Simulations can make complex ideas easier for students to visualize and understand. It has been shown that guidance in the use of these simulations enhances students’ learning. This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of the Independent Interactive Inquiry-based (I³) Learning Modules, which use existing open-source Java applets, combined with audio-visual instruction. Students are guided to discover and visualize important concepts in post-calculus and algebra-based courses in probability and statistics. Topics include the binomial distribution, confidence intervals, significance testing, and randomization. We show that this format can be used independently by students at the introductory and advanced levels. The percentage of students answering correctly on posttests was larger than that for pretests for three of the four modules described.

In this historical dissertation, I examined the process of curriculum development in the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) in the United States during the period 1959-1963. The presentation of evolution in the high school texts was based on a more robust form of Darwinian evolution which developed during the 1930s and 1940s called "the modern synthesis of evolution." Building primarily on the work of historians Vassiliki Smocovitis and John L. Rudolph, I used the archival papers and published writings of the four architects of the modern synthesis and the four most influential leaders of the BSCS in regards to evolution to investigate how the modern synthetic theory of evolution shaped the BSCS curriculum.

The central question was "Why was evolution so important to the BSCS to make it the central theme of the texts?" Important answers to this question had already been offered in the historiography, but it was still not clear why every citizen in the world needed to understand evolution. I found that the emphasis on natural selection in the modern synthesis shifted the focus away from humans as passive participants to the recognition that humans are active agents in their own cultural and biological evolution. This required re-education of the world citizenry, which was accomplished in part by the BSCS textbooks. I also found that BSCS leaders Grobman, Glass, and Muller had serious concerns regarding the effects of nuclear radiation on the human gene pool, and were actively involved in informing th public. Lastly, I found that concerns of 1950s reform eugenicists were addressed in the BSCS textbooks, without mentioning eugenics by name. I suggest that the leaders of the BSCS, especially Bentley Glass and Hermann J. Muller, thought that students needed to understand genetics and evolution to be able to make some of the tough choices they might be called on to make as the dominant species on earth and the next reproductive generation in the nuclear age. This was science for survival.

Online instructional modules that combine an applet, audio-visual tutorials, and guided discovery questions were created to teach the concept of sampling variability. The modules did contribute to an increase in understanding. However, they are a supplement to, not a replacement for, traditional instruction. The researchers found, using pretests and posttests, that student understanding of sampling distributions increased. There is room for futher improvement, which could be accomplished in two ways. A focus on designing for the introductory, rather than advanced, statistics student could be helpful. Also, giving students more feedback could help their performance in later modules.