Do disciplinary contexts impact the learning of evolution? Assessing knowledge and misconceptions in anthropology and biology students

Abstract

Evolution education research has focused on biology populations, while other disciplines organized around evolutionary theory—such as biological anthropology—remain understudied. Cognitive science and education research suggest that learning evolution within the context of human evolution might cause increased understanding of evolutionary theory, as well as reasoning patterns relating to evolutionary change different from those stemming from learning evolution in a more generalized context. Biological anthropology students could offer a test of this hypothesis. This study incorporates this underrepresented population into the evolution education literature in order to generate insights into the effects of disciplinary context on evolutionary knowledge and reasoning. Undergraduate biology and anthropology students (N = 268) completed two validated and published evolution knowledge instruments: Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) and Assessment of Contextual Reasoning about Natural Selection (ACORNS). We varied the surface features of the ACORNS items [i.e., the trait (familiar, unfamiliar) and taxon (human, non-human)] and evaluated if the populations differed in their instrument scores or sensitivity to item surface features. The populations differed in background and demographic variables. Evolutionary knowledge and reasoning patterns also differed, with biology students having higher CINS scores, more key concepts, fewer naive ideas, and higher frequencies of accurate reasoning models. However, scores were generally poor for both populations. When background and demographic factors were controlled, key concept scores were comparable, but anthropology students continued to display lower measures for the other variables. Additionally, biology students’ showed limited sensitivity to the item surface features compared to anthropology students. Anthropology and biology students displayed significantly different demographic and academic backgrounds, making comparisons complex. We did not find evidence that learning evolution within a human/primate context generated greater instrument scores or lower sensitivities to item surface features. Rather, both anthropology and biology students were novice-like in their evolutionary knowledge and reasoning patterns. Anthropology students were more novice-like because they displayed sensitivities to item surface features. Our study raises questions about how best to assess the relative impact of taxon and trait familiarity on the measurement of evolutionary knowledge and reasoning.

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