What can student-generated animations tell us about students’ conceptions of evolution?

• Published in: Evolution education & outreach Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
• Main Authors: Orraryd, Daniel, Tibell, Lena A. E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-12-2021; Springer Nature B.V; BMC
• Subjects: Alternative conceptions; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Education; Evolution; Evolutionary Biology; Learning; Learning and Instruction; Life Sciences; Natural selection; Research Article; Sociology of Education; Stop-motion animations; Student-generated animation; Students; Teaching and Teacher Education; Student-generated animation; Alternative conceptions; Stop-motion animations; Natural selection
• ISSN: 1936-6426; 1936-6434
• DOI: 10.1186/s12052-021-00153-z

Background
A large body of research has investigated students’ conceptions of evolutionary changes and emphasizes that students have alternative conceptions about their causes. A conventional way to monitor students’ conceptions is through inventories where researchers analyse their written answers. However, textbooks are being increasingly complemented with, or even replaced by, various multimedia materials where multiple modes are used to communicate evolutionary processes. This has profound implications for students’ learning, and highlights that allowing different modes of expression may influence which knowledge they present. Therefore, the goal of this exploratory study is to expand the understanding of students’ conceptions of evolution through natural selection by applying student-generated stop-motion animations to reveal their conceptions. Forty-seven Swedish upper secondary school students generated 18 animations concerning evolution through natural selection. We analysed these animations qualitatively using content analysis to reveal key concepts, alternative conceptions and connections between organizational levels and time. This analysis is related to findings from previous studies on students’ conceptions of evolutionary change.
Results
Our study highlights some of the benefits and limitations of using these two assessment methods. In terms of identifying alternative conceptions, a clear difference between the results of the two methods of assessment was observed. In particular, the alternative conception of
essentialism
appeared to a lesser extent in the student’s animations than in their written responses, while
natural selection as an event
was more prevalent.
Conclusions
These findings support the view that students’ expression of different misconceptions is influenced by the context and representational form. The work also reveals that generating stop-motion animations to explain scientific concepts is an engaging approach that stimulates students to explore their understanding in a creative and personal manner. This is potentially positive for engagement and learning. The potential for complementing standard paper-and-pen tests with tasks that encompass stop-motion animations is also discussed.