A Missing Link: K-4 Biological Evolution Content Standards

Wagler, Ron

doi:10.1007/s12052-010-0240-2

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This activity also allows students to recognize the large number and diversity of extant species and provides them tools to classify organisms according to their features, a goal that is common to the vast majority of official curricula here analyzed (Additional file 1 and references therein). Activities similar to the present one have already been suggested for exploring evolution in elementary schools, using both extant (Chanet and Lusignan 2009) and extinct species (Wagler 2010). However, we further Figure 9 Examples of answers given by students in the assessment of the knowledge about macroevolution.…”

Section: Systematicsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Early evolution of evolutionary thinking: teaching biological evolution in elementary schools

Campos

Sá-Pinto

2013

Evo Edu Outreach

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Evolution is considered the unifying concept in biology and is also a key theory underlying many areas of human knowledge. Teaching evolution from as early as kindergarten allows children to better understand concepts related with the biological world and prevents the development of negative feelings and misconceptions about the theory of evolution. However, evolution is absent from most of the educational curricula in the early school grades, even though some of its central concepts are common contents in the curricula of these initial years. Methods: In the present paper we present a set of activities that can be performed with elementary school students to explore and understand evolution and its impact on biological diversity, while promoting critical thinking and scientific literacy. These activities explore concepts of intra-specific diversity, genealogy and inheritance, natural selection, genetic drift, and systematics, using contexts that are familiar to students, and were articulated with the Portuguese official curriculum. Similar contents are present in elementary school curricula of other countries, namely Brazil, United Kingdom, France, United States of America, Canada, or Mozambique, and therefore the same activities can potentially be used in many different countries. Results and conclusions: Regardless of the complexity of the theory behind these concepts, our experience revealed that using these activities children were able to understand basic evolutionary mechanisms and to apply this knowledge in real case scenarios.

show abstract

Section: Systematicsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Early evolution of evolutionary thinking: teaching biological evolution in elementary schools

Campos

Sá-Pinto

2013

Evo Edu Outreach

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When Jeffery and Roach (1994) reviewed American textbooks for primary education, they ascertained that the useful understructures of evolution "are not developed throughout the elementary years and thus do not provide the strong framework necessary for students to construct a scientific understanding of evolution" (p. 515). Also, in a recent publication, Wagler (2010) notes the absence of biological evolution from the national standards of the United States for grades Κ-4 and considers this to affect the students' "educational success when they are introduced to the complex interactions of organisms and environments" and their "overall long-term biological development, i.e., knowledge and application of that knowledge. "…”

Section: Comments and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Inability of Primary School to Introduce Children to the Theory of Biological Evolution

2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A great number of research papers in the English literature of science education present difficulties pupils have in understanding natural selection. Studies show that children have essentialist and teleological intuitive ideas when dealing with organisms and that these biases hinder their ability to understand the theory of evolution by natural selection. Consequently, it is interesting to ascertain if and how the school education offered today deals with the problem, i.e., helps the children confront these biases. To that purpose, this study answered the two following research questions: (a) How is biological evolution presented-from the past to the present day-in the official documentation of primary school education, namely the science curricula and the textbooks of Greece? and (b) what are the conceptions held by Greek primary school teachers of the concepts of evolutionary theory and relevant issues that they have to teach? Our research found that not only are the intuitive ideas not "confronted" but they are also "affirmed" in Greek primary education. This phenomenon, as some other international studies have shown, must not be only a Greek one. A drastic change in the content and structure of primary school curricula and the training of educators is necessary in order to improve and facilitate the teaching of biological evolution.

show abstract

“…USA scholars are calling for similar educational strategies in their school system (e.g. Wagler 2010Wagler , 2012Williams 2009), claiming that it would highly prevent the build-up of preconceptions and mis-conceptions, so difficult to correct at later educational stages (Kampourakis and Zogza 2009;). However, although the Italian school seems to be prone to an early encounter with the Darwinian theory, it is not providing for sufficiently effective tools to ensure a thorough and clear understanding of its facts and mechanisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accepting and understanding evolution in Italy: a case study from a selected public attending a Darwin Day celebration

Crivellaro

Sperduti

2014

Evo Edu Outreach

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Public acceptance and understanding of evolution is among the most investigated themes within studies of science and society. In the past decades, scientists and educators have explored acceptance and understanding of the Darwinian theories across a variety of publics, in order to identify possible causal explanations and barriers that make evolution so difficult to be grasped. Indeed, there are both socio-cultural and intuitive reasoning factors which have been widely investigated especially in the USA, a country that shows a widespread resistance. More recently data for Europe, Africa and the Middle East have been published, showing significant differences explained mainly by socio-cultural, religious and political factors. In this respect, the Italian society is still under-investigated. This paper presents and discusses the outcomes of a public survey performed during a Darwin Day celebration in Rome (Italy, February 2013). Methods: A written questionnaire was submitted to all the participants with the aim of testing attitudes and level of knowledge about evolution among an interested and informed public (N = 124). Results: The results show that acceptance of evolution is not an issue in such a selected sector of the lay public, although difficulties emerge in the comprehension of some basic principles. Conclusions:Overall, younger people perform better than respondents older than 65 years, reflecting how science education in Italy has progressed in the latest decades.

show abstract

A Missing Link: K-4 Biological Evolution Content Standards

Cited by 12 publications

References 16 publications

Early evolution of evolutionary thinking: teaching biological evolution in elementary schools

Early evolution of evolutionary thinking: teaching biological evolution in elementary schools

The Inability of Primary School to Introduce Children to the Theory of Biological Evolution

Accepting and understanding evolution in Italy: a case study from a selected public attending a Darwin Day celebration

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About