The third module deals with the use of mitochondrial DNA to evaluate two competing theories of the origin of Homo sapiens, the "Out of Africa" theory and the Multiregionalist theory. Using reasoning patterns similar to those used in the first two modules, they will be asked to decide which of the two competing theories is more plausible, Butz said.
"What the students are going to learn in these various scenarios, or modules, is gathering evidence, trying to establish links between people, places and events, and somehow, understanding that it's highly probable that their hypothesis, if supported, is a reasonable one," Butz said. "We also hope to show them that you can come to wrong answers looking at only part of the evidence, and that if they look at only part of the evidence or don't gather all of the evidence, they can establish a reasonable hypothesis and yet come up with the wrong answer."
Butz said that each module will probably take anywhere from two to four hours of classroom time to complete.
In addition to Butz, who will be responsible for all aspects of software development as well as for management of the project, Susan M. Miller, director of the Instructional and Learning Technology Program in Temple's College of Education will serve as a co-principal investigator on the project. Miller will design and co-ordinate project evaluation as well as play a lead role in formulating the pedagogical aspects of the project.
Robert Cooper, a biology teacher at Pennsbury High School and a doctoral candidate in the College of Education, will serve as a Research Fellow on the project and be responsible for developing
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Contact: Preston M. Moretz
pmoretz@temple.edu
215-204-7476
Temple University
7-Jun-2005