Dustin Eirdosh
Education innovation coordinator
Postdoctoral researcher
Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
Germany
phone: +49 (0) 341 3550 410
email: dustin_eirdosh@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research Interests
- Interdisciplinary education
- Evolution education
- Social-Emotional Learning
- Sustainability education
- Teaching for transfer of learning and conceptual understanding
- Cognitive systems, Cooperation, Evolution, Behavior, Sustainability
- Community science
- School culture
- School improvement
My primary focus is the development of OpenEvo as an interdisciplinary platform for teaching, learning, and educational design research at the intersection of evolution, behavior, and sustainability science.
Our foundations in biology education provide a base for interdisciplinary explorations and understandings of human behavior, cognition, and culture. Research cooperation with the AG Biologiedidaktik (Biology education working group) in Jena provides a dynamic space for innovation development and testing of our educational design concept.
Thesis work and research context
Focus of PhD (succssfully defended January 19th, 2022)
Teaching Evolution as an Interdisciplinary Science
Concepts, Theories, and Network Infrastructure for Educational Design Research
Advancing evolutionary theory in the 21st century is a robustly interdisciplinary, if not transdisciplinary scientific endeavor. From biology and anthropology, to medicine, psychology, economics, sustainability science, computer science, and many more, the core concepts of heritable variation and selection have been utilized by scientists across academia to understand the natural and social world. Evolution education, however, remains largely a disciplinary endeavor of biology education, and educators are left with little guidance on interpreting the broader interdisciplinary applications of modern evolution science discourse. In fact, current representations of evolutionary concepts in evolution education may prove challenging for the integration of newer and interdisciplinary perspectives on evolution. This thesis engages a design-based research perspective on the systems, practices, and resources that could support or hinder the emergence of teaching evolution as the interdisciplinary science that it is.
Projects and Partners
I am the coordinator of the educational development, outreach, and research coordination efforts of our department.
www.GlobalESD.org
Together with Dr. Susan Hanisch, I am a co-founder of the US-based non-profit organization, Global ESD (Education for Sustainable Development). Global ESD works internationally to support sustainability education initiatives that connect concepts in human evolution, behavioral ecology, and sustainability science. By linking scientific perspectives on social change with students and classrooms seeking to make the world a better place, our aim is to foster a more global discussion about where we are going in the light of where we all have come from.
www.EvoLeipzig.de (in German)
EvoLeipzig is a place-based initiative working to bring the Global ESD design concept to schools and education partners in Leipzig.
Publications
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Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2022). Cooperation as a causal factor in human evolution: a scientific clarification and analysis of German high school biology textbooks. Journal of Biological Education, 1-25. |
Open Access|
Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2021). Are humans a cooperative species? Challenges & opportunities for teaching the evolution of human prosociality. The American Biology Teacher, 83(6), 356-361. |
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Hanisch, S., Eirdosh, D., Schaefer, M., & Haun, D. B. M. (2021). What is “fair” is not the same everywhere. Frontiers for Young Minds, 9: 580435. |
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Eirdosh, D., & Hanisch, S. (2021). Evolving Schools in a Post-pandemic Context. In W. Leal Filho (Ed.), COVID-19: Paving the Way for a More Sustainable World (pp. 465-480). Springer. |
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Eirdosh, D., & Hanisch, S. (2021). Opportunities and challenges in qualitative data synthesis for school culture research. Talk presented at Workshop "Human Research Data in Practice". Munich. 2021-04-20 - 2021-04-20. |
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Eirdosh, D., & Hanisch, S. (2021). The music and social bonding hypothesis does require multilevel selection. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 44: e69. |
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Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2021). Causal mapping as a teaching tool for reflecting on causation in human evolution. Science & Education, 30, 993-1022. |
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Eirdosh, D., & Hanisch, S. (2020). Can the science of Prosocial be a part of evolution education? Evolution: Education and Outreach, 13: 5. |
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Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2020). Conceptual clarification of evolution as an interdisciplinary science. edarxiv. |
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Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2020). A teacher's guide to evolution, behavior, and sustainability science. 2nd Edition. GlobalESD. |
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Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2020). Educational potential of teaching evolution as an interdisciplinary science. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 13(25). |
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Eirdosh, D., & Hanisch, S. (2019). The role of evolutionary studies in education for sustainable development. In D. Sloan Wilson, G. Geher, H. Mativetsky, & A. C. Gallup (Eds.), Darwin's roadmap to the curriculum: Evolutionary studies in higher education (pp. 249-272). Oxford: Oxford University Press. |
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Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2019). A teacher's guide to evolution, behavior, and sustainability science. GlobalESD. |
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Eirdosh, D., & Hanisch, S. (2017). Cultural Evolution in the Biology Classroom: A Design-Based Research Model in Education for Sustainable Development. Poster presented at Inaugural Cultural Evolution Society Conference, Jena. |
Contact
Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
phone: +49 (0)341 3550 - 400
e-mail: info_ccp@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de