Evolution acceptance and epistemological beliefs of college biology students

Borgerding, Lisa A.; Deniz, Hasan; Anderson, Elizabeth Shevock

doi:10.1002/tea.21374

Cited by 33 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Finally, we counted, for each participant, the presence or absence of themes (Borgerding, Deniz, & Anderson, , p. 499) related to their engagement in five different counterspaces when they were in STEM higher education (see the “Counterspaces as Havens” sub‐section in the Findings section below). This allowed us to account for the number of participants who had or had not experienced each counterspace.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CRT critically examines phenomena in society and culture by applying a critical analysis of race, law, and power, to expose how racism exists presently and historically at an institutional level, for example, in governments, educational institutions, legal systems, to privilege the dominant White culture in the United States to the exclusion of others. CRT concepts that relate specifically to the need for counterspaces in higher education include the centrality of race and racism and their intersectionality with other forms of subordination, the commitment to social justice, and the centrality of experiential knowledge (Bell, 1995;Sol orzano, 1997;Sol orzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001;Sol orzano & Villalpando, 1998;Sol orzano et al, 2000).…”

Section: A Theoretical Framework For Our Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success

Ong¹,

Smith²,

Ko³

2017

J Res Sci Teach

368

398

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Counterspaces in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are often considered "safe spaces" at the margins for groups outside the mainstream of STEM education. The prevailing culture and structural manifestations in STEM have traditionally privileged norms of success that favor competitive, individualistic, and solitary practices-norms associated with White male scientists. This privilege extends to structures that govern learning and mark progress in STEM education that have marginalized groups that do not reflect the gender, race, or ethnicity conventionally associated with STEM mainstream success, thus necessitating spaces in which the effects of marginalization may be countered. Women of color is one such marginalized group. This article explores the struggles of women of color that threaten their persistence in STEM education and how those struggles lead them to search out or create counterspaces. It also examines the ways that counterspaces operate for women of color in STEM higher education, particularly how they function as havens from isolation and microaggressions. Using a framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and intersectionality theory and drawing on interview data from 39 women of color about their STEM higher education experiences, we describe five ways in which counterspaces operate: in peer-to-peer relationships; mentoring relationships; national STEM diversity conferences; STEM and non-STEM campus student groups; and STEM departments. Whereas most research has discussed counterspaces as racially or ethnically homogeneous social grou'ps of peers at the margins, our research found that counterspaces vary in terms of the race/ethnicity, gender, and power levels of participants. We found that counterspaces can be physical settings, as well as conceptual and ideological. Additionally, we identified counterspaces both at the margins and at the center of STEM departments. Thus, our research expands the existing understanding of the types and functions of counterspaces and broadens the definition of what locations can be and should be considered counterspaces.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Theoretical Framework For Our Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success

Ong¹,

Smith²,

Ko³

2017

J Res Sci Teach

368

398

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, secondary school students often incorrectly rely on their intuitions to help understand evolution (Kampourakis & Zogza, 2008;To et al, 2017), and although college students report rational and logical thinking as important components when identifying as a scientist (Borgerding, Deniz, & Anderson, 2017), college students frequently engage in intuitive explanations when addressing evolutionary problems like bacterial résistance to antibiotics (Richard, Coley, & Tanner, 2017). Furthermore, visitors to a natural history museum also regularly employed both rational and intuitive explanations when attempting to solve evolutionary problems (e.g., virus mutation, common ancestors; Evans et al, 2010).…”

