Misconception: All mutations are harmful

Acquired through

Personal Experience with a disease or disorder caused by DNA mutation

Teachers

Oversimplification or incomplete teaching

One sided educational experience. Ex: teaching students about hereditary disorders without mentioning the beneficial mutations through evolution and adaptations.

News and Social Media

Highlight negative consequences of mutations and how to avoid them

Teratogens cause birth defects (alcohol, many prescription drugs)

Carcinogens cause cancer (UV rays, nicotine, HPV, xrays, etc)

Inaccurate movies that portray evil or scary mutants (The Hulk, Monster Man, Mutants)

Vocabulary Connotation: "mutation" has a negative connotation whereas "evolution" has a positive connotation even though evolution is not possible without mutations.

Correctional steps

Step 1: Understand student beliefs and prior knowledge

Student Interviews

Class brainstorm session

Pre-test

Step 2: Teach necessary preliminary information

DNA Structure/Monomers

DNA replication and error repair

Protein Synthesis (Transcription/Translation)

Step 3: Use Zspace as a visual means to understand mutations and their affect on proteins and, consequently, phenotypes.

Step 4: Relate mutations to evolution with a computer simulation

Students see that a DNA mutation may not necessarily result in a mutant protein or change in phenotype, and those that do may cause a benign change. Some will kill immediately.

Students understand a change in the amino acid sequence transcribed from mutated gene may not be enough to cause a change in the phenotype of the organism.

Students manipulate traits to see their affect on organism survival over time as the environment changes

Students pick the traits of individuals in a population and watch as some result in death of the organism due to natural selection.

Students understand that mutations can sometimes be disadvantageous for the organism in the environment in which it lives.

Students watch as some mutations induce traits that allow the organism to survive environmental changes and reproduce (ex: as plants grow taller, herbivores with mutations that code for longer necks survive)

Students understand that some mutations cause beneficial changes in an organism.

Students have a balanced understanding of the risks, benefits, and neutral outcomes of DNA mutations

Augmented Reality Genetics Program: Students physically manipulate genes by deleting, adding, or swapping nucleotides to see the consequences of their chosen mutation.

Change in amino acid sequences

Frameshift Mutation

Silent Mutation

Point Mutation

Students see that many changes in phenotype necessitate multiple mutations within different genes.

Students immediately see the phenotype that results from each mutation they insert into the DNA.

Change in phenotype