[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-594509-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":74,"doc-detail-594509-en":124},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":67,"head_meta":69,"extra_data":71,"updated_unix":73},105,"en","perspectives-integrating-functional-developmental-and-evolutionary-biology-into-biology-curricula","Perspectives - Integrating Functional, Developmental and Evolutionary Biology into Biology Curricula","","A complete understanding of life requires biology to address how organisms function in their environments and how they arise through development and evolution. Prior standardized post-secondary curriculum proposals have relied on surveys of current practice, omitting development and mixing evolution with ecology. An undergraduate program should treat three pillars—function, development, and evolution—as integrated and mutually dependent, using either embedded core-course design or dedicated required courses.",{"@graph":14,"@context":66},[15,34,49],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/perspectives-integrating-functional-developmental-and-evolutionary-biology-into-biology-curricula/594509/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"author":36,"headline":10,"publisher":39,"fileFormat":42,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":43,"datePublished":43,"encodingFormat":42,"isAccessibleForFree":44,"interactionStatistic":45},"DigitalDocument",{"name":37,"@type":38},"Aldword","Person",{"url":19,"name":40,"@type":41},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":46,"interactionType":47,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":48},"ViewAction",{"@type":50,"mainEntity":51},"FAQPage",[52,58,62],{"name":53,"@type":54,"acceptedAnswer":55},"Why must biology curricula integrate function, development, and evolution?","Question",{"text":56,"@type":57},"Because complete understanding of living things depends on how organisms function in their environments and how they arise through evolution and development, which are described as inextricably entwined and dependent on each other.","Answer",{"name":59,"@type":54,"acceptedAnswer":60},"What limitation is identified in earlier standardized post-secondary biology curricula?",{"text":61,"@type":57},"They relied on surveys of current practice, producing curricula that omit development and conflate evolution with ecology rather than grounding teaching in theoretical foundations.",{"name":63,"@type":54,"acceptedAnswer":64},"How do proximate and ultimate causation relate to curriculum design?",{"text":65,"@type":57},"Proximate causation explains mechanisms of immediate utility and underlies functional biology, while ultimate causation explains how species are produced. 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Understanding how organisms arise involves both their evolution and development. Thus to completely comprehend living things, biology must study their function, development and evolution. Previous proposals for standardized post-secondary biology curricula have relied upon surveys of current practice, producing a curriculum that omits development and conflates evolution with ecology. To produce undergraduate biology programs that focus on the core essence of biology, curricula must address these three pillars undergirding biology:  \nfunction, development, and evolution. Focusing the curriculum in this way may ease the difficulty of squeezing the burgeoning growth of biological knowledge into biology degree programs. A number of different approaches are possible, ranging from ensuring that these three principles are woven into the core biology courses to having specific required courses for each. Whichever approach is taken, it is imperative that biological function, development and evolution are integrated with each other such that students graduate with an understanding that these three concepts are inextricably entwined with, and dependent upon, each other.  \nKey words: curriculum design, functional biology, evolutionary biology, developmental biology, integrated biology  \nDuring his long and productive career, Ernst Mayr advocated that biological phenomena had two sources of causation: proximate and ultimate (Mayr, 1996) . Proximate causation involves the mechanisms of immediate utility and explains how organisms are able to live in their immediate surroundings. This is the focus of functional biology (e.g. cell biology, physiology, genetics, and metabolism) . Ultimate causation, in contrast, considers how species are produced. A full explanation of any given organism, Mayr argued, had to address both proximate and ultimate causation: the left and right hands of biology are function and evolution. Mayr’s thesis had its origins in the mid-twentieth century when he was involved in the construction of the modern evolutionary synthesis in which genetics was wedded with evolution (Smocovitis, 1992) . Gene expression provided the proximate explanation and evolution the ultimate explanation of how organisms and species arise.  \nScott Gilbert et al. (1996) have suggested that Mayr’s dualistic view of biology misses a key aspect of how organisms come into existence: ontogeny. Evolution results from changes in the developmental program. Changes in development produce different structures, functions, and behaviors in individual organisms which affect their ability to reproduce. Evolutionary theory explains how the fittest organisms are selected by their environment to have increased reproductive success. In contrast, development explains how the fittest organisms are produced. Evolutionary biology considers the  \nsurvival of the fittest whereas developmental biology considers the arrival of the fittest. The mechanisms by which development and evolution occur are dependent upon how cells and organisms function in their respective environments. Differing functional abilities determine which individuals survive to reproduce. Changes in the developmental program lead to differences in the functional abilities of reproducing organisms. Thus, evolutionary biology is derived from developmental biology which is derived from functional biology: ontogeny mediates between the ultimate and proximate causations of organisms (Gilbert et al, 19","cbCaikVzgbmK3GCp","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikVzgbmK3GCp","pdf",41489,"English","# Abstract\n# Core rationale: three pillars of biology\n## Function, development, and evolution as integrated curricula","[{\"question\":\"Why must biology curricula integrate function, development, and evolution?\",\"answer\":\"Because complete understanding of living things depends on how organisms function in their environments and how they arise through evolution and development, which are described as inextricably entwined and dependent on each other.\"},{\"question\":\"What limitation is identified in earlier standardized post-secondary biology curricula?\",\"answer\":\"They relied on surveys of current practice, producing curricula that omit development and conflate evolution with ecology rather than grounding teaching in theoretical foundations.\"},{\"question\":\"How do proximate and ultimate causation relate to curriculum design?\",\"answer\":\"Proximate causation explains mechanisms of immediate utility and underlies functional biology, while ultimate causation explains how species are produced. A full explanation of organisms must address both sides.\"}]","Perspectives - Integrating Functional, Developmental and Evolutionary Biology into Biology Curricula | PDF"]