In 1988, Robert O'Hara coined the now ubiquitous phrase "tree thinking" to highlight the importance of cladistics for proper evolutionary reasoning. This accessible phrase has been taken up widely in the professional, popular, and educational literatures, and it has played an important role in helping spread phylogenetic thinking far…

Binary logistic regression is one of the most widely used statistical tools. The method uses odds, log odds, and odds ratios, which are difficult to understand and interpret. Understanding of logistic regression tends to fall down in one of three ways: (1) Many students and researchers come to believe that an odds ratio translates directly into…

Conceptual knowledge encompasses understanding the interrelationships among multiple pieces of information. Misconceptions of these interrelationships illustrate the need for effective educational strategies to facilitate conceptual change, with the goal of facilitating changes in learner understanding to appropriate, accurate, and complete…

The debate over halting artificial intelligence (AI) development stems from fears of malicious exploitation and potential emergence of destructive autonomous AI. While acknowledging the former concern, this paper argues the latter is exaggerated. True AI autonomy requires education inherently tied to ethics, making fully autonomous AI potentially…

The research base on students' knowledge of plants has established that misunderstandings develop in the early years of formal education and can persist through middle, secondary, and tertiary education. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that a lack of emphasis on teaching biology from an organismic perspective helps explain the range…

Behavior is a form of communication. For many young children, they may engage in certain behaviors to consciously or subconsciously communicate a need to access something, such as a desired adult or peer, sensory stimulation, or a tangible item. Other times, children may engage in a behavior to escape or avoid something, such as a particular…

The launch of the powerful generative AI tool ChatGPT in November 2022 sparked a wave of fear across higher education. The tool could seemingly be used to write essays and do other work without students putting in the effort expected of them. In this paper, Jamie Herman and Henry Lara-Steidel posit a way of addressing the concerns over ChatGPT and…

Evolution is the central concept of biology and key to a comprehensive understanding of any complex biological interaction. It has proven to be a particularly difficult subject for both teachers and students. Hybrid teaching environments have the potential to support students in learning about complex topics and simultaneously enable researchers…

Is character education flawed as an approach to values education? A 2013 article answered that question in the negative and defused ten common objections against character education as 'myths'. The aim of the present article is to revisit those objections and consider the evidence that has accumulated since 2013. After a brief historical and…

This paper provides educators a foothold in the tricky terrain of metaphor, its theoretical underpinnings and pedagogical possibilities. Metaphor provides us with a means of comprehending domains of experience that do not have a preconceptual structure of their own. Conceptual metaphors permit mental imagery from sensorimotor domains to hold sway…

In this conceptual article, the authors advance the idea of critical whiteness pedagogies by arguing that an improvisational ethos offers an alternative to whiteness and might inspire more nuanced anti-racist pedagogies with white people. This framework is born out of years of collaboration between the authors that resulted in an approach to…

Discussions of Black anarchism are rarely, if ever, found in the fields of educational theory and research. Characterizations of Black anarchism often paint it as a philosophy and praxis to be feared--as a movement that promotes violence and chaos. Yet, as the authors of this piece argue, Black anarchism is exactly the opposite: promoting a vision…

Introduction: As higher education continues to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), cognitive/behavioral neuroscience and other physiologically based psychology courses may face challenges incorporating DEI issues into the curriculum relative to other subfields of psychology. Statement of the Problem: Instructors of these courses may…

The issue brief spotlights five exemplary afterschool programs that embody these essential characteristics in their programming and strategies to re-engage students. Down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition (BRYC) connects 8th-12th grade students with a "nucleus of adult support," including mentors, counselors, and…