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Retention is strong for concepts revisited repeatedly across the curriculum. In contrast, concepts encountered only during the freshman introductory sequence show weak retention. Although students generally accept evolution as the basis for biological adaptation, their understanding of natural selection is uneven and inconsistent.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-ten-year-assessment-of-core-concept-retention-by-biology-majors/595252/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-ten-year-assessment-of-core-concept-retention-by-biology-majors/595252.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Blitz","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the ten-year assessment focus on?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It evaluates core concept retention among senior biology majors, emphasizing evolution and how understanding changes across the curriculum.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Which concepts showed strong retention and which showed weak retention?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Concepts revisited regularly throughout biology courses showed robust retention, while concepts first encountered only during the freshman introductory sequence showed weak retention.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How do students’ views differ between evolution and natural selection?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Students appear to accept evolution as the source of biological adaptation, but their understanding of natural selection is inconsistent.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},595252,1792193130,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":29,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},24464137899374,"https://us-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Articles  \nA Ten-Year Assessment of Core Concept Retention by Biology Majors  \nShawn K. Stover* and Michelle L. Mabry, Department of Biology & Environmental Science, Davis & Elkins College, 100 Campus Drive, Elkins, WV 26241  \n*Corresponding author  \nAbstract  \nHere, we present a ten-year assessment of core concept retention, with an emphasis on evolution, by senior biology majors at a small, private liberal arts college. For concepts that are regularly revisited throughout the biology curriculum, we found that knowledge retention was robust. However, for concepts that are encountered only during the introductory sequence of the freshman year, retention was weak. Furthermore, while our students seem to accept evolution as the source of biological adaptation, their understanding of the concept of natural selection is inconsistent.  \nKey Words: Introductory biology, core concepts, evolution education  \nIntroduction  \nBiology is the most diverse of all the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines (Brownell et al. 2014) . Introductory biology course sequences for majors are typically taught as a survey of biological concepts, from molecules and cells to organisms and their physiologies to ecology and evolution. As new discoveries in the laboratory and field broaden the scope of biology, it becomes increasingly difficult for instructors of these courses to coverall aspects of the life sciences in the introductory sequence (Wood, 2009) . Furthermore, as more instructors attempt to incorporate pedagogically-sound but time-consuming active learning strategies into the classroom, less time can be devoted to covering concepts.  \nGregory, Ellis, and Orenstein (2011) addressed this issue by surveying more than 300 members of the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) who were responsible for teaching their institutions’ introductory sequence for biology majors. Input from these instructors was used to generate a list of the 25 most essential topics for an introductory sequence of courses for biology majors (Table 1) . Limiting the minimum core to 25 topics would translate into roughly one topic per week over the course of two semesters, giving instructors sufficient time to engage students in active learning activities to foster a deeper understanding of course content. As a follow-up  \nstudy, Gregory, Lending, Orenstein, and Ellis (2011) surveyed a wider population of biology faculty (n=742) who taught both introductory and upper-level biology courses. The lists of 25 essential topics generated by the two surveys were very similar. Each list was topped by evolution, specifically evolution by natural selection, the concept considered most essential for biology majors to understand.  \nEvolution is often taught as one discrete topic in the biology curriculum. It is likely more appropriate to treat the concept of evolution asa thread woven into the fabric of the entire curriculum (Stover & Mabry, 2007; Wei et al., 2012) . Most references to evolution in the scientific literature are associated with research in genetics or research investigating adaptations in populations of organisms (Blackstone, 2009) . However, in 2009, the Association of America Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) published Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians, establishing evolution as a key component of medical science. Both disease-causing organisms and their victims evolve over time. Understanding the process by which changes in gene frequencies lead to adaptations can inform how diseases are treated. Furthermore, while evolutionary theory is often absent from scientific literature associated with cell and molecular biology, it is critical to understanding  \n\n| Rank Essential Topic Rank Essential Topic |  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 1 | Evolution | 14 | Genetic recombination |\n| 2 | DNA structure and replication | 15 | Populations and communities |\n| 3 | Membranes and membrane transport |","cbCaiehFMKdQaE3w","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiehFMKdQaE3w","pdf",272595,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Evolution as a Curriculum Thread\n## Core Essential Topics for Introductory Biology\n## Student Understanding and Common Misconceptions","[{\"question\":\"What does the ten-year assessment focus on?\",\"answer\":\"It evaluates core concept retention among senior biology majors, emphasizing evolution and how understanding changes across the curriculum.\"},{\"question\":\"Which concepts showed strong retention and which showed weak retention?\",\"answer\":\"Concepts revisited regularly throughout biology courses showed robust retention, while concepts first encountered only during the freshman introductory sequence showed weak retention.\"},{\"question\":\"How do students’ views differ between evolution and natural selection?\",\"answer\":\"Students appear to accept evolution as the source of biological adaptation, but their understanding of natural selection is inconsistent.\"}]","A Ten-Year Assessment of Core Concept Retention by Biology Majors | PDF",1792080712,15]