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Lucci, Karen; Cooper, Robert A. – American Biology Teacher, 2019
Many students have very robust misconceptions about natural selection, stemming from intuitive theories that form a child's earliest understandings of the natural world. For example, students often imagine that species evolve in response to environmental pressures that cause a need for change and that all individuals in the population…
Descriptors: Biology, Science Instruction, Misconceptions, Evolution
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Berti, Anna Emilia; Barbