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The approach integrates evolutionary principles throughout physiology topics and contrasts with the traditional “levels of organization” method by explicitly linking concepts across scales. Results suggest improved assimilation, retention, and concept connections for students.",{"@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/using-evolution-as-a-narrative-framework-for-teaching-introductory-biology/595142/",{"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/using-evolution-as-a-narrative-framework-for-teaching-introductory-biology/595142.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Bulrr","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-19","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What teaching approach does the document propose for introductory biology?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It proposes organizing course content as an evolutionary narrative, using the story of how life evolved to structure and scaffold learning.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the narrative approach differ from the traditional “levels of organization” method?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The traditional approach orders topics from molecules to cells and organisms, treating evolution as a discrete section, while the narrative approach integrates evolution as an integrating principle and connects concepts across levels.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why is evolution emphasized as a core competency in undergraduate biology?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The document cites reports calling for evolution as a core competency, noting that many introductory biology courses do not sufficiently establish evolutionary understanding needed for students.","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},595142,1792449347,{"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":14,"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},5909892115043,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Using Evolution as a Narrative Framework for Teaching Introductory Biology  \nJ. Christopher Gaiser* and Michael F. Roberts  \nDepartment of Biology  \nLinfield University  \nMcMinnville, Oregon, USA 97128  \n*Corresponding Author:  \nJ. Christopher Gaiser, Biology Department Linfield University A468 , 900 SE Baker Street McMinnville, OR, USA 97128  \nemail: [cgaiser@linfield.edu](cgaiser@linfield.edu)  \nAbstract: We describe a novel, university-level, introductory biology course that uses evolution as a narrative framework. Our course conveys the content in an introductory biology course by telling the story of the evolution of life on Earth. We begin with early Earth environments in which biological molecules and processes evolved and led to the first RNA-based living entities, then to DNA-based cells, and then to all of the life around us. We use this framework to describe the evolution of the physiological processes important for beginning biology students. This structure contrasts with the widespread “levels of organization” approach in which the order of topics treats the molecular level first, then cells and organisms, and finally evolutionary and ecological processes. This traditional approach is limited in at least two ways: 1) The material taught at each level is not explicitly connected to that at other levels, making the concepts more difficult to assimilate and retain; 2) Evolution is taught as a discrete section of the course, rather than as the integrating principle of life itself. We find that our narrative evolutionary approach enables students to more effectively assimilate, retain, and connect the vast amount of information presented in an introductory biology course.  \n Keywords: Evolution, pedagogy, introductory biology, narrative, vision and change   \nIntroduction  \n“This class was my favorite course of my freshman year   I am confident in explaining the material that I have learned to others, and I use this material daily when it comes to applying it to daily  \ndecisions.”—Linfield Introductory Biology student Teaching a complex and inherently historical topic like introductory biology requires a thoughtful approach. Narrative is an emerging technique in science education because it uses history to help students understand the complexity of the subject matter. Avraamidou and Osborne’s (2009) review of narrative as a teaching technique reveals advantages over the traditional approach to science education. First, there is higher student interest when content is presented as a narrative as compared to a standard biology text (Prins [et. al](et. al)., 2017) . Second, a course whose content is organized as an evolutionary narrative provides students with a framework that both structures the content and provides a scaffold upon which to hang each new concept as the course progresses. Third, comprehension is improved for many students, as a narrative structure is much more effective at conveying scientific content than presenting it simply as a set of facts. In addition, there is a significant increase in mid- to long-term retention. The students who read a narrative text do significantly better on a post-test questionnaire given two weeks after the lesson than those students who use a standard text (Prins [et. al](et. al)., 2017) .  \nIn seeking to design a better introductory biology course, we were intrigued by these findings. Most of the students in our introductory biology course are not biology majors but are majors in related scientific fields who enroll in our course to fulfill prerequisites for various careers in the allied health sciences. It can be a challenge to sustain these students'attention throughout a year-long biology course that must also serve the more directed needs of Biology majors. In addition, these students often have taken fewer science  \ncourses in high school than their biology (or biochemistry) major peers. Therefore, the reported benefits of a narrative approach seemed particularly impor","cbCaid8ZYOdyhG9T","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaid8ZYOdyhG9T","pdf",804301,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Evolution as an Organizing Narrative","[{\"question\":\"What teaching approach does the document propose for introductory biology?\",\"answer\":\"It proposes organizing course content as an evolutionary narrative, using the story of how life evolved to structure and scaffold learning.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the narrative approach differ from the traditional “levels of organization” method?\",\"answer\":\"The traditional approach orders topics from molecules to cells and organisms, treating evolution as a discrete section, while the narrative approach integrates evolution as an integrating principle and connects concepts across levels.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is evolution emphasized as a core competency in undergraduate biology?\",\"answer\":\"The document cites reports calling for evolution as a core competency, noting that many introductory biology courses do not sufficiently establish evolutionary understanding needed for students.\"}]","Using Evolution as a Narrative Framework for Teaching Introductory Biology | PDF",1792080517,15]