Data from: An Avida-ED digital evolution curriculum for undergraduate biology

We present an inquiry-based curriculum based on the digital evolution
platform Avida-ED (http://​avida-ed.​msu.​edu). We designed an
instructional sequence and lab book consisting of an introduction to
Avida-ED and a set of three lessons focused on specific evolutionary
concepts. These served to familiarize students with experimental evolution
and Avida-ED. Students then developed independent Avida-ED research
projects to test their own questions. Curriculum design and implementation
occurred over the course or two semesters, with a pilot implementation in
the first semester, followed by curriculum revision and full
implementation in the second semester. The curriculum was implemented in
an undergraduate Introductory Cell and Molecular Biology course at a major
research university. Full implementation of the curriculum in semester two
involved the use of Avida-ED mainly in the teaching lab in parallel with a
bacterial antibiotic resistance experimental research stream, allowing
students to draw connections between Avidian digital evolution and the
evolution of antibiotic resistance in microbial populations. After
carrying out the introductory exercises, students developed independent
Avida-ED projects to test their own research questions, and presented
their data to researchers in the NSF-funded BEACON Center for the Study of
Evolution in Action. Preliminary results of our studies to assess the
impacts of an Avida-ED curriculum indicate a positive effect on student
learning of evolutionary concepts, particularly in increasing the level of
complexity of student explanations about the random nature of mutation.