The relationship between biology teachers’ understanding of the nature of science and the understanding and acceptance of the theory of evolution

Cofré, Hernán; Cuevas, Emilia; Becerra, Beatriz

doi:10.1080/09500693.2017.1373410

Cited by 33 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Correlation coefficients between evolutionary knowledge and acceptance of evolution as found in this study (light gray) and other published studies (dark gray) (Athanasiou & Papadopoulou, ; Athanasiou et al, 2012; Barnes et al, ; Cavallo & McCall, ; Cofré et al, ; Coleman et al, ; Deniz et al, ; Dunk et al, ; Gibson & Hoefnagels, ; Glaze et al, ; Graf & Soran, ; Gregory & Ellis, ; Großschedl et al, ; Ha et al, , ; Kim & Nehm, 2011; Mead et al, ; Nehm et al, ; Nadelson & Sinatra, ; Nadelson & Southerland, ; Peker et al, ; Rice et al, 2015; Romine et al, ; Rutledge & Warden, ; Sinatra et al, 2003; Trani, ), and correlations between statistical reasoning (Randomness and Probability test in the context of Evolution/Randomness and Probability test in the context of Mathematics [RaProEvo/RaProMath]) with acceptance of evolution (black). Numbers appearing more than once are indicating different cohorts or different instruments within a study.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Over the past few decades, a large body of work has examined students' acceptance of evolution and its relationship to understanding evolution. However, a clear relationship between knowledge and acceptance remains elusive, with empirical research producing positive relationships (e.g., Barnes, Evans, Hazel, Brownell, & Nesse, ; Cofré, Cuevas, & Becerra, ; Deniz, Donnelly, & Yilmaz, ; Großschedl, Konnemann, & Basel, ; Ha, Baldwin, & Nehm, ; Kim & Nehm, ) as well as weak to minor associations (e.g., Cavallo & McCall, ; Coleman, Stears, & Dempster, ; Sinatra, Southerland, McConaughy, & Demastes, ). Many factors such as feeling of certainty (Ha, Haury, & Nehm, ), trust in science and scientists (Nadelson & Hardy, ), epistemological beliefs (Borgerding, Deniz, & Anderson, ), and educational attainment (Mazur, ) influence cognitive processing, which in turn impacts knowledge and acceptance of evolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How strongly does statistical reasoning influence knowledge and acceptance of evolution?

et al. 2019

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A large body of research has examined students' conceptions of evolution and their relationships to acceptance of evolution. Proficiency in statistical and probabilistic reasoning has long been considered to be an essential feature of evolutionary reasoning, yet almost no empirical work has explored these putative connections. The RaPro instruments have recently been developed to measure statistical reasoning in the contexts of mathematics (RaProMath) and evolution (RaProEvo). Our study provides additional validation of these instruments using Rasch analysis and quantifies the contribution of statistical reasoning to both understanding and accepting evolution. We recruited a large sample (N = 564) of undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory biology course at a large public research university in the United States. Students completed a suite of published instruments that assessed statistical reasoning, evolutionary understanding, and evolutionary acceptance. Our findings indicate that validity inferences derived from RaPro scores generalized to the new sample, and that proficiency in statistical reasoning explained 28% of the variance in evolutionary knowledge and 19% of the variation in evolutionary acceptance. The inclusion of demographic variables into the model significantly increased the explained variance in acceptance. Notably, the variance in evolution acceptance explained by statistical reasoning was comparable to that of thinking dispositions or evolutionary knowledge reported in the literature. This work provides the first large-scale evidence of the role of statistical reasoning in evolutionary knowledge and acceptance and motivates future work to explore how statistical literacy should be integrated into evolution education efforts.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How strongly does statistical reasoning influence knowledge and acceptance of evolution?

et al. 2019

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“…The principal product of science is knowledge in the form of naturalistic concepts and the laws and theories related to those concepts" (see www.nsta.org/about/positions/natureofscience .aspx). Using this approach has generally proven effective in helping students increase both their understanding and acceptance of evolution (e.g., Cavallo and McCall, 2008;Cofré et al, 2017;Dunk et al, 2017). Thus, teaching an understanding of how science is conducted, and what it can and cannot explain, is an excellent starting point for increasing acceptance.…”

