The following four learning objectives were developed for an introductory biology class. The activities chosen for assessment, pros and cons for the technology tools used, and how the activities circumvent issues with plagiarism will be described below.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1
Students will display their understanding of genetic variation by creating an image in Google Drawings that depicts the change in organisms over time from populations with differing levels of genetic variation with at least 80% accuracy according to the rubric provided.
The Activity
This activity, called Breeding New Species, falls in the middle of Bloom's taxonomy under the "Applying" category. In the activity I ask students to choose a species they think would have interesting looking descendants. It could be a real species such as the domestic cat, or a made up one such as a hippogriff. They will then create an image depicting the phenotypic changes that occur in the descendant species due to selection when the ancestral population had high genetic variation and when the ancestral population had low genetic variation. The final images get posted on our class wiki with a description of the image and how the student created it.
The Assessment
This activity will be used to assess the students' level of understanding of how genetic variation affects evolution. Their images should show that populations that have high levels of genetic variation will be able to evolve into multiple different species, as depicted below. Populations with low levels of genetic variation will either not change or will not have as many different species evolving from them. A rubric will be provided to help students assess their progress on the activity.
Image Depicting Evolution of Beak Size in a Population
 |
| By National Human Genome Research Institute's Talking Glossary [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
The Assessment Tool
The assessment tool I chose for this activity was Google Drawings. Students can use Google Drawings to modify pictures, or draw their own, to create an image depicting evolution. Then students can share their work with me and the rest of the class. With Google Drawings there may be some issues with limited capability if the students try to create really complex images, but the versatility of being able to share the image with us easily and post it on our wiki will be beneficial to everyone.
Plagiarism and Diversity
This project allows students to choose their own way to create an image by using any picture available to them, or drawing their own image. Then students are asked to modify that image however they want to depict phenotypic evolution. By asking students to describe the image and how they created it, the activity becomes more personal and encourages students to actively participate without plagiarizing. Google also allows searches by image, so any final product that is suspect can be searched for online. The students in the class have diverse backgrounds that will emerge as they chose their initial images and how they modify them leading to a variety of different and interesting projects.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2
Students will demonstrate their understanding of natural selection by explaining how natural selection drives evolution for elementary school students connected to us through ePals with at least 80% accuracy according to the rubric provided.
The Activity
This activity, called Explain Natural Selection to a Child, falls in the upper middle of Bloom's taxonomy under the "Analyzing" category. Here students are asked to explain natural selection to a child in an elementary school class that we are connected to through ePals. Each student is paired with one of the students in the elementary class. They will write their summary of how natural selection occurs in simple terms so the child can understand and then the child will respond by asking questions that my student will answer.
The Assessment
The assessment is based on whether or not the student can articulate how natural selection occurs in simple terms. To do this they have to have a solid understanding of how natural selection works. The also need to be able to identify the key points that allow natural selection to work. Focusing on those will help simplify the material for the kid so they are not overwhelmed. Images, such as the one below depicting the evolution in color of Peppered moths during the Industrial Revolution, could also be helpful for describing how evolution occurs to elementary school kids. A rubric will be provided to help guide students through the project, and assess the quality of their initial explanation as well as the following correspondence with the child.
 |
| By Khaydock (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
The Assessment Tool
The assessment tool for this activity is ePals, a website that allows classrooms to connect and collaborate on projects. Instructors post an ad describing what type of class they would like to connect with and other instructors respond if they are interested in coordinating a project. One nice thing about ePals is that they have their own email system where, according to their website, "educators can manage and monitor what students see, whom they communicate with and how they interact." This allows me to monitor exchanges between students and grade their work. ePals also allows for other types of interaction, such as video calls, that my students could use if the children were set up to receive them. We could also use the ePals workspace to enhance the child's learning experience.
Plagiarism and Diversity
In this assignment students are instructed to teach a child how natural selection works and then respond to their questions. They have to come up with an interesting way of presenting the material and then respond to the specific questions asked by the child. This discourages plagiarism because it would be hard to answer the question asked by the child at a level they would comprehend by a simple search of the internet. The assignment also allows for diversity in the methods of delivering the material to the children. Written words, images, videos, etc. are all options. My students have different preferences for the way they like to learn best, so they may try delivering the material in a style they prefer. The children also have different learning styles though, so if the initial try doesn't work well they can try a different approach.
 |
| By Ade mc Ade McO-Campbell (Own work UK) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3
Students will display their understanding of evolution by creating a collaborative chapter review on our class wiki with at least 80% accuracy according to the rubric provided.
