A systematic classification of student misconceptions in biological evolution

Abstract

The paper considers student understandings of particular aspects of biological evolution from the perspective of misconceptions. Although lists of misconceptions and possible categories have been proposed in educational research studies, individual misconceptions have not been categorised systematically. This paper therefore explores student misconceptions in biological evolution in greater detail. It synthesises existing categorisation schemes for misconceptions and categorise each misconception within a synthesised scheme. According of this new scheme, student misconceptions in biological evolution can be systematically classified into five groups: common sense, content-based, NOS-based (misconceptions related to the nature of science), non-scientific and vernacular misconceptions. This categorisation serves as an organisational scheme for future research on student misconceptions in evolutionary theory, providing both fundamental and analytical frameworks for researchers interested in biology education.Key words: misconceptions, evolution, classification, biology education Misconception in evolution 32 Fundamental scientific concepts of biological evolutionThis section reviews fundamental concepts of biological evolution as explained by scientists and science educators. The review aims to present a standard understanding of the theory of biological evolution which is later used to compare with student misconceptions in biological evolution. To begin with the definition of evolution, Scott (2004, p. 23) defines the term evolution broadly as "a cumulative change through time", pointing out that there are various meanings of evolution including astronomical, geological, chemical and biological evolution. However, in this paper, the term evolution is limited only to the strand of biological evolution. Wiles (2010, p. 18) defines this as the explanation for "the diversity of life on Earth [which] has arisen via descent with modification from a common ancestry" (p. 18). Scott (2004, p. 27) specifically explains that biological evolution is not the explanation of the origin of life itself but "the descent of living things from ancestors from which they differ" (p. 27). Taking her broad and specific definitions together, Scott (2004, p. 27) comments that "descent with modification through time" is an effective explanation of biological evolution.Instead of focusing on defining the term evolution, Alexander (2009) distinguishes between three main aspects of biological evolution: evolutionary devices (i.e. DNA and genes), evolutionary mechanisms (i.e. natural selection and reproductive success) and the result of their combination in the form of macroevolution (i.e. speciation and fossils). These aspects are relevant to five core aspects of biological evolution guided by Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (2005) which are suggested as important to introduce to high school students in the US, consisting of how species evolve over periods of time, how species evolve from common ancestors, how new forms of ...

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