Evolutionary Theory as a Controversial Topic in Science Curriculum Around the Globe

Deniz, Hasan; Borgerding, Lisa A.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90939-4_1

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…These outcomes extend emergent literature as they provide a more nuanced understanding of our knowledge about evolution education among university students in Colombia (Archila & Molina, 2020 ). Furthermore, these are consistent with the idea that “it is quite reasonable to expect students to enter into classroom with a number of misconceptions about evolutionary theory” (Deniz & Borgerding, 2018b , p. 4). Unfortunately, as Reydon ( 2021 ) observes, instructors seldom show genuine interest in knowing about the misconceptions hold by their students.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

STEM and Non-STEM Misconceptions About Evolution: Findings from 5 Years of Data

et al. 2023

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Even though it is widely held that the theory of evolution is one of the pillars of the biological sciences, as we begin the third decade of the twenty-first century, it is alarming how little we know about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and non-STEM majors’ misconceptions about evolution in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Greece, to name a few. The situation is even more complicated if we acknowledge that contemporary educational approaches (e.g., student-centered learning) mean that students’ misconceptions are one of the multiple aspects that influence the construction of meaningful learning. Here, we present a picture of Colombian STEM/non-STEM majors’ misconceptions about evolution. Participants were 547 students from different STEM/non-STEM majors (278 females and 269 males, 16–24 years old). During 5 years (10 academic semesters), data were collected from students’ responses to an 11-item questionnaire administered in a Colombian university. We hypothesized that the academic semester within these 5 years in which each student completed the instrument as well as respondents’ age, gender, and/or major may influence their misconceptions about evolution. Results reveal that participants had a moderate understanding of evolution. Also, we found a limited understanding of microevolution among participants. Furthermore, cross-sectional analyses of differences in undergraduates’ responses across demographic variables showed that despite apparent differences, these were not reliable since the differences were not statistically significant. Implications for evolution education are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

STEM and Non-STEM Misconceptions About Evolution: Findings from 5 Years of Data

et al. 2023

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“…According to the replies from the teacher interviews in Table 4, many of them said that teaching contentious subjects like evolution at the Association of Muslim Schools was the most difficult undertaking for life sciences instructors. Because of this, Deniz and Borgerding (2018) claimed that when teaching the idea of evolution, life sciences teachers must take into account conceptual, epistemological, worldview/religious, and social/cultural variables all at once. This should be the standard for all themes in the Life Sciences curriculum across all grades, according to the association of Muslim schools' vision.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theological inquest of the teaching of life sciences within the Muslim schools

Dhurumraj

Mudau²

2022

IJRBS

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The teaching of life sciences within the Islamic culture was observed in this investigation by instructors at the Association of Muslim Schools in the KZN region. The following question served as the basis for the investigation: Do Islamic schools teach life sciences from an Islamic perspective? The Association of Muslim Schools gave its approval after receiving ethical scrutiny. A questionnaire, interviews, and observations were used to gather data. The analysis of the data was conducted using an inductive methodology. The philosophy of Islam and its approaches to teaching the required Life Sciences curriculum served as the study's conceptual foundation. The results show that there is a problem with integrating religious knowledge into science teaching in Muslim ethos schools in South Africa. The Professional Teaching Model was an initiative to close the gap caused by educational dualism.

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“…Several of them hold a multitude of misunderstandings about this science content area (e.g., evolution is goal-directed and improves organisms) [13]. Moreover, students deem evolution to contradict the sacred scriptures since it considers the equality between humans and animals [14]. These misconceptions and non-scientific notions often result in misunderstanding and rejecting evolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Evaluation of a Nature of Science-Based Online Course in Tenth-Grade Evolution

Batac

Mistades

2022

PSPFS

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Worldwide, misconceptions and non-scientific notions about evolution are prevalent within academic circles. As online learning gains popularity because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to identify practices that support learning in these contexts. Using the ADDIE instructional model, this study developed and evaluated a nature of science-based online course in evolution for tenth-grade junior high school students. Results revealed that the biology teachers considered the quality of pedagogies, resources, and delivery strategies in the online course excellent. Correspondingly, the students deemed the classroom climate in the online course exceptional in terms of instructor behaviors, course structure, course clarity, and student connectedness. The online course also helped them understand how evolution works through the videos and informative content and accept evolution by considering that several pieces of evidence and information support it and science and religion are not contradictory. Although the online course is good the way it is for most students, some of them provided recommendations for improvement. Overall, the students regarded the online course as recommendable because it is educational and manageable.

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Evolutionary Theory as a Controversial Topic in Science Curriculum Around the Globe

Cited by 18 publications

References 38 publications

STEM and Non-STEM Misconceptions About Evolution: Findings from 5 Years of Data

STEM and Non-STEM Misconceptions About Evolution: Findings from 5 Years of Data

Theological inquest of the teaching of life sciences within the Muslim schools

Development and Evaluation of a Nature of Science-Based Online Course in Tenth-Grade Evolution

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