Novice and experienced science teachers’ conceptual knowledge of evolutionary theory within the context of micro-and macroevolution


Yesilyurt E., Öztekin C., Çakıroğlu J., Deniz H.

Journal of Biological Education, cilt.55, sa.2, ss.109-127, 2021 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 55 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/00219266.2019.1667404
  • Dergi Adı: Journal of Biological Education
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Greenfile
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.109-127
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Cognitive bias, evolutionary theory, macroevolution, microevolution, science teachers, BIOLOGY TEACHERS, STUDENTS, EXPLANATIONS, ACCEPTANCE, CLASSROOM, NAIVE, VIEWS
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

© 2019 Royal Society of Biology.The purpose of this study was to explore science teachers’ conceptions about micro-and macro-evolutionary processes. In this study, a case study was employed to compare and contrast novice and experienced middle school science teachers’ evolution conceptions. The data were collected using four micro-and macro-evolutionary scenarios alongside cognitive interviews. The findings illustrated that while the novice teacher mostly provided non-Darwinian explanations, the experienced teacher predominantly applied key concepts of natural selection in her causal explanations, but cognitive biases regarding evolution were also found in her explanations. Therefore, the study suggested that the reasons for the coexistence of evolution concepts and cognitive biases be worthy of further exploration. The findings also indicated that even though the experienced teacher used several principles of macroevolution to explain the evolutionary changes above the species level, she based her causal explanations mainly on natural selection concepts. In this regard, the study recommended that teacher education programmes place special emphasis on the areas that are shown to be problematic for teachers like teaching and learning evolution, especially the concepts of macroevolution. The study also suggested that it may be worth the effort to develop a comprehensive qualitative measure in order to uncover learners’ conceptions concerning macroevolution.