Student positions on the relationship between evolution and creation: What kinds of changes occur and for what reasons?

Yasri, Pratchayapong; Mancy, Rebecca

doi:10.1002/tea.21302

Cited by 31 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…It is noteworthy that for previous studies, as well as our own, the total amount of class time committed to these exercises was somewhat minimal: for this study and two of the previous studies, about 75 min (Manwaring et al 2015;Yasri and Mancy 2016), for two other studies a total of 120 to 140 min (Wiles and Alters 2011; and for the most recently published study, only 6 min (Troung et al 2018). The case can be made that for a minimal expenditure of class time the acknowledgement of students concerns about evolution, the approach advocated in this study and previous studies, can increase the likelihood of instruction on evolution leading to an increased understanding of evolution, and while not the case in this study but shown in previous studies, an increased acceptance of evolution.…”

Section: Acknowledging Students' Concerns As a Pedagogical Approach Fmentioning

confidence: 40%

“…Another study with high school students at a Christian school in Thailand investigated changes in students' positions on the relationship between evolution and creation and the reasons for changes in their position (Yasri and Mancy 2016). The class included both Christian and Buddhist students and their course on biological evolution lasted for 3 months.…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Failing to acknowledge and address religious and cultural concerns when teaching evolution can lead to students in the classroom with a religious worldview feeling uncomfortable and excluded (Hermann 2012;. The tension between a student's or teacher's religious worldview and the science of evolution may best be managed in a classroom environment which acknowledges the religious and cultural controversies, but focuses on an increased scientific understanding of evolution (specifically the recognition of processes and concepts central to the theory of evolution) rather than an acceptance of evolution (Meadows 2009;Reiss 2009;Scharmann 2005;Southerland and Scharmann 2013) and includes instruction that can reduce the perceived conflict between evolution and religion (Wiles and Alters 2011;Wiles 2014;Yasri and Mancy 2016;Manwaring et al 2015;; Troung et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the level of high school instruction, there are few concrete examples in the literature of how a teacher might acknowledge the religious and cultural controversies while advancing an understanding of evolutionary science, that also include quantitative or qualitative measures of the impact of this approach (Hermann 2008). Recent exceptions are the work of Wiles and Alters (2011) and Wiles (2014) with gifted high school students in an intensive summer program and Yasri and Mancy (2016) in a study with high school students at a Christian school in Thailand. Manwaring et al (2015), and Troung et al (2018) have explored this approach and measured its impact with college undergraduates in the United States.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Acknowledging Students' Concerns As a Pedagogical Approach Fmentioning

confidence: 40%

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Acknowledging students’ concerns about evolution: a proactive teaching strategy

Bertka¹,

Pobiner

Beardsley

et al. 2019

Evo Edu Outreach

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When teaching topics with alternative, plausible explanations, instructors can either focus on normative ideas or address a range of alternatives (Glaze & Goldston, ; Schwendimann & Linn, ; Yasri & Mancy, ). In this investigation, we compare prompts designed to ask students to articulate the accepted theory to those designed to ask students to consider two competing theories.…”

Section: Alternative Explanations Of Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing student explanations of evolution: Comparing elaborating and competing theory prompts

et al. 2016

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In this study we explore how two different prompt types within an online computer-based inquiry learning environment enhance 392 7th grade students' explanations of evolution with 3 teachers. In the elaborating prompt condition, students are prompted to write explanations that support the accepted theory of evolution. In the competing prompt condition, students are prompted to write explanations that differentiate two views of evolution associated with Darwin and Lamarck. Data sources included a pretest and posttest, an embedded item, observations, logged teacher guidance, and teacher interviews. Findings show similar pretest to posttest gains in students' understanding of evolution for both conditions, but this pattern was not uniform across all three teachers.For one teacher, students who received competing theory prompts produced significantly higher gains than those who received elaborating theory prompts. A closer look at embedded student work reveals a higher degree of teacher participation (i.e., grading and guidance) than for the other teachers. Our findings illustrate how helping students distinguish between competing scientific claims can support learning in an inquiry unit, but may require a higher degree of teacher participation and reinforcement. We discuss the implications of these findings for enhancing students' scientific explanations.

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Following Darwin’s footsteps: Evaluating the impact of an activity designed for elementary school students to link historically important evolution key concepts on their understanding of natural selection

Sá-Pinto

Pinto

Ribeiro

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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While several researchers have suggested that evolution should be explored from the initial years of schooling, little information is available on effective resources to enhance elementary school students’ level of understanding of evolution by natural selection (LUENS). For the present study, we designed, implemented, and evaluated an educational activity planned for fourth graders (9 to 10 years old) to explore concepts and conceptual fields that were historically important for the discovery of natural selection. Observation field notes and students’ productions were used to analyze how the students explored the proposed activity. Additionally, an evaluation framework consisting of a test, the evaluation criteria, and the scoring process was applied in two fourth‐grade classes (N = 44) to estimate elementary school students’ LUENS before and after engaging in the activity. Our results show that our activity allowed students to link the key concepts, resulting in a significant increase of their understanding of natural selection. They also reveal that additional activities and minor fine‐tuning of the present activity are required to further support students’ learning about the concept of differential reproduction.

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Student positions on the relationship between evolution and creation: What kinds of changes occur and for what reasons?

Cited by 31 publications

References 22 publications

Acknowledging students’ concerns about evolution: a proactive teaching strategy

Acknowledging students’ concerns about evolution: a proactive teaching strategy

Enhancing student explanations of evolution: Comparing elaborating and competing theory prompts

Following Darwin’s footsteps: Evaluating the impact of an activity designed for elementary school students to link historically important evolution key concepts on their understanding of natural selection

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