Written extended‐response questions as classroom assessment tools for meaningful understanding of evolutionary theory

This qualitative study analyzed grade 12 biology students' answers to written extended‐response questions that describe hypothetical scenarios of animals' evolution. We investigated whether these type of questions are suitable for students ( n = 24) to express a meaningful understanding of evolutionary theory. Meaningful understanding is comprised of factual, procedural (rules, algorithms), schematic (“knowing why”), and strategic knowledge...