Commentary. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26643.14884/2
This review and commentary on psychologist Edward Wasserman’s As if By Design provides a brief overview of the core argument from Wasserman, and discusses the implications for evolution science educators and students.
Hanisch, S., Eirdosh, D. (2023). Teaching for the Interdisciplinary Understanding of Evolutionary Concepts. In: du Crest, A., Valković, M., Ariew, A., Desmond, H., Huneman, P., Reydon, T.A.C. (eds) Evolutionary Thinking Across Disciplines. Synthese Library, vol 478. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33358-3_8
Evolutionary concepts are used, with varying and arguable degrees of scientific utility, across a wide range of disciplines. This contribution explores how understanding the structures of knowledge, or the organization of facts and generalizations in science, cognition, and education, may help illuminate the educational potential and evidence-informed pedagogical practices appropriate for teaching about the interdisciplinary application of evolutionary concepts.
Eirdosh, D., Hanisch, S. (2023). A Community Science Model for Inter-disciplinary Evolution Education and School Improvement. In: du Crest, A., Valković, M., Ariew, A., Desmond, H., Huneman, P., Reydon, T.A.C. (eds) Evolutionary Thinking Across Disciplines. Synthese Library, vol 478. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33358-3_7
The Community Science Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology is developing a unique model of Community-Based Cultural Evolution (CBCE) for inter-institutional collaboration at the intersection of evolution education and applied school improvement efforts. Using advances in teaching for conceptual understanding and transfer of learning, the CBCE model aims to empower students to clarify, investigate, and collaboratively influence the cultural evolutionary dynamics of their own school and surrounding communities.
Eirdosh, D., & Hanisch, S. (2021). Evolving Schools in a Post-pandemic Context. In COVID-19: Paving the Way for a More Sustainable World (pp. 465-480). Springer, Cham.
Evolving Schools in a Post-pandemic Context
Eirdosh, D., & Hanisch, S. (2019). The Role of Evolutionary Studies in Education for Sustainable Development. In: Geher, G., Wilson, D. S., Head, H., & Gallup, A. (Eds.) (2019). Darwin’s Roadmap to the Curriculum: Evolutionary Studies in Higher Education. Oxford University Press.
Exploring the potential to integrate interdicsiplinary approaches in evolutionary studies as a foundation for innovations in Education for Sustainable Development.
Hanisch, S., Eirdosh, D., Schäfer, M., and Haun, D. (2021). What Is “Fair” Is Not the Same Everywhere. Frontiers for Young Minds. 9:580435
When people must share things, what does it mean to share fairly? Do all people around the world have the same idea of what is fair or unfair? Are humans born with a feeling about what is fair and unfair, or is it something we learn as we grow up? Scientists study how people from different cultures choose to share things in various situations, and whether people think different ways of sharing are fair or unfair. This article describes an experiment in which scientists studied whether children from different cultures have different ideas about what is fair. These studies are important for understanding how humans are similar and different from each other and from other animals, and they also help us understand how we can work to create a world that is considered fair by everyone.
Hanisch, S. & Eirdosh, D. (2020). Causal mapping as a teaching tool for reflecting on causation in human evolution. Science & Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-020-00157-z
We present a teaching tool, used widely in other parts of science and science education, yet perhaps underutilized in human evolution education—the causal map—as a novel direction for driving conceptual change in the classroom about the role of organism behavior and other factors in evolutionary change. We describe the scientific and conceptual basis for using such causal maps in human evolution education, as well as theoretical considerations for implementing the causal mapping tool in human evolution classrooms.