Section: Teaching That Evolution Rejection Is a Product Of Ignorancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These strategies have been predicated upon finding which factors most greatly influence evolution acceptance. Many researchers have suggested potential factors as being influential, such as an understanding of the nature of science (Cavallo and McCall, 2008;Cofré et al, 2017;Dunk et al, 2017), student knowledge of evolutionary theory (Rissler et al, 2014;Glaze et al, 2015;Weisberg et al, 2018), reasoning ability (Lawson and Weser, 1990; Honey, 2015; although see Manwaring et al, 2018), and individual religiosity (Dagher and BouJaoude, 1997;Hill, 2014;Rissler et al, 2014). Research is mixed on the effectiveness of each of these approaches.…”

Section: Broader Connectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a Reconciliation Module Leads to Large Gains in Evolution Acceptance

Lindsay¹,

Arok²,

Bybee³

et al. 2019

LSE

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Too many students reject the theory of evolution because they view it as incompatible with their religious beliefs. Some have argued that abandoning religious belief is the only way to help religious individuals accept evolution. Conversely, our data support that highlighting faith/evolution compatibility is an effective means to increase student acceptance. We surveyed students enrolled in entry-level biology courses at four religiously affiliated institutions. At each university, teachers gave students a presentation that demonstrated potential compatibility between evolution and faith within the teachings of each university’s respective religious affiliation. Students were asked to evaluate their own beliefs about evolution both before and after this instruction. After instruction at each university, students showed significant gains in evolution acceptance without abandoning their religious beliefs. These results demonstrate that giving religious students the opportunity to reconcile their religious beliefs with the theory of evolution under the influence of intentional instruction on the compatibility of belief and evolution can lead to increased evolution acceptance among religious students.

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“…El estudio de Sinatra, Southerland, McConaughy y Demastes (2003) mostró igualmente que no había relación entre las creencias epistemológicas de los estudiantes y su aceptación de la teoría de la evolución o la teoría de la fotosíntesis. Asimismo, en un estudio con profesorado de biología chilenos, no se encontró ninguna relación entre la comprensión de la NdC y la comprensión y aceptación de la teoría de la evolución (Cofré et al 2017). No obstante, cabe remarcar que todos estos estudios, así como el presente, han adoptado la visión de consenso de la NdC (Lederman y Lederman, 2014), que se limita esencialmente a aspectos epistémicos de la NdC; por tanto, una visión más holística de la NdC, que incluya aspectos no-epistémicos (Acevedo-Díaz et al 2017;García-Carmona et al 2018), podría dar lugar a resultados diferentes.…”

Section: Discusión De Los Resultadosunclassified

Comprensión de aspectos epistémicos de la naturaleza de la ciencia y valoración de su dimensión social

Toma

2020

rev_eureka_enseñ_divulg_cienc

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Resumen: La importancia de la naturaleza de la ciencia (NdC) reside en varias suposiciones teóricas que no han sido contrastadas de forma empírica. Este estudio examina la presunción de que una comprensión apropiada algunos aspectos epistémicos de la NdC estaría relacionada con una mayor valoración de la ciencia, en 6º curso de Educación Primaria (N = 341). Los resultados revelan actitudes más positivas en los estudiantes con concepciones apropiadas de los aspectos «naturaleza provisional» y «observaciones e inferencias», lo que ofrece apoyo empírico al argumento cultural para la enseñanza de la NdC en el nivel elemental. Si bien estos hallazgos subrayan el valor educativo de la NdC, se requiere el desarrollo de futuros estudios que adopten una conceptualización de la NdC que supere las limitaciones de la denominada en la bibliografía como visión de consenso.

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The relationship between biology teachers’ understanding of the nature of science and the understanding and acceptance of the theory of evolution

Cited by 33 publications

References 41 publications

How strongly does statistical reasoning influence knowledge and acceptance of evolution?

How strongly does statistical reasoning influence knowledge and acceptance of evolution?

Using a Reconciliation Module Leads to Large Gains in Evolution Acceptance

Comprensión de aspectos epistémicos de la naturaleza de la ciencia y valoración de su dimensión social

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