Initially I find that I have not been personally involved
with these concepts from the practice End of Course tests since taking courses
as an undergrad. The EOC covered many different specific topics including
genetics, ecology and cell organelles as well as scientific method questions.
Many of these topics already have models in the NetLogo library and also could
have new models created for them. NetLogo models also usually include graphs
that could scaffold students’ ability to use and interpret graphs, another
skill I found myself using during the practice End of Course test. The NetLogo
models also include making observations and forming hypotheses. There were very
few questions about observations (one of which required very little cognitive
thought) and forming hypotheses on the EOC. The main skill that was asked of in
the EOC that is not using in NetLogo models is to recite information. Many
questions are simple and test students over their vocabulary of scientific
terms rather than their knowledge of systems and interactions. While there is
value in knowing the difference between prokaryote and eukaryote, the EOC does
not do a fair job of evaluating this knowledge by asking a simple question.
These types of questions do not offer engagement nor do they offer personal
ownership; these two qualities are valued in the NetLogo models. Also, NetLogo
models offer revision to interactions and hypotheses, while the EOC and other
assessments of the same form do not offer this. Similarly, the EOC does not
offer students to explain and argue. Explanation and argumentation allow
students to expand on their ideas and evaluate their reasoning. While NetLogo
models do not offer this explicitly, bringing students together to talk about
their experiences with the models offers explanation and argumentation, a skill
that constructs students’ knowledge of the concepts they were modeling.
What are your ideas about modeling inheritance of traits? I
was wondering about this when answering questions about pedigree charts.
Do you have ideas about modeling natural selection? I’m
wondering about how to write rules for a model when modeling natural selection.
I think the traits inheritance one is the easier of the two. I believe that in the butterfly model you can build in a lot of difference between the long and short nosed butterflies and long and short flowers, and see how that affects the populations of each, but you're right that it doesn't take into account two butterflies' information, just the one makes an exact copy. Could be cool to make a model where when two butterflies meet they produce some combination of each other as offspring.
ReplyDeleteI remember having an evolution computer game in middle school where there was some element of chance mutations and that produced evolution sometimes when it was a successful mutation, but I didn't play it enough to know how that really worked. Seems like it would be hard to incorporate random mutations into a model with any more than one trait that is mutating.
Davio,
ReplyDeleteI think there are a few models within NetLogo that could be used to help demonstrate the inheritance of traits. Under the ProbLab tab there is ProbLab Genetics and under BEAGLE evolution there is Plant Hybridization that lets the agent use Mendel genetics. I think these tools could work great as an introduction to inheritance as a sort of fresher and could work well as an informal way for a teacher to see how students are doing on the subject.