scholarly journals Measuring biology trainee teachers’ professional knowledge about evolution—introducing the Student Inventory

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Fischer ◽  
Thorben Jansen ◽  
Jens Möller ◽  
Ute Harms
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Professional Knowledge ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Digital Instrument ◽  
Biology Teachers ◽  
Judgment Accuracy ◽  
Trainee Teachers ◽  
Multiple Choice Questionnaire ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Background To teach evolution efficiently teachers must be able to diagnose their students’ ideas and understanding of the phylogeny of organisms. This encompasses different facets of content-specific professional knowledge, that is, knowledge about core ideas and theories, as well as knowledge about respective misconceptions. However, as findings from the field of psychology have shown, diagnostic activities comprise a further facet, namely, teachers’ judgment accuracy. This refers to the question of whether achievement-irrelevant information about the student influences teachers’ diagnoses. Against this background we conducted a study (1) to assess trainee teachers’ abilities to diagnose (a) the scientific correctness of students’ written answers, (b) students’ misconceptions about evolution, and (2) to investigate the interplay of evolution specific and generic facets of professional knowledge during the diagnosis. For this purpose, we applied a digital instrument, the Student Inventory (SI). Using this instrument, the trainee teachers (N = 27) first diagnosed written answers (N = 6) from virtual students regarding their scientific correctness and regarding students’ misconceptions about the natural selection of the peppered moth. Second, to test for judgment accuracy, the trainee teachers received—via the SI—achievement-irrelevant information about each virtual student, that is, the previous result of a multiple-choice questionnaire about evolution, before diagnosing the written answers. Results The trainee teachers were able to distinguish between scientifically correct (90.8%) and scientifically incorrect (91.7%) written answers. Trainee teachers faced problems when diagnosing specific misconceptions categories. Anthropomorphic misconceptions were diagnosed significantly more often (61.1%) than teleological misconceptions (27.8%). The achievement-irrelevant information influenced the trainee teachers’ assessment of written answers (F [1,26] = 5.94, p < .022, η2 = .186) as they scored the written answers higher if the performance in the questionnaire was good and vice versa. Conclusion The findings indicate that the diagnosis is easier or more difficult depending on the particular misconception category. However, the findings also reveal that, besides the evolution-specific facets of professional knowledge, generic facets interrelate with the quality of the diagnosis result. We conclude from these findings that an integration of evolution-specific and generic knowledge into the education of biology teachers is critical.

scholarly journals technical level of small-town shoemaking in Gdańsk Pomerania in the 14th century

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Blusiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Treatment ◽  
Professional Knowledge ◽  
The Other ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Animal Origin ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
14Th Century ◽  
Purposeful Selection ◽  
Selection Of

Based on the late medieval leather artefacts from Puck, Gniew, Lębork and Chojnice, an attempt was made to assess the level of shoemaking production at that time. Microscopic analyses of leather goods and production waste proved that in the field of tanning the activities related to the mechanical treatment of leather were carefully performed, although with insufficient professional knowledge concerning the process. The results of the identification of the animal origin of the leather confirmed the purposeful selection of raw material with different properties for individual footwear elements and the ability to properly cut it. The quality of the shoemaking products was highly rated in terms of technology and style. However, in the analysed collections a clearly perceptible difference in craftsmanship and assortment of products from Gniew and the other three towns was noticed.

scholarly journals The natural selection of bad science

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 160384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Smaldino ◽  
Richard McElreath
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
False Discovery Rates ◽  
Culture Of Science ◽  
Quality Of Research ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
High Output

Poor research design and data analysis encourage false-positive findings. Such poor methods persist despite perennial calls for improvement, suggesting that they result from something more than just misunderstanding. The persistence of poor methods results partly from incentives that favour them, leading to the natural selection of bad science. This dynamic requires no conscious strategizing—no deliberate cheating nor loafing—by scientists, only that publication is a principal factor for career advancement. Some normative methods of analysis have almost certainly been selected to further publication instead of discovery. In order to improve the culture of science, a shift must be made away from correcting misunderstandings and towards rewarding understanding. We support this argument with empirical evidence and computational modelling. We first present a 60-year meta-analysis of statistical power in the behavioural sciences and show that power has not improved despite repeated demonstrations of the necessity of increasing power. To demonstrate the logical consequences of structural incentives, we then present a dynamic model of scientific communities in which competing laboratories investigate novel or previously published hypotheses using culturally transmitted research methods. As in the real world, successful labs produce more ‘progeny,’ such that their methods are more often copied and their students are more likely to start labs of their own. Selection for high output leads to poorer methods and increasingly high false discovery rates. We additionally show that replication slows but does not stop the process of methodological deterioration. Improving the quality of research requires change at the institutional level.

