Teaching Assistant Discussion Evaluation - Phylogenetics I
Did the students enjoy this discussion / project
2) Not sure. They seemed bored.
3) I think the reading was useful. I'm not sure about my choice of method
for going over the reading. We discussed the points in the chapter summary
and made a list of vocabulary from the book and lecture.
What did the students learn from this discussion project?
1) Hopefully the basic concepts of phylogenetics gave them some realization
that there are different approaches to building phylogenies.
2) How to develop a phylogeny using the Wagner method.
3) Learned that the words (for different methods/characters) were important
and not that confusing after all.
What did you like best about this week's discussion?
What didn't you like?
1) The "organisms" were simple enough that some students simply intuited
the relationships.
2) I thought the organisms used were too simplistic. The phylogeny was based
on one character (stripe number). The students may have enjoyed a more challenging
assignment.
3) I didn't give enough intro about the Wagner trees and I think a lot of
students felt stranded.
In what ways can this exercise be improved?
1)"Organisms" that are less intuitive. Questions to accompany phylogeny
- what information can they gain from it.