Getting to Darwin: Obstacles to Accepting Evolution by Natural Selection

Thagard, Paul; Findlay, Scott D.

doi:10.1007/s11191-009-9204-8

Cited by 57 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In the light of the results from this study and from the previous studies (Baum and Offiner 2008;Gregory 2008;Sandvik 2008;Meisel 2010;Thagard and Findlay 2009;Allmon 2011;Wiles and Alter, 2011) an integrated classification of factors that might influence evolution acceptance has been presented in Table 7.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Evolution acceptance among pre-service primary teachers

Arthur

2013

Evo Edu Outreach

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Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate evolution acceptance among pre-service primary teachers who opted to study biology (n=35). In this part of their teacher training course they were introduced to the theory of evolution. The study focused on (a) finding out the various degrees of evolution acceptance, (b) reasons behind these choices, (c) views on the origin and biodiversity of life and (d) the perceived impacts of evolution acceptance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Evolution acceptance among pre-service primary teachers

Arthur

2013

Evo Edu Outreach

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“…A recent study by Thagard and Findlay (2010), on the other hand, focuses especially on obstacles regarding accepting Darwin's theory. In their study, they summarized the main psychological obstacles to accepting Darwin's theory as cognitive obstacles (i.e., conceptual difficulties, methodological issues, and coherence problems that come from perception of alternative theories) and emotional obstacles (i.e., valued beliefs about God, souls, and morality).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships among Teachers’ Knowledge and Beliefs Regarding the Teaching of Evolution: A Case for Turkey

2012

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The research study investigated the possible associations among science and biology teachers' knowledge and belief variables concerning teaching evolution in science and biology classes. Specifically, this study examined how a set of variables including teachers' understanding of evolution and nature of science (NOS) is related to the set of variables including teachers' acceptance of evolution and perceptions of teaching evolution (i.e., perceptions of the necessity of addressing evolution in their classrooms, perceptions of the factors that impede addressing evolution in their classrooms, and personal science teaching efficacy beliefs regarding evolution). Data were collected from science and biology teachers through administration of Evolution Content Knowledge Test, Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution, Nature of Science as Argument Questionnaire and Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching Evolution Scale. Canonical correlation analysis findings suggested that teachers who had thorough understanding of evolution and NOS were likely to both accept the scientific validity of evolution and believe the necessity of addressing evolution in the classrooms. On the other hand, teachers with thorough understanding of evolution and NOS did not necessarily believe that they have a stronger sense of self-efficacy beliefs regarding teaching evolution and that there are fewer obstacles to addressing evolution in the classroom. The research is significant in that it provides empirical evidence clarifying the interactions between teachers' understanding and beliefs in teaching evolution. Implications for science teacher education are discussed.

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“…Evolutionary theory is notoriously difficult to learn and understand and students are liable to a number of typical errors (Bishop and Anderson 1990;Nehm and Reilly 2007;e.g., Alters and Nelson 2002; for a review, see Gregory 2009b). As noted above, many of these errors arise because of cognitive constraints that systematically interfere with people's understanding of biological evolution ; see also Thagard and Findlay 2010). Among these errors is the idea that natural selection can be interpreted as a natural selector, which clearly resonates with the way in which Darwin's contemporaries misrepresented the metaphor (Gregory 2009b).…”

Section: Implications For Science Educationmentioning

confidence: 98%

From Ends to Causes (and Back Again) by Metaphor: The Paradox of Natural Selection

et al. 2013

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Natural selection is one of the most famous metaphors in the history of science. Charles Darwin used the metaphor and the underlying analogy to frame his ideas about evolution and its main driving mechanism into a full-fledged theory. Because the metaphor turned out to be such a powerful epistemic tool, Darwin naturally assumed that he could also employ it as an educational tool to inform his contemporaries about his findings. Moreover, by using the metaphor Darwin was able to bring his theory in accordance with both the dominant philosophy of science in his time and the respected tradition of natural theology. However, as he introduced his theory of evolution by natural selection in On the origin of species in 1859, the metaphor also turned out to have a serious downside. Because of its intentional overtones, his contemporaries systematically misunderstood his metaphor not as a natural mechanism causing evolution to occur but as an agent who works towards particular ends. The difference in success between natural selection as an epistemic tool and its failure as an educational tool is labelled as a paradox. We explain the paradox from a cognitive perspective and discuss the implications for teaching evolution. KeywordsCharles Darwin -metaphor -natural selection -evolutionary theory -biological educationhistory of biology -conceptual change

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Getting to Darwin: Obstacles to Accepting Evolution by Natural Selection

Cited by 57 publications

References 31 publications

Evolution acceptance among pre-service primary teachers

Evolution acceptance among pre-service primary teachers

Relationships among Teachers’ Knowledge and Beliefs Regarding the Teaching of Evolution: A Case for Turkey

From Ends to Causes (and Back Again) by Metaphor: The Paradox of Natural Selection

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