Humane Genetics Curriculum

As outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards, the purpose of utilizing an anchoring phenomenon is to elicit initial student ideas about the causes of an observed phenomenon so students can then use evidence to evaluate the accuracy of these ideas over the course of a unit. This helps students arrive at an evidence-supported consensus explanation for the phenomenon by the unit’s end (“Using Phenomena in NGSS-Designed Lessons and Units”, 2016). 

This narrative uses fictional characters to tell a story of overcoming science denial (Darner, 2019). When students encounter information that runs counter to their current worldview, they are less likely to engage in analyzing that evidence. This can be problematic – if a student’s current worldview does not align with the available scientific evidence, this student is unlikely to engage in the evidence analysis needed to align their view with the accepted scientific consensus view. Evidence-laden narratives can be used to encourage willingness to engage in evidence analysis and prevent denial of science ideas among students by using conversations between fictional characters to model for students how to change one’s mind based on evidence (Darner, 2019). This curriculum utilizes two characters, Robin and Taylor, to help students evaluate the accuracy of essentialist and non-essentialist ideas. 

Contrasting cases helps students develop the requisite knowledge necessary to evaluate evidence (Schwartz & Bransford, 1998). Students are first presented with hypothetical data sets, and then compare these hypothetical data and highlight the distinct ways they vary. This process helps students develop the relevant prior knowledge they need to interpret the key elements of the actual data. Students then analyze the actual data using their new knowledge and explain what the actual data demonstrate. 

HGL incorporates discussion scaffolds known as academically productive talk moves to support student discussions. These talk moves encourage all students to participate, and the role of the instructor is to “guide students in practicing new ways of talking, reasoning, and collaborating with one another” (Michaels & O’Connor, 2012). Students are encouraged to explain their thinking and support their ideas with evidence. 

To help students synthesize the key ideas in this curriculum, HGL has students create and iteratively refine models that incorporate all the available evidence to explain the anchoring phenomenon. Students construct these models using model-based reasoning principles in which students create the simplest model that best incorporates all the evidence, a practice known as synthesis modeling (Shemwell et al., 2015). They then use these synthesis models at the end of the curriculum to construct an explanation for the anchoring phenomenon.