ERIC Number: EJ1005353
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9266
EISSN: N/A
Nature or Nurture? A Lesson Incorporating Students' Interests in a High-School Biology Class
Hagay, Galit; Peleg, Ran; Laslo, Esti; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet
Journal of Biological Education, v47 n2 p117-122 2013
We present a case study of a lesson that incorporates high school students' interests in heredity alongside the requirements of the curriculum. This was done by collecting students' questions in advance and inserting them in strategic places in the biology curriculum, thus creating a "shadow curriculum". The idea underlying the lesson plan is not to change the curriculum to suit students' interests, but rather to use what students want to know in order to teach them what the curriculum requires. The lesson included readings from a well-known children's book on twins that illustrates a range of complex behavioural and physical traits, a hands-on exercise in which students externalised their thinking, a class discussion further problematising the study of the genetic basis for complex traits and, finally, research-based responses on the role of environment and heredity in different traits. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Interests, Biology, Heredity, Discussion (Teaching Technique), Discussion, Case Studies, Science Education, Science Instruction, Student Interests, High School Students, Genetics, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Israel
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A