The Activity
This activity, called Collaborative Chapter Review, falls at the top of Bloom's taxonomy under the "Creating" category. Students work in groups of four to create a chapter review on evolution and share their review on the class wiki. The students are asked to cover the original ideas that led to the theory of evolution, how evolution works, and give an example of current evolutionary research to show how it is used today. They are also expected to use multiple ways to present the material to make it more engaging for students with different learning styles, such as embedding images, videos, news feeds, or interesting conversations from reputable sources found on Twitter, in addition to written descriptions.
The Assessment
The success of the activity will be based on whether or not the students can accurately summarize and depict evolution. A rubric will be provided to help guide them to do their best, with the expectation that everyone will achieve at least 80%. The rubric for this activity is the example rubric discussed in more detail on the following page of this website.
The Assessment Tool
The assessment tool for this activity is a wiki. Wikis are websites that are editable. Any number of people can collaborate on a wiki. They range in size from world-wide projects involving thousands of people to single-user wikis. You can make them open to anyone, or you can control access to a wiki by requiring people to login or even designate specific people who have access. This tool is ideal for the review because each group will have its own page on the wiki for students to create their review, and no one outside the group will be able to modify it. Since wikis are freely editable by those who have access, there is the potential that a student will accidentally edit or delete something unintentionally. Some wikis, like those in Blackboard, save backup versions, so for our project there will not be a problem with data loss. Wikis created on Blackboard and Moodle also allow instructors to identify who contributed what work to the wiki to help determine whether each student contributed equally.
Plagiarism and Diversity
Prior to this activity some coaching on proper citation practices will be utilized so students understand that everything posted online can be seen by the world and require proper citations to avoid issues with plagiarism. This activity allows for diversity in the way each section in the review is presented, enhancing its usefulness for students who have different learning styles. The students in each group can utilize their own diversity as well by dividing the material based on how they want to display it, then assigning each group of items to the individual that is more familiar with tools to produce that type of item.
Students will evaluate their contribution and the contribution of others to the class wiki project by comparing strong and weak points as well as accuracy and ease of interpretation in the content of the project on their blog with at least 80% accuracy according to the rubric provided.
The Activity
This activity, called Chapter Review Evaluation, falls near the top of Bloom's taxonomy under the "Evaluating" category. Students are asked to evaluate their contribution to the evolution chapter review and the chapter reviews submitted by other teams. I want them to think about how they contributed to the assignment and how they could have pushed themselves and the group harder to achieve an even better product by comparing strong and weak points in the project. They are also asked to assess the other projects for accuracy and ease of interpreting that material. By reviewing the projects submitted by other groups they will see different methods to present the same information, which may inspire more creativity in a later assignment.
The Assessment
The students will be assessed on their ability to critique themselves and their classmates, and discuss the accuracy of the material presented in the other reviews and its ease of interpretation. There will be a rubric provided to guide them through their reflections and encourage them to think deeper about the project as a whole.
The Assessment Tool
The assessment tool for this activity is a personal blog. Blogs are good for reflective activities because they provide a space where students can express their ideas on a topic and think critically about their experience with the material and the course in general. They are nice for reviewing activities too because they can be shared with classmates and present helpful feedback. The downside to blogs is that they can be accessed by anyone, unless you are using a blogging service with restricted access. This means that the students need to be very careful about what they say on the blog. Just like on other forms of social media, anything on a blog can be seen by potential employers. Plagiarism is also a problem that needs to be addressed when using a blog. Students need to understand proper citation procedures so they do not portray this ideas of others as their own.
Plagiarism and Diversity
This activity asks the students to talk about their personal experience with the chapter review and to critique an original piece of work by classmates. Plagiarism would not be easy, and might actually be more work than doing the activity. This activity allows students to discuss the diverse ways the material was presented in each chapter review to reach students with different learning styles. It also allows each student to discuss how that diversity in presentation impacted their learning.
Works Cited
About ePals. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2015, from http://www.epals.com/#!/info/about/
