The possible influence of curriculum statements and textbooks on misconceptions: The case of evolution

Abstract

Curriculum statements and textbooks are considered to be vital support tools for teachers, particularly during times of curriculum innovation. A recent change in South Africa was the controversial inclusion of evolution in the school curriculum, raising serious concerns amongst biology teachers regarding the adequacy of their content and pedagogical content knowledge for teaching the topic. Widespread 'misconceptions' about evolution make teaching this topic difficult for biology teachers worldwide. Identifying the sources of errors is an essential step needed before addressing them. This study explored curriculum support materials as a possible source of misconceptions, using content analysis of the South African school Natural Sciences curriculum statement and six Grade 7-9 Natural Sciences textbooks from two different publishers, and investigated 'curriculum slippages' between the 'formal' and 'perceived' curricula. The aim was to determine the nature and extent of unscientific ideas about evolution, and 217 Sanders and MakotsaCurriculum materials as a source of misconceptions to see how authors dealt with potential misconceptions. Errors were found in the curriculum statement and in the textbooks, where they escalated in frequency. Latent problems associated with ambiguous wording of statements posed further problems. Although this paper uses evolution as an example, lessons learned about curriculum materials as a possible influence on misconceptions are applicable to other subjects.Keywords: curriculum support materials, textbooks, misconceptions, curriculum slippages, evolution, natural selectionIn times of curriculum innovation textbooks become important props for teachers, particularly if they are inadequately prepared to implement new curriculum content. However, an important assumption is that such support materials will be scientifically accurate. If they contain errors, teachers with poor content knowledge may not be in a position to recognise mistakes, which are thus likely to be transmitted to pupils. This paper focuses on an investigation of curriculum statements and textbooks as a possible source of misconceptions, as well as how the textbooks identified and addressed common misconceptions. We have used the umbrella term 'misconceptions' for this paper in the commonly understood everyday sense, referring to incorrect ideas, as this is how most teachers and the public are likely to understand the term. Because document analysis was used for this study it was not possible to discriminate between ideas which have been mentally constructed by the document authors (the correct technical meaning of 'misconceptions') and 'errors', which have been acquired from some outside source. THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDYThe inclusion of evolution in the South African school curriculumThe radical revision of the South African school curriculum, progressively implemented by the newly elected government's education department between 1998 and 2008, was characterised by several changes, one of which was a modernisi...

Human evolution in the South African school curriculum

“…The remaining 13 publications are journal articles. Of these, three studies analysed the influence of textbooks and the curriculum statement on learning evolution 5,14,17 ; four focused on teacher reactions to and acceptance of teaching evolution 1,3,4,11 ; and six studies reported on student reactions to, and acceptance of learning about, evolution 8,15,16,[18][19][20] .…”

“…In analyses of textbooks and curriculum statements 5,14,17 , it has been found that the evolution curriculum and the evolution content in textbooks often achieve the opposite of what is desired: that is, they perpetuate misconceptions and unscientific ideas about evolution by using improper and misleading terminology and by reporting inaccurate information.…”

“…Teachers rely on the set curriculum and other educational resources for guidance on how to facilitate learning, especially during periods of curriculum reform. 17 In the case of evolution, many teachers lack the content knowledge and training to teach the topic and, therefore, rely heavily on the prescribed texts for the content, learning activities and assessments needed to facilitate learning. 3,11,14,17 A misconception is a false or mistaken view or opinion and can be formed in two major ways: acquired errors or true misconceptions.…”

“…17 In the case of evolution, many teachers lack the content knowledge and training to teach the topic and, therefore, rely heavily on the prescribed texts for the content, learning activities and assessments needed to facilitate learning. 3,11,14,17 A misconception is a false or mistaken view or opinion and can be formed in two major ways: acquired errors or true misconceptions. 14 An acquired error is when incorrect ideas are taken up from an external source through rote learning -the idea is acquired verbatim from a parent, teacher or textbook and integrated into an individual's existing cognitive structure.…”

“…14 Many of the misconceptions and unscientific ideas in evolution education emerge when curriculum slippages occur. 17 Curriculum slippages are small distortions between the initial ideal (and often idealised) curriculum and the curriculum as it is experienced by the learner. The ideal curriculum is the initial curriculum as it was envisioned during the planning phase.…”