Student teachers’ understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science

Joy C. Coleman · Michèle Stears · Edith Roslyn Dempster

26 citations0/0 files storedSouth African Journal of Education

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Evolution and Science Education Science Education and Pedagogy Science Education and Perceptions

Abstract

The focus of this study was student teachers at a South African university enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programme and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), respectively. The purpose of this study was to explore students' understanding and acceptance of evolution and beliefs about the nature of science (NOS), and to discover if these understandings and acceptances changed with the level of their studies. In so doing, we wished to determine if there is a relationship between their understanding of evolution and the NOS, and their level of acceptance of evolution. The study is located within a quantitative framework. Questionnaires were administered to pre-service teachers, who were enrolled in the School of Education. All participants had chosen Biology as their teaching specialisation. Three instruments were included in the questionnaires. The findings revealed that students in the B.Ed. programme have a poorer understanding of evolution and NOS than the graduate group (PGCE), and that there is no significant difference in understanding between different levels within the B.Ed. group. A further significant finding was that acceptance of evolution is independent of changes in conceptual understanding of evolution and independent of changes in beliefs about the NOS.

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References

1986Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching 1982Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change 1973Nothing in Biology Makes Sense except in the Light of Evolution 1992Students' and teachers' conceptions of the nature of science: A review of the research 1990Student conceptions of natural selection and its role in evolution 1990Teachers' Beliefs About the Nature of Science and Their Relationship to Classroom Practice 2000The influence of history of science courses on students' views of nature of science 2001Cognitive and Contextual Factors in the Emergence of Diverse Belief Systems: Creation versus Evolution

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2018Integrative assessment of Evolutionary theory acceptance and knowledge levels of Biology undergraduate students from a Brazilian university 2023Using different acceptance measures: The interplay of evolution acceptance, evolution understanding, and religious belief among German preservice biology teachers, secondary school students, and creationists 2024Evolution in European and Israeli school curricula – a comparative analysis 2023Understanding and acceptance of the theory of evolution in high school students in Mexico

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