Misconceptions About Evolution in Brazilian Freshmen Students

Abstract

Regarding such an important issue as our origin, as well as the origin of all biological diversity, it is surprising to realize that evolution still faces drawbacks in keeping its deserved notability as a unifying theory in biology. This does not happen because evolutionism lacks validity as a scientific theory, but rather because of several misconceptions regarding evolutionary biology that were and continue to be found in elementary and secondary education. Furthermore, mistaken evolutionary ideas also affect some philosophical and social issues. The aim of the present study was to evaluate knowledge about evolution among freshman students from distinct majoring areas at Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste do Paraná (UNI-CENTRO), Brazil. The research was carried out based on a ten-question questionnaire about evolution with distinct levels of difficulty, comprising the most observed misconceptions. In this study, 231 students attending classes in biological sciences (morning and evening schedule), exact sciences (agronomy, physics, chemistry, and math), and human sciences (history, geography, and pedagogy) were interviewed. The total average of right answers was 48.8%, and the highest average per course obtained was 58.7% from the students attending biological sciences (evening schedule). Although evolutionary biology and ecology are supposed to represent teaching guide issues according to the recommendations of the National Curricular Parameters for the Secondary School, the data obtained suggest that the evidence for evolution, the role of natural selection and random events, as well as the sources of variation, must be better focused at schools.

Evolution: Improving the Understanding of Undergraduate Biology Students with an Active Pedagogical Approach

“…The theory of evolution is often referred to in the pejorative sense, in that it is just a theory and comparable to other theories, such as the creation theory (Pazza et al 2010;Hokayem and BouJaoude 2008;Bishop and Anderson 1990;Alters and Nelson 2002). It is easy to tangle with semantics here, and as Dawkins (2009) points out in his discussion "What is a theory?…”

“…Given the unifying and explanatory power of this theory, it would be reasonable to expect that its fundamental principles and concepts would be widely and generally understood, especially by those studying the life sciences. However, as a large and continually growing body of research suggests, this is not the case (Chinsamy and Plaganyi 2008;Pazza et al 2010;Cunningham and Wescott 2009;Abraham et al 2009;Hokayem and BouJaoude 2008;Nehm and Reilly 2007). There is usually a high degree of acceptance regarding scientific explanations in discussions of life situations and nature, but not in considering how the natural world we know came to be through evolutionary processes (Hokayem and BouJaoude 2008).…”

Medicina Evolutiva: Incorporando a Teoria da Evolução na Formação de Profissionais de Saúde Brasileiros

“…Entretanto, dada a complexidade da própria teoria da evolução por seleção natural, assim como a sofisticação clínica, diagnóstica e epidemiológica da medicina atual, a aproximação entre elas pode ser muito trabalhosa para estudantes de Medicina, cujos currícu-los já estão carregados de disciplinas. Sabe-se, porém, desde a década de 1980, que estudantes ingressam nas universidades, inclusive nos cursos de Medicina, com concepções equivocadas em relação a questões centrais da teoria da evolução [43][44][45] .…”

Teaching the role of mutation in evolution by means of a board game

“…Besides, evolution brings to the school a broader perspective on natural phenomena and on the nature of scientific activity (Tidon and Lewontin, 2004;Santos and Calor, 2008;O'Brien et al 2009). Unfortunately, as pointed out by Pazza et al (2010) and many others, there remains a widespread lack of understanding about evolutionary theory, which is still quite susceptible to misunderstandings. In Brazilian schools, for example, the theory is often presented to students in an oversimplified manner in just a few class sessions, usually during the last year of their biology courses.…”