The GAENE—Generalized Acceptance of EvolutioN Evaluation: Development of a new measure of evolution acceptance

Smith, Mike U.; Snyder, Scott W.; Devereaux, Randolph S.

doi:10.1002/tea.21328

Cited by 57 publications

(151 citation statements)

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“…Nadelson and Southerland () suggested further research that uses multiple measures of evolution acceptance. Addressing these concerns, Smith, Snyder, and Devereaux () have developed the GAENE (Generalized Acceptance of EvolutioN Evaluation) that measures evolution acceptance without conflation with evolution knowledge or religious beliefs. Unfortunately, this instrument was not available at the time of data collection for this study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution acceptance and epistemological beliefs of college biology students

2016

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Evolutionary theory is central to biology, and scientifically accurate evolution instruction is promoted within national and state standards documents. Previous literature has identified students' epistemological beliefs as potential predictors of evolution acceptance. The present work seeks to explore more directly how student views of evolution are related to their epistemological beliefs. We hypothesize that evolution acceptance may be related to students' epistemological beliefs and that this relationship may vary depending on students' relationship to the field of biology, either as an experienced major, a new major, or a non-major. Specifically, this manuscript investigates how college students' evolution acceptance may be connected to Perry developmental levels for three distinct groups of students: upper-level majors, first-year majors, and non-majors. A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach entailing quantitative surveys followed by individual interviews was employed. In total, 395 college-level biology students from three classes were surveyed, and 44 students were interviewed. Descriptive quantitative trends were identified, and evolution acceptance varied predictably by both Perry level and Class. Qualitative analysis explained these quantitative findings in terms of participants' identification with science, views of authority, views of the compatibility of evolution and religion, and appreciation for the tentative nature of science with respect to evolution. Potential implications for science educators at the college level are discussed. #

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution acceptance and epistemological beliefs of college biology students

2016

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“…In addition to widespread difficulty in, and lack of, understanding regarding evolutionary biology, low rates of acceptance of evolution have been reported in the general population (Miller et al 2006;Gallup 2016), in pre-service educators (Romine et al 2016), high school biology educators (Moore and Kraemer 2005;Moore and Cotner 2009;Glaze and Goldston 2015), university professors (Romine et al 2016), and in various student populations (Rice et al 2011;Romine et al 2016). Although belief and acceptance may be closely related, recent investigators of evolution acceptance have separated these constructs, with acceptance being more closely related to "believing that" rather than "believing in" (Smith et al 2016(Smith et al , pp. 1291(Smith et al -1292, and that acceptance "…is more voluntary than belief, and involves a commitment to use what is accepted; belief is less voluntary, and need not be used as a basis for inference or action. "…”

Section: Acceptance Of Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating undergraduate health sciences students’ acceptance of evolution using MATE and GAENE

et al. 2018

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Background: Despite the overwhelming agreement among scientists regarding the fundamental importance of evolution to all areas of biology, a lack of evolution understanding and acceptance has been reported in studies of students, educators, and members of society. In the present study, we investigate and report evolution acceptance in a population of undergraduate health sciences students enrolled in a first-year foundational biology course. Two published instruments-The Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) and the Generalized Acceptance of Evolution Evaluation (GAENE)-were used to quantify evolution acceptance. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on both instruments to test whether the items measured the underlying construct sufficiently. Additionally, Rasch scaling was used to investigate fit between the data and the measurement model, and to determine if the MATE should be treated as a unidimensional or bidimensional instrument. Using correlation and regression analysis, we examined the relationships between the two measures of evolution acceptance, and between measures of evolution acceptance with other student variables of interest. Results:The health sciences students in this study demonstrated high acceptance of evolution at the start of term, as well as a significant increase in evolution acceptance from pre-to post-test. CFA and Rasch scaling provided some evidence that the MATE is a bidimensional instrument, but considering MATE as a bidimensional instrument provided little additional insight compared to treating MATE as a unidimensional instrument. Measures of evolution acceptance resulting from the MATE and GAENE instruments were significantly and strongly correlated. Multiple regression modeling identified underrepresented minority status as a demographic variable predictive of evolution acceptance, and provided further evidence of the strong association between the MATE and GAENE instruments. Conclusions:The undergraduate health sciences students in this study demonstrated a significant increase in evolution acceptance from pre-to post-test after one semester of instruction in general biology. Measures of evolution acceptance from the MATE and GAENE instruments were strongly correlated whether MATE was treated as a unidimensional or bidimensional instrument. This work provides initial indications that the MATE and GAENE instruments perform comparably as measures of evolution acceptance. Although the instruments are closely related, this work found more psychometric evidence for interpreting and using GAENE scores than MATE scores as a measure of evolution acceptance. which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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“…Of the three measures of evolution acceptance, the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) 10,28 is the oldest and most widely used. The Inventory of Student Evolution Acceptance (I-SEA) 29 and Generalized Acceptance of EvolutioN Evalution (GAENE) 30 tools were more recently developed to address concerns with the MATE, and have gained some traction in the evolution education literature as robust measures. A recent study that employed more than one instrument found the correlation between measures may be quite strong 31 .…”

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confidence: 99%