Does increasing biology teacher knowledge of evolution and the nature of science lead to greater advocacy for the teaching of evolution in schools?

Authors

Ross Nehm, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Irvin Sam Schonfeld, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2007

Abstract

This study investigated whether or not an increase in secondary science teacher knowledge about evolution and the nature of science gained from completing a graduate-level evolution course was associated with greater preference for the teaching of evolution in schools. Forty-four precertified secondary biology teachers participated in a 14-week intervention designed to address documented misconceptions identified by a precourse instrument. The course produced statistically significant gains in teacher knowledge of evolution and the nature of science and a significant decrease in misconceptions about evolution and natural selection. Nevertheless, teachers' postcourse preference positions remained unchanged; the majority of science teachers still preferred that antievolutionary ideas be taught in school.

Comments

This work was originally published in Journal of Science Teacher Education, available at doi: 10.1007/s10972-007-9062-7