Understanding the Tree of Life


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THE UToL PROJECT

The goals of the Understanding the Tree of Life project are to bring together learning researchers, museum professionals, and scientists to (1) synthesize and build on previous projects to identify and clarify the critical questions that still need to be addressed about how phylogenies and the tree of life are understood, (2) develop strategies for teaching about the tree of life that reflect current scientific thinking and facilitate tree-thinking, and (3) build capacity with informal designers and educators to present and teach about evolutionary trees.

This project supported four learning research projects exploring how people interpret and understand graphic representations of phylogenies to help inform exhibit development and support effective communication about the tree of life in museums:

  • Camillia Matuk and David Uttal (Northwestern University) studied the role of graphic representation in understanding evolutionary relationships.
    For summary of the project … (pdf)

  • Margaret Evans (University of Michigan) explored how phylogenies can be used as cognitive organizers for museum graphics.
    For summary of the project … (pdf)

  • Jeff Dodick and Miri Aharonson (Hebrew University) examined how evolutionary relationships are understood in the context of geological time.
    For summary of the project … (pdf)

  • Shaaron Ainsworth and Jessica Saffer (University of Nottingham) investigated tree-thinking in young children.
    For summary of the project … (pdf)

The Core Project team:
Teresa MacDonald, Director of Education, University of Kansas Natural History Museum (PI)

Judy Diamond, Professor and Curator of Informal Science Education, University of Nebraska State Museum (Co-PI)

David Uttal, Professor, Northwestern University, Department of Psychology and School of Education and Social Policy (Co-PI)

Shaaron Ainsworth, Associate Professor, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham (senior personnel)

Jeff Dodick, Lecturer, Department of Science Teaching, The Hebrew University (senior personnel)

Sam Donovan, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh (senior personnel)

E. Margaret Evans, Assistant Research Scientist, Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan (senior personnel)

Amy Spiegel, Associate Research Professor, Center for Instructional Innovation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (external evaluator)

Camillia Matuk, Ph.D. candidate in the Learning Sciences, Northwestern University and Associate Specialist in the Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley (graduate student researcher)

Miri Aharonson, graduate student, Department of Science Teaching, The Hebrew University (graduate student researcher)

Judy Scotchmoor, Assistant Director, University of California Museum of Paleontology (senior personnel)

Other collaborators:
Laura Novick, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University (learning researcher)

Kefyn Catley, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Western Carolina University (learning researcher)

Elizabeth Werby, Executive Director, Harvard Museum of Natural History (first conference partner)

Sam Taylor, Director, Carnegie Museum of Natural History (final conference partner)

Partner/collaborating institutions:
American Museum of Natural History
Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota
Boston Museum of Science
California Academy of Sciences
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Cincinnati Museum of Natural History & Science
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Exhibit Museum of Natural History, University of Michigan
Georgia Museum of Natural History
Harvard Museum of Natural History
Henry Doorly Zoo
Houston Museum of Natural Science
Lawrence Hall of Science
Missouri Botanical Gardens
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Museum of the Earth
New York Hall of Science
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
San Diego Museum of Natural History
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
St. Louis Science Center
Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas-Austin
The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
The Field Museum
University of California Museum of Paleontology
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
University of Florida Natural History Museum
University of Kansas Natural History Museum
University of Nebraska State Museum
Virginia Museum of Natural History
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

Papers and presentations related to the project:
Ainsworth, S. 2009. Can children read trees? Paper presented at the Understanding the Tree of Life. Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA.

Dodick, J. 2009. Phylogeny exhibits and understanding geological time. Paper presented at the Understanding the Tree of Life. Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA.

Donovan, S., C.F. Matuk, T. MacDonald, J. Diamond, D.H. Uttal, J. Dodick, et al. 2009. Understanding the Tree of Life. Poster presented at the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) Professional Development Conference. Denver, CO.

Evans, E.M. 2009. Tree-thinking: Do pictorial representations of phylogenetic relationships help or hinder museum visitors' understanding of evolution? Paper presented at the Understanding the Tree of Life. Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA.

Evans, E.M., B. Frazier, A. Hazel, A. Kiss, J.D. Lane, A.N. Spiegel, et al. 2009. Tree-thinking: Do pictorial representations of phylogenetic relationships help or hinder museum visitors' understanding of evolution? Paper presented at the Creationism is Not the (Only) Issue: Developmental Constraints on an Understanding of Evolution. E.M. Evans (Chair). Biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society. San Antonio, TX.

MacDonald, T. 2010. Communicating phylogeny: Evolutionary tree diagrams in museums. Paper presented at the NARST (National Association for Research in Science Teaching). Philadelphia, PA.

Matuk, C.F. 2008a. Animated cladograms: Interpreting evolution from diagrams. Poster presented at the Fifth International Conference on the Theory and Application of Diagrams. Herrsching am Ammersee, Germany.

Matuk, C.F. 2008b. Animated cladograms: The perception and conception of evolution. Paper presented at the European Association for Learning on Research and Instruction (EARLI). Tilburg, Netherlands.

Matuk, C.F. 2008c. Animating trees of life: How animation influences the perception of evolution. Poster presented at the The International Conference on Spatial Cognition. Freiburgh, Germany.

Matuk, C.F. 2009a. Interpretation, invention, and interaction: How students (mis)understand cladograms. Paper presented at the Understanding the Tree of Life. Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA.

Matuk, C.F. 2009b. Reconstructing evolutionary histories: A game about the tree of life. Poster presented at the Games, Learning and Society 5.0 (GLS). Madison, WI.

Matuk, C.F., and D.H. Uttal. 2008. Entertaining evolution: Understanding science from animations. Poster presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS). Utrecht, Netherlands.

Matuk, C.F., and D.H. Uttal. 2009a. Animating narratives of evolution: A case of diagrammatic interpretation with cladograms. Paper presented at the Conference on Research and Training in Spatial Intelligence. Evanston, IL.

Matuk, C.F., and D.H. Uttal. 2009b. Collages of meaning: Creating understanding of evolution from animation. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association (APA). Toronto, ON.

Matuk, C.F., and D.H. Uttal. 2009c. Countering diagrammatic narratives: The effects of animation on the interpretation of evolution. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Diego, CA.

Matuk, C.F., and D.H. Uttal. 2009d. Countering narratives of evolution: How animation influences the spatial temporal metaphors intepreted from cladograms. Paper presented at the International Spatial Learning Center (iSLC). Seattle.

Matuk, C.F., and D.H. Uttal. 2009e. Inventing an intuitive representation of relatedness. Poster presented at the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Visualization in Science and Education. Oxford, UK.

Matuk, C.F., and D.H. Uttal. 2009f, October. Re-telling the tree: How viewers spatialize folk theories of evolution. Paper presented at the Creationism is Not the (Only) Issue: Developmental Constraints on an Understanding of Evolution. K.S. Rosengren (Discussant). Biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society. San Antonio, TX.

Matuk, C.F., and D.H. Uttal. 2009g. When form contradicts content: The cognitive and communicative functions of cartoons for teaching evolution. Paper presented at the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA). Chicago, IL.

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