Should the Teaching of Biological Evolution Include the Origin of Life?

Lazcano, Antonio; Peretó, Juli

doi:10.1007/s12052-010-0285-2

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(25 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Some presented author perspectives on broader issues. For example, one essay argued that origin of life and prebiotic evolution should be part of the undergraduate biology curriculum ( Lazcano and Peretó, 2010 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Evolution Education Forward: A Systematic Analysis of Literature to Identify Gaps in Collective Knowledge for Teaching

Ziadie

Andrews

2018

LSE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Evolution Education Forward: A Systematic Analysis of Literature to Identify Gaps in Collective Knowledge for Teaching

Ziadie

Andrews

2018

LSE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The choice of what topics to include and exclude in teaching evolution can be important. Teachers who are willing to teach evolution in general may nevertheless skimp on teaching about particular areas they perceive as controversial, such as the origin of life, macroevolution, and human evolution (Berkman and Plutzer 2011; for discussion of the importance of these areas to high school biology evolution, see respectively Lazcano and Peretó 2010, Padian 2010, and Pobiner 2012. Surprisingly, there is apparently no previous work investigating association between pre-service coursework and choice of topics to emphasize in teaching evolution.…”

Section: Emphasis On Specific Topics In Teaching Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s effective and ineffective in preparing high school biology educators to teach evolution? Evidence from a representative national U.S. survey

Branch¹,

Plutzer

Reid³

2023

Evo Edu Outreach

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background What types of coursework prepare biology teachers to teach evolution effectively? The present study provides answers to that question based on evidence from a nationally representative sample of public high school biology teachers in the U.S. Data about their pre-service coursework (in seven categories) and their attitudes and practices relevant to teaching evolution (in five categories relating to personal acceptance of evolution, perception of scientific consensus on evolution, instructional time devoted to evolution, classroom characterization of evolution and creationism, and emphasis on specific topics in teaching evolution) were collected. Results Coursework focused on evolution was significantly associated with positive outcomes: more class hours devoted to evolution, not presenting creationism as scientifically credible, and prioritizing common ancestry, human evolution, and the origin of life as topics of instruction, while shunning Biblical perspectives on the history of life. Similarly, coursework with some evolution content was significantly associated with positive outcomes: awareness of the scientific consensus on evolution, presenting evolution but not creationism as scientifically credible, and prioritizing common ancestry as a topic of instruction. But surprisingly, methods coursework on problem-based learning was significantly associated with negative outcomes: presenting creationism as well as evolution as scientifically credible and prioritizing Biblical perspectives on the history of life as a topic of instruction. Similarly, and likewise surprisingly, methods coursework on teaching controversial topics was associated with a negative outcome: presenting creationism as scientifically credible. Conclusion Consistent with previous work, the results of the present study suggest that pre-service coursework in evolution is important in preparing educators to teach evolution effectively. But they also suggest, surprisingly, that pre-service methods coursework aimed at preparing educators to teach evolution effectively tends, at present, to be counterproductive, leading to the presentation of creationism as scientifically credible.

show abstract

“…The search for a theory on the origin of life is a major issue in contemporary evolutionary biology, presenting both a philosophical (Griesemer 2008) and educational challenge (Lazcano and Peretó 2010). Historically, ideas on the origins of life have been mingled with the emergence of a generalized evolutionary account.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Darwinism and the Origin of Life

Peretó

Catalá

2012

Evo Edu Outreach

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Historically, ideas on the origins of life have been mingled with evolutionary explanations. Darwin avoided discussing the origin of the very first species in public although he acknowledged the possibility that life originated by natural causes. Some of his followers adopted this materialistic position and advocated some sort of spontaneous generation in the distant past. Nevertheless, Pasteur's experiments were a major obstacle for scientific acceptance of the sudden emergence of life. The scientific study of the origin of life, established in the 1920s, required abandoning the idea of a unique chance event and considering a view of life emerging as the result of a long evolutionary process. At the turn of the twentieth century, some authors adopted non-Darwinian views on the origin of life, exemplified in this paper by the neovitalism of some Catholic scientists. We propose that Darwinism represents a genuine example of an adaptive scientific framework. By recognizing the shift in the features characterizing Darwinism, we can understand its relationship with theories on the origin of life in a non-dogmatic line.

show abstract

Should the Teaching of Biological Evolution Include the Origin of Life?

Cited by 6 publications

References 23 publications

Moving Evolution Education Forward: A Systematic Analysis of Literature to Identify Gaps in Collective Knowledge for Teaching

Moving Evolution Education Forward: A Systematic Analysis of Literature to Identify Gaps in Collective Knowledge for Teaching

What’s effective and ineffective in preparing high school biology educators to teach evolution? Evidence from a representative national U.S. survey

Darwinism and the Origin of Life

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About