Biology teachers' attitudes toward and use of Indiana's evolution standards

Donnelly, Lisa A.; Boone, William J.

doi:10.1002/tea.20150

Cited by 55 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…However, Berkman and Plutzer (2011) reported that teachers who were advocates of evolution education were more likely to have taken an evolution course. Other studies support this assertion as well (Aguillard 1999;Donnelly and Boone 2007).…”

Section: Factors Associated With Instructional Timementioning

confidence: 55%

“…The most time spent was reported by Donnelly and Boone (2007), in which Indiana teachers spent an average of 14 days. Other studies revealed quicker timeframes; Berkman et al's (2008) national survey of 939 teachers revealed an average of 13.7 hours, Rutledge and Mitchell (2002) found that a majority of teachers spent <7 days, and the greatest percentage of teachers in Aguillard's (1999) study only spent 2.5 to 5 days.…”

Section: Instructional Time For Teaching Evolution or Creationismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Donnelly and Boone (2007) developed an instrument to investigate 225 biology teachers' attitudes toward the Indiana state standards and their evolution teaching practices. The results indicate that teachers' attitudes toward the evolution standards were strong predictors of their instructional time for teaching evolution.…”

Section: Factors Associated With Instructional Timementioning

confidence: 99%

“…State and national standards -For teachers in states and/or countries in which there are specific evolution standards, it can provide an important source of justification for teaching evolution (Donnelly and Boone 2007;Dotger et al 2010) Supporting documents -Teachers should become aware of other supporting documents such as position statements from professional organizations (for example, National Association of Biology Teachers and National Science Teachers Association), which provide strong rationales for teaching evolution…”

Section: Goal #4: Handling the Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Examining the evolution education literature with a focus on teachers: major findings, goals for teacher preparation, and directions for future research

Sickel

Friedrichsen

2013

Evo Edu Outreach

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The theory of evolution is the fundamental backbone to the discipline of biology, yet many students possess misunderstandings. The teacher is the most important school-based factor in student learning, and therefore to improve students' understandings of evolution, we must better prepare teachers. The purpose of this paper is three-fold. First, we reviewed empirical research studies focused on K-12 teachers regarding evolution education from 1993 to 2011 with the purpose of identifying major themes of research and corresponding findings. Second, we used our understandings of current findings to inform the development and articulation of five goals for teacher preparation. Third, we discuss implications of this work for teacher preparation initiatives and directions of future research. We found that current evolution education research specific to K-12 teachers falls within four major themes, which collectively inform the development of five goals for preparing teachers to teach evolution. We argue that teachers should: (1) develop content knowledge of evolution; (2) develop understandings of the nature of science related to evolution; (3) develop acceptance of evolution as valid within science; (4) develop knowledge of and strategies for handling the public controversy; and (5) develop pedagogical content knowledge for teaching evolution. Based on our review, evolution courses and professional development initiatives for K-12 teachers should integrate the five goals, with more attention to teaching evolution in the classroom. Investigating the nature of teachers' acceptance of evolution and pedagogical content knowledge for teaching evolution are areas of research in need of continued pursuit.

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Section: Factors Associated With Instructional Timementioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Instructional Time For Teaching Evolution or Creationismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Factors Associated With Instructional Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Goal #4: Handling the Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Examining the evolution education literature with a focus on teachers: major findings, goals for teacher preparation, and directions for future research

Sickel

Friedrichsen

2013

Evo Edu Outreach

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In particular, increased focus should be placed on preservice science teachers' evolution education. Research indicates that completion of an evolution course by preservice science teachers is a powerful predictor of advocacy of evolution, as well as classroom-time devoted to learning about evolution (Berkman et al, 2008;Donnelly & Boone, 2007). Moreover teachers are more likely to integrate evolution concepts into their courses as a unifying theme (Berkman & Plutzer, 2010).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study Identifying Biological Evolution-Related Misconceptions Held by Prebiology High School Students

Yates

Marek

2015

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Students bring a diverse array of ideas about natural events to their science classes, and many of these ideas are often at variance with the scientifically accepted views. Numerous studies have identified multiple biological evolution-related misconceptions held by select groups of students. Collectively, these studies repeatedly indicate that students with varying educational backgrounds have difficulties accurately understanding the concepts of evolution. Because scientific literacy in the field of biology necessitates a basic understanding of evolution concepts and theory, students' possession of biological evolution-related misconceptions is problematic. The focus of this study was to identify the types and prevalence of such misconceptions within a state's public high schools' prebiology students and to correlate those findings with demographic variables. Some 993 students enrolled in their initial high school biology course during the 2010-2011 academic years in one of 42 Oklahoma public high schools served as this study's unit of analysis. The Biological Evolution Literacy Survey which presents 23 biological misconception statements grouped into five categories, served as the research tool for identifying students' misconceptions, calculating conception index scores, and collecting demographic data. Multiple statistical analyses were performed to identify statistically significant (p < 0.05) relationships between variables related to students' number and types of misconceptions. Analysis revealed that participants possess a mean 43.9% rate of understanding of those biological evolution concepts presented in the BEL Survey combined with a 39.1% mean misconception rate. A statistically significant difference in participants' BEL Survey mean index scores when related to biological evolution knowledge self-rating was also disclosed. Strategies for identifying and eliminating students' misconceptions are offered. Misconceptions of biological evolution were prevalent within this student population and the findings corroborate the literature that reports a strikingly high prevalence of biological evolution-related misconceptions in students at all levels, from elementary pupils to university science

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Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities

Pobiner

2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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Questions about our origin as a species are universal and compelling. Evolution-and in particular human evolution-is a subject that generates intense interest across the world, evidenced by the fact that fossil and DNA discoveries grace the covers of major science journals and magazines as well as other popular print and online media. However, virtually all national polls indicate that the majority of Americans strongly reject biological evolution as a fact-based, well-tested, and robust understanding of the history of life. In the popular mind, no topic in all of science is more contentious or polarizing than evolution and media sources often only serve to magnify this polarization by covering challenges to the teaching of evolution. In the realm of teaching, debates about evolution have shaped textbooks, curricula, standards, and policy. Challenges to accepting and understanding evolution include mistrust and denial of science, cognitive obstacles and misconceptions, language and terminology, and a religious worldview, among others. Teachers, who are on the front lines of these challenges, must be armed with the tools and techniques to teach evolution in formal education settings across grades K-16 in a straightforward, thorough, and sensitive way. Despite the potentially controversial topic of human evolution, growing research is demonstrating that a pedagogical focus on human examples is an effective and engaging way to teach core concepts of evolutionary biology. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:S232-S274,

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Biology teachers' attitudes toward and use of Indiana's evolution standards

Cited by 55 publications

References 49 publications

Examining the evolution education literature with a focus on teachers: major findings, goals for teacher preparation, and directions for future research

Examining the evolution education literature with a focus on teachers: major findings, goals for teacher preparation, and directions for future research

A Study Identifying Biological Evolution-Related Misconceptions Held by Prebiology High School Students

Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities

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