Research and Teaching: Analyzing Upper Level Undergraduate Knowledge of Evolutionary Processes: Can Class Discussions Help?

Tran, Mark; Weigel, Emily; Richmond, Gail

doi:10.2505/4/jcst14_043_05_87

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…For example, Nehm and Reilly (2007) observed greater increases in knowledge of evolution upon completing a biology course that was taught with an active-learning style (e.g., group discussions, paired problem solving), where the theory of evolution was incorporated in the curriculum throughout the semester, versus a traditional lecture-style biology course that primarily addressed the theory of evolution at the beginning of the semester. In addition, Tran, Weigel, and Richmond (2014) reported that undergraduate students enrolled in an upper-level biology course showed significantly higher knowledge and lower misconceptions between pre- and post-course assessments when weekly 50-minute small group discussions occurred throughout the term, with evolution as a central tropic for three of the discussions and a common theme throughout the term. Similarly, the evolutionary psychology course continually integrated evolution throughout each topic covered (recurrently invoking, for example, sexual selection, parental investment, reciprocal altruism, and inclusive fitness), which may explain the notable increase in knowledge/relevance for the course.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Evolution Education: Examining Attitudes toward and Knowledge of Evolution in College Courses

Short

Hawley

2015

Evol Psychol

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The present study examined changes in university students' attitudes toward and knowledge of evolution measured by the previously validated Evolutionary Attitudes and Literacy Survey (EALS) in response to curricular content. Specifically, student responses on the survey were compared across an evolutionary psychology course, an introductory biology course with significant evolutionary content, and a political science course with no evolutionary content. To this end, 868 students were assessed at a large Midwestern U.S. university prior to and following completion of one of the three courses. A multiple group repeated measures confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine latent mean differences in self-reported Evolution Knowledge/Relevance, Creationist Reasoning, Evolutionary Misconceptions, and Exposure to Evolution. A significant and notable increase in Knowledge/Relevance, as well as decreases in Creationist Reasoning and Evolutionary Misconceptions, was observed for the evolutionary psychology course, whereas the biology course demonstrated no change in Knowledge/Relevance and a significant increase in Evolutionary Misconceptions. The implications of these findings for evolution education are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Evolution Education: Examining Attitudes toward and Knowledge of Evolution in College Courses

Short

Hawley

2015

Evol Psychol

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“…Several researchers have worked to develop instruments to assess the understanding or knowledge of evolution among college students (Mead et al 2019). Researchers have reported varying levels of understanding, typically ranging from poor (answering half of the questions correctly) (e.g., Anderson et al 2002;Beggrow and Sbeglia 2019;Laidlaw 2020;Moore et al 2011;Nadelson and Southerland 2010a;Tran et al 2014) to passable (answering 70% of questions correctly) (e.g., Barnes et al 2017;Nadelson and Southerland 2010a;Partin et al 2013). Often, students that are biology majors or enrolled in upper level courses show a greater level of understanding than nonmajor students.…”

Section: Understanding Of Evolution Among College Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Still a private universe? Community college students’ understanding of evolution

2023

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Background Measuring what students know and retain about evolution is essential to improving our understanding of how students learn evolution. The literature shows that college students appear to have a poor understanding of evolution, answering questions on various instruments correctly only about half of the time. There is little research regarding evolution understanding among community college students and so this study examines if those students who are enrolled in life science classes, who are assessed using questions based on grade eight standards, show a better understanding of evolutionary principles than younger students and if there are differences in knowledge based on course enrollment. The authors utilized a survey of 41 items of the Life Sciences Concept Inventory that were specifically designed to measure knowledge about various aspects of evolution that relate to the 5–8 grade science standards on evolution. They administered it to 191 adult students who were enrolled in nine sections across five life sciences courses at one community college in Southern California. Results Results indicated that the students in this study possessed a fair understanding of evolution, averaging scores of nearly 70%, higher than what other researchers have found (using different instruments). Students enrolled in biology major classes scored significantly higher than those enrolled in non/mixed-major courses. There was a strong relationship between item difficulty and discrimination as well as difficulty and misconception strength. When compared with the 5–8 grade student data, the community college students showed a lower level of difficulty and higher levels of item discrimination, but the proportion choosing the most popular wrong answer (the dominant misconception), was comparable. College students showed similar patterns to the grade 5–8 students in terms of which questions and which material were the most challenging, despite performing better overall. Conclusions In this study, students possessed fair understanding of evolution. However, they were assessed with an instrument designed for 5th through 8th grade students. The results of this study support the need for more research into how community college students understand evolution and which factors impact that understanding.

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“…Additionally, it is common for students to carry their misconceptions about biological evolution into class and for students to retain these misconceptions despite the best efforts of their teachers. Tran et al (2014) showed that even upper-level biology majors struggle with evolutionary concepts and misconceptions but that discussion of evolutionary concepts helps alleviate these misconceptions. Despite the potential controversy and difficult teaching evolution to undergraduates, the importance of transferring this knowledge to allied health students remains paramount to avoid a future of avoidable medical conundrums such as the increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Perceptions of the Importance of Evolutionary Knowledge in Medicine: A Case Study from an Undergraduate Anatomy & Physiology Course

Tran¹

2017

HAPS ED

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Biological evolution is not emphasized in medical education and undergraduate anatomy and physiology courses. This omission in medical education has contributed to the development of a number of avoidable medical problems such as antibiotic resistance in bacteria. This article presents the results of a survey administered to undergraduate anatomy and physiology students that aimed to understand student opinions on the importance of teaching evolution to medical professionals. Results of the survey suggest that students believe biological evolution has played a major role in shaping human anatomy and physiology and that medical professionals should understand biological evolution. The goal of this manuscript is to raise awareness for the importance of teaching evolutionary concepts in undergraduate anatomy and physiology so that future medical professionals can use this knowledge to better serve their patients.

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Research and Teaching: Analyzing Upper Level Undergraduate Knowledge of Evolutionary Processes: Can Class Discussions Help?

Cited by 6 publications

References 18 publications

The Effects of Evolution Education: Examining Attitudes toward and Knowledge of Evolution in College Courses

The Effects of Evolution Education: Examining Attitudes toward and Knowledge of Evolution in College Courses

Still a private universe? Community college students’ understanding of evolution

Student Perceptions of the Importance of Evolutionary Knowledge in Medicine: A Case Study from an Undergraduate Anatomy & Physiology Course

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