Fast Growing Firms ("Gazelles") and the Evolution of Russian Economy

2007 ◽  
pp. 85-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Yudanov
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Volterra Model ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Fast Growing ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
Exponential Trend ◽  
Important Addition ◽  
Quality Of Approximation ◽  
Selection Of

The article is based on the empirical study of fast growing firms ("Gazelles") in Russia. Sales volumes of many such firms are growing in accordance with the precise exponential trend with surprisingly high quality of approximation. The author finds strong links between this phenomenon and the concentration of most of "Gazelles" in market niches where demand limitations are practically non-existent. Conscious, purposeful entrepreneurial search of free niches becomes under described conditions an important addition to the classic mechanism of evolution of the economy through the natural selection of random changes. The author’s approach to these processes is based on a modification of the well known Lotka-Volterra model.

scholarly journals Open science and modified funding lotteries can impede the natural selection of bad science

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 190194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Smaldino ◽  
Matthew A. Turner ◽  
Pablo A. Contreras Kallens
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Strategic Behaviour ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
False Discoveries ◽  
Selection Of

Assessing scientists using exploitable metrics can lead to the degradation of research methods even without any strategic behaviour on the part of individuals, via ‘the natural selection of bad science.’ Institutional incentives to maximize metrics like publication quantity and impact drive this dynamic. Removing these incentives is necessary, but institutional change is slow. However, recent developments suggest possible solutions with more rapid onsets. These include what we call open science improvements , which can reduce publication bias and improve the efficacy of peer review. In addition, there have been increasing calls for funders to move away from prestige- or innovation-based approaches in favour of lotteries. We investigated whether such changes are likely to improve the reproducibility of science even in the presence of persistent incentives for publication quantity through computational modelling. We found that modified lotteries, which allocate funding randomly among proposals that pass a threshold for methodological rigour, effectively reduce the rate of false discoveries, particularly when paired with open science improvements that increase the publication of negative results and improve the quality of peer review. In the absence of funding that targets rigour, open science improvements can still reduce false discoveries in the published literature but are less likely to improve the overall culture of research practices that underlie those publications.

scholarly journals Open science and modified funding lotteries can impede the natural selection of bad science

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Smaldino ◽  
Matthew Adam Turner ◽  
Pablo Andrés Contreras Kallens
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Methodological Rigor ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
False Discoveries ◽  
Selection Of

Assessing scientists using exploitable metrics can lead to the degradation of research methods even without any strategic behavior on the part of individuals, via "the natural selection of bad science." Institutional incentives to maximize metrics like publication quantity and impact drive this dynamic. Removing these incentives is necessary, but institutional change is slow. However, recent developments suggest possible solutions with more rapid onsets. These include what we call open science improvements, which can reduce publication bias and improve the efficacy of peer review. In addition, there have been increasing calls for funders to move away from prestige- or innovation-based approaches in favor of lotteries. We investigated whether such changes are likely to improve the reproducibility of science even in the presence of persistent incentives for publication quantity through computational modeling. We found that modified lotteries, which allocate funding randomly among proposals that pass a threshold for methodological rigor, effectively reduce the rate of false discoveries, particularly when paired with open science improvements that increase the publication of negative results and improve the quality of peer review. In the absence of funding that targets rigor, open science improvements can still reduce false discoveries in the published literature but are less likely to improve the overall culture of research practices that underlie those publications.

Influence of natural selection on the reproductive function of bulls

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-27
Author(s):  
V. Kozyr ◽  
V. Barabash
Keyword(s):  
Body Composition ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Reproductive Function ◽  
Sperm Production ◽  
Modelling Methods ◽  
Selection Of

Aim. To investigate the infl uence of natural selection of bulls during tethered and non-tethered keeping on their reproductive function. Methods. Observation of analogue groups in different conditions of keeping, yet with the identical level of feeding and using, ethological methods of the behavior of animals in a herd and in a “mini- herd”, zootechnical, genetic-mathematical, biometric and modelling methods. Results. It was established that dominant animals in the herd oppress the sexual ability of their subordinates, causing the decrease in their libido, erection, quality of sperm (as far as to the impotence). Conclusions. The infl uence of natural selection on the sexual potency of breeding bulls during their non-tethered keeping and some ethological specifi cities during the tethered keeping were established along with the reactions of an organism depending on the type of body composition and build. The application of the revealed regularities facilitates the work regarding the selection of bulls while evaluating the quality of the sperm production and ensuring the increase in the number of their offspring in further generations.

The Natural Selection of Minds

1998 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-264
Author(s):  
Joseph F. Rychlak
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Selection Of

ON THE EXPERT’S RIGHT TO BE PRESENT AT LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 163-171
Author(s):  
M. G. Shcherbakovskiy
Keyword(s):  
Initial Data ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Reliable Assessment ◽  
Data Acquiring ◽  
Selection Of

The article discusses the reasonsfor an expert to participate in legal proceedings. The gnoseological reason for that consists of the bad quality of materials subject to examination that renders the examination either completely impossible or compromises objective, reasoned and reliable assessment of the findings. The procedural reason consists ofa proscription for an expert to collect evidence himself or herself. The author investigates into the ways of how an expert can participate in legal proceedings. If the defense invites an expert to participate in the proceedings, then it is recommended that his or her involvement should be in the presence of attesting witnesses and recorded in the protocol. In the course of the legal proceedings an expert has the following tasks: adding initial data, acquiring new initial data, understanding the situation of the incident, acquiring new objects to be studied, including samples for examination. An expert’s participation in legal proceedings differs from the participation of a specialist or an examination on the scene of the incident. The author describes the tasks that an expert solves in the course of legal proceedings, the peculiarities ofan investigation experiment practices, the selection of samples for an examination, inspection, interrogation.

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