A recently recovered cumulative recorder provides a missing link in the evolution of the cumulative recorder from a modified kymograph to a reliably operating, scientifically and commercially successful instrument. The recorder, the only physical evidence of such an early precommercial cumulative recorder yet found, was sent to Keio University in…

New science standards and reform recommendations spanning grades K--16 focus on a limited set of key scientific concepts from each discipline that all students should know. They also emphasize the integration of these concepts with science practices so that students learn not only the "what" of science but also the "how" and…

Despite concerted efforts by science educators to understand patterns of evolutionary reasoning in science students and teachers, the vast majority of evolution education studies have failed to carefully consider or control for item feature effects in knowledge measurement. Our study explores whether robust contextualization patterns emerge within…

Sketches the teleological perspective dominating pedagogy and points out its weaknesses. Explains and applies the natural point of view, common in evolutionary theory, to pedagogy. Outlines and tests basic conceptual differentiations. Describes the often misunderstood concepts of chance, selection and adaptation. (CAJ)

The limits of falsification are discussed and the historically based models of science described by Lakatos and Kuhn are shown to offer greater insights into the practice of science. The theory of natural selection is used to relate biology to philosophy and scientific method. (Author/JN)

Offers an opposing view to Darwin's statement that evolution occurs through gradual change, using fossil species and modes of evolution to lend support to the author's model of "punctuated equilibria," in which... "Lineages change little during most of their history, but events of rapid speciation occasionally punctuate this…

The Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) game demonstrates how cooperative or competitive choices influence decision making between two people or groups. A study of 48 college students tested an infinite-choice, continuous-time version of the PD. Results indicated that oscillatory cooperation was the predominant over-time behavior, that players matched…

Describes a sectoral and paradigmatic approach to evolutionary research. Argues that an evolutionary paradigm does not exist. Examines the socio-biological approach and that of a system-theoretical oriented general evolutionary theory. Utilizes the topics of cooperation, delimitation, and indoctrination to explain more promising ways of adoption.…

Argues that Darwinian evolution provides a framework for understanding how a polymer such as RNA might have arisen and perpetuated itself in a changing environment. Also explains how one genetic system invents another. (DDR)

Provides examples of the teaching of hypothesis generation and scientific inquiry in biology. Specifically, the author applies the selection paradigm to considerations of the human nutrient-handling apparatus, finally suggesting a model of the selective forces that may have operated on the human genome since hunting-gathering and primitive…

Presents an activity that highlights the mechanism and power of natural selection. Allows students to think in terms of modeling a biological process and instills an appreciation for a mathematical approach to biological problems. (JRH)

A survey designed to evaluate the importance of some components of cultural transmission on a variety of traits showed that religion and politics are mostly determined in the family, a mode of transmission which guarantees high evolutionary stability and maintenance of high variation between and within groups. (Author/JN)

Notes that media scholars often resist the use of the evolutionary paradigm. Discusses two problems: an overly simplistic view of evolutionary models; and a distrust of ideological implications. Develops an evolutionary model proposing that gender differences in the consumption of sexually explicit media is, in part, the result of inherited…

Semistructured interviews with 15 masters-level biology students revealed that most proposed deterministic explanations of evolutionary processes, ignored the role of chance, seemed unaware of debates over deterministic versus probabilistic models of evolution, and confused evolutionary theory (a model) with the actual complex processes it…

Presents a simulation model approach to the study of evolution. This model combines both practical and theoretical aspects of evolutionary biology course work. The author has used laboratory hardware for this simulation with 20 working groups of students. (HM)