Chilean Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers and Undergraduate Students' Understandings of Evolutionary Theory

Autor/inn/en	Cofré, Hernán; Jiménez, Juan; Santibáñez, David; Vergara, Claudia
Titel	Chilean Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers and Undergraduate Students' Understandings of Evolutionary Theory
Quelle	In: Journal of Biological Education, 50 (2016) 1, S.10-23 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0021-9266
DOI	10.1080/00219266.2014.967278
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Preservice Teachers; Undergraduate Students; Elementary School Teachers; Secondary School Teachers; Science Teachers; Biology; Evolution; Theories; College Freshmen; Likert Scales; Knowledge Level; Student Characteristics; Teacher Characteristics; Questionnaires; Chile (Santiago) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Elementary school; Teacher; Teachers; Grundschule; Volksschule; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Science; Science teacher; Wissenschaft; Biologie; Theory; Theorie; Studienanfänger; Likert-Skala; Wissensbasis; Fragebogen
Abstract	Despite the importance of the theory of evolution to scientific knowledge, a number of misconceptions continue to be found among teachers and undergraduate students. The aim of the present study was to describe and characterise knowledge about evolution among 120 freshman undergraduate students of two natural sciences programmes (environmental biology and veterinary medicine), 80 pre-service science teachers (elementary and biology) and 45 in-service teachers (elementary and biology high school) in Santiago, Chile. The research was carried out based on an eight-question questionnaire about evolution acceptance and understanding. The instrument included seven Likert-scale questions and one open-ended question. An analysis of the data revealed that more than 70% of teachers (pre-service and in-service) and undergraduate students recognised the theory of evolution as established scientific knowledge. When participants discussed the mechanism of evolution in the open-ended question, the most prevalent responses from students and teachers (33%) explained evolution as need-driven changes for survival purposes. Only 13% of the responses could be considered Darwinian, and 10% of responses included more than one view of evolution. The Darwinian responses generally included three important aspects: variation, inheritance and differential reproduction. The implications for biology teacher education are also discussed in this study. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01