Using artificial life to teach evolutionary biology

Abstract

This paper presents a pilot study on the use of artificial life software in an educational setting. Two groups of high school students received a standard lesson in evolutionary biology followed by a software session. The experimental group used the suite of artificial life software presented in this paper; the control group used a commercial multimedia hypertext. At the end of the software session both groups were asked to fill in a simple multiple-choice questionnaire testing the students’ knowledge of various aspects of evolutionary biology. The results show that the group using the artificial life software performed significantly better than the control group. We argue that the experimental group may learn more effectively because the artificial life makes it possible for students to perform experiments, a possibility not available to the control group.

Appendix I: Questionnaire on basic notions of Darwinian theory

• 1. The theory that states that species are static is called:

  a):

  Creationism

  b):

  Evolutionism

  c):

  Fixism

  d):

  Lamarckian

• 2. According to Darwinian theory:

  a):

  current organisms arose via successive modifications of the genotypes of organisms living in the past

  b):

  the morphological characteristics of organs evolved in response to their use

  c):

  evolutionary history includes rapid change (i.e. evolutionary jumps)

  d):

  current organisms arose from random mating between other organisms that lived in the past

• 3. A change in genotype structure that increases an organism fitness is called:

  a):

  selection

  b):

  mutation

  c):

  adaptation

  d):

  modification

• 4. Darwinian theory is defined as:

  a):

  the theory of evolution via natural selection

  b):

  the theory of evolution via the transmission of hereditary characters

  c):

  the theory of evolution via artificial selection

  d):

  the theory of evolution via the transmission of learned characters

• 5. Artificial selection is:

  a):

  An evolutionary process that eliminates non-adaptive organisms and rewards the fittest

  b):

  An evolutionary process driven by a breeder who selects organisms for reproduction

  c):

  the struggle for survival

  d):

  an evolutionary process that randomly selects organisms for reproduction

• 6. A modification in the genetic heritage transmitted by parents to their offspring is called:

  a):

  adaptation

  b):

  variation

  c):

  mutation

  d):

  heredity

• 7. The genetic program inherited from parents is called:

  a):

  the phenotype

  b):

  characteristics

  c):

  the genotype

  d):

  the soma

• 8- According to Lamarckian evolutionary theory organisms inherit:

  a):

  their parents’ genetic heritage only;

  b):

  somatic characteristics acquired through interaction with the environment

  c):

  both their parents’ genetic heritage and somatic characteristics acquired through interaction with the environment

  d):

  random genetic characteristics from their parents

• 9. The interaction between an organism’s genetic heritage and the environment produces:

  a):

  the genotype

  b):

  adaptation

  c):

  mutation

  d):

  the phenotype

• 10. The evolutionary process that, in the wild, chooses the fittest organism is called:

  a):

  cloning

  b):

  natural selection

  c):

  artificial selection

  d):

  cross-over

• 11. According to Darwinian theory:

  a):

  organisms inherit their parents’ genetic characteristics

  b):

  organisms inherit only those characteristics that have emerged from natural selection

  c):

  phenotypic diversity within a species is not random

  d):

  the only characteristics which organisms inherit from their parents, via natural selection, are adaptive characteristics

• 12. The process that produces an organism identical to its parent is called:

  a):

  mutation

  b):

  cross-over

  c):

  selection

  d):

  cloning

• 13. Is it possible that different genotypes can produce the same phenotype?

  a):

  yes

  b):

  no

• 14. Is it possible that organisms with the same genotype can have different phenotypes?

  a):

  yes

  b):

  no