Section: Implications For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rational engagement buffers the effect of conservatism on one's reported relevance of the theory of evolution

et al. 2019

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Previous research has noted one's knowledge of and attitudes toward the theory of evolution is negatively predicted by one's political ideology, specifically how conservative the individual identifies, and positively predicted by one's level rational thinking. The present research expands on this past research by examining the roles of political conservatism and rational thinking in predicting one's reported relevance of evolutionary theory in a multi‐study design. In Study 1, a sample of undergraduate college students (N = 198) completed a survey with measures of conservatism, rational and intuitive thinking styles, including both engagement and ability, and attitudes toward the relevance of evolutionary theory. A multiple mediator model revealed that conservatism was a negative predictor rational engagement, rational engagement was a positive predictor of relevance of evolution, and the indirect effect of conservatism on relevance of evolution through rational engagement was significant. In Study 2, a new sample of college students (N = 146) completed an experiment where rational engagement was manipulated. Conservatism negatively predicted relevance of evolution for individuals who were not primed to engage in rational thought and were below average in rational ability. Conversely, conservatism was not a significant predictor of relevance of evolution for individuals who were primed to engage in rational thought, and who had below average rational ability scores. These results suggest that when individuals are lower in rational ability, priming for rational engagement may be effective at buffering the effect of conservatism on one's reported relevance of evolution. Thus, examining additional procedures for increasing one's rational engagement may be useful for educators and researchers interested in reducing the effects of political ideology on one's knowledge of and attitudes toward evolution.

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“…Others include common misconceptions, cognitive challenges, and ambiguous language (for reviews see Pobiner 2016 andGlaze and. However, real or perceived conflict between evolutionary theory and a religious worldview is a well-documented barrier to accepting evolution among both teachers and students (Borgerding et al 2017;Hermann 2011;Winslow et al 2011;Smith 2010;Hokayem and BouJaoude 2008;Trani 2004;Rutledge and Mitchell 2002) and the public at large in the United States and globally Nadelson 2012, 2013). Religiosity, as a measurable variable, is often defined as the extent to which people state that religion is very important in their lives, or the frequency with which they attend weekly religious services.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acknowledging students’ concerns about evolution: a proactive teaching strategy

Bertka¹,

Pobiner

Beardsley

et al. 2019

Evo Edu Outreach

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Background: The religious or cultural objections by many people to the teaching of evolution in high school biology classrooms can impact both students' willingness to explore a scientific understanding of evolutionary theory and teachers' willingness to provide sound instruction on the topic. Pedagogical approaches designed to address this tension in the public or private US high school classroom during regular biology classroom instruction on evolution are needed. We developed a Cultural and Religious Sensitivity (CRS) Teaching Strategies Resource to aid teachers in acknowledging students' religious and cultural concerns about evolution, introducing the variety of possible relationships between science and religion, and focusing on the nature of science. The resource provides both background information for the teacher and activities to engage students in two 50-75 min directed classroom discussions. The CRS resource is part of a designed-based study, the Teaching Evolution through Human Examples (TEtHE) project that created and field tested four curriculum units for advanced placement high school biology classes that use human examples to teach evolution (Pobiner et al. Evol Educ Outreach. 2018;11:3 2018). Here we describe the design of the CRS resource and qualitative results of student focus groups that explore the extent to which the CRS resource activities helped to create a supportive classroom environment as well as more generally what benefits, if any, students derived from participating in these activities. Results: Focus groups were conducted with students from five classes of four different teachers in both public and private US high schools. Focus group transcripts were analyzed to identify common themes expressed in relation to the students' experience of one of the two CRS activities. Benefits of participating in these activities noted by students included reduced tension around the topic of evolution, a recognition that evolution is not necessarily in conflict with religious belief, and an increased understanding of the cultural context of modern and historical views about evolution. Conclusions: The themes identified through qualitative analyses of focus group transcripts support the conclusion that acknowledging students' concerns about evolution is a promising pedagogical approach to teaching evolution in conjunction with lessons designed to teach the content of evolutionary theory. The approach merits further research with general introductory high school biology classes.

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Evolution acceptance and epistemological beliefs of college biology students

Cited by 33 publications

References 60 publications

Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success

Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success

Rational engagement buffers the effect of conservatism on one's reported relevance of the theory of evolution

Acknowledging students’ concerns about evolution: a proactive teaching strategy

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