Intentions and beliefs in students' understanding and acceptance of biological evolution

Sinatra, Gale M.; Southerland, Sherry A.; McConaughy, Frances; Demastes, James W.

doi:10.1002/tea.10087

Cited by 360 publications

(351 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Finally, we distinguished between acceptance of evolution and understanding of evolution, in that neither was a prerequisite nor necessary condition of the other. This assertion has been supported by numerous studies that report high levels of student acceptance of evolution but also a poor ability to define, describe, or solve problems in evolution as would be expected from students with a strong understanding of evolution (Bishop & Anderson, 1990;Lord & Marino, 1993;Sinatra, Southerland, McConaughy, & Demastes, 2003). In our study, acceptance equated with attitude and understanding was measured by achievement.…”

supporting

confidence: 78%

Relationship between achievement and students' acceptance of evolution or creation in an upper‐level evolution course

2005

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Students often hold strong attitudes regarding topics they encounter during their studies, and many instructors feel that these attitudes can have strong effects on students' performance. We characterized students' attitudes toward evolution and investigated the influence of students' attitudes (precourse and post-course) regarding evolution on their performance in an evolution course, measured as their final grade. We found our students to hold positive attitudes toward evolution; these attitudes became more positive following the course. The most significant change in attitude occurred in the group of students initially undecided toward evolution. We also found that attitudes prior to the course had little influence on later achievement; however, at the end of the course, students' attitudes were positively related to final grades, although the effect was small. We argue that pedagogical techniques directly addressing students' attitudes help reduce the influence of attitudes (especially prior attitudes) on achievement. Anecdotal evidence from instructors has suggested that students' attitudes toward the subjects they study influence their performance in those subjects. In his meta-analysis of research investigating relationships between attitude and achievement, Willson (1983) concluded that attitude had a modest effect on later achievement for college students. However, recent research has been equivocal with respect to the relationship between attitude and achievement in science courses. For example, Willson, Akerman, & Malave (2000) found no association between students' attitudes and their later achievement in a college physics course. Similarly, Nicoll & Francisco (2001) reported that students' attitudes about math ability and about a particular course did not predict achievement in college-level physical chemistry. In contrast, Freedman (1997) found that attitude was positively and moderately correlated with achievement for high school

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supporting

confidence: 78%

Relationship between achievement and students' acceptance of evolution or creation in an upper‐level evolution course

2005

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“…In the lay public's reasoning, however, mixed models are more typical (Poling & Evans, 2004a). Typically, creationist explanations are more likely to be applied to humans than to other species (Evans, 2000(Evans, , 2001Sinatra et al, 2003), with (pre-Darwinian) need-based evolutionary explanations more likely to be applied to species that are taxonomically distant from humans (Evans, 2008). In synthetic blends (Evans, Legare, & Rosengren, in press;Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992), culturally available scientific or theological stances are fused with intuitive or novice explanations (the overlapping circles in Figure 1).…”

Section: Pure or Mixed Reasoning Patterns?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A conceptual guide to natural history museum visitors' understanding of evolution

et al. 2009

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Museum visitors are an ideal population for assessing the persistence of the conceptual barriers that make it difficult to grasp Darwinian evolutionary theory. In comparison with other members of the public, they are more likely to be interested in natural history, have higher education levels, and be exposed to the relevant content. If museum visitors do not grasp evolutionary principles, it seems unlikely that other members of the general public would do so. In the current study, 32 systematically selected visitors to three Midwest museums of natural history provided detailed openended explanations of biological change in seven diverse organisms. They were not told that these were evolutionary problems. Responses were coded as: informed naturalistic reasoning, featuring some understanding of key evolutionary concepts, novice naturalistic reasoning, featuring intuitive explanations that are also present in childhood, and creationist reasoning, featuring supernatural explanations. All visitors were mixed reasoners, using one or more of these patterns in different permutations across the seven organisms: 72% used a combination of informed naturalistic reasoning and novice naturalistic reasoning, while a further 28% added creationist reasoning to this mix. Correlational analyses indicated that for many visitors these reasoning patterns were coherent rather than fragmented. The theoretical model presented in this article contributes to an analysis of the developmental and cultural factors associated with these patterns. This could help educators working in diverse educational settings understand how to move visitors and students toward more informed reasoning patterns. ß

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“…In addition, students often hold deep-seated misconceptions about natural selection, making it a fruitful concept for studying conceptual change (Bishop & Anderson, 1990;Brumby, 1984;Clough & Wood-Robinson, 1985a, 1985bFerrari & Chi, 1998;Kelemen & DiYanni, 2005). While some research examined how attitudes (e.g., Ingram & Nelson, 2006), epistemological beliefs (Sinatra, Southerland, McConaughy, & Demastes, 2003), and affective factors (e.g., Demastes et al, 1995) influence conceptual change, little research has directly examined the relation of transformative experiences to conceptual change with respect to the concept of natural selection. Finally, the concept of natural selection has been applied to a diverse array of topics ranging from cognitive development (e.g., Siegler, 1996) to economics (e.g., Laurent & Nightingale, 2001).…”

Section: Purposementioning

confidence: 99%

Motivation, learning, and transformative experience: A study of deep engagement in science

et al. 2009

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This study investigated the prevalence of transformative experiences, antecedents of transformative experience, and the relation between transformative experience and deep-level learning (conceptual change and transfer) for high school biology students (N = 166). Results suggested that the high school students in our sample typically engaged in low levels of transformative experience with respect to biology, but those students who strongly identified with science and who endorsed a mastery goal orientation were more likely to report engagement in higher levels of transformative experience. Furthermore, a higher level of engagement in transformative experience was positively associated with (a) conceptual change in understanding the concept of natural selection, but not inheritance, at the post-and follow-up assessments and (b) transfer at the follow-up assessment. According to Jackson (1986), there are two enduring outlooks in education, the mimetic, which focuses on transmitting predetermined and measurable information to students, and the transformative, which focuses on the transformation of qualities such as values, attitudes, and perceptions. Unfortunately, the majority of our efforts for educating children

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Intentions and beliefs in students' understanding and acceptance of biological evolution

Cited by 360 publications

References 45 publications

Relationship between achievement and students' acceptance of evolution or creation in an upper‐level evolution course

Relationship between achievement and students' acceptance of evolution or creation in an upper‐level evolution course

A conceptual guide to natural history museum visitors' understanding of evolution

Motivation, learning, and transformative experience: A study of deep engagement in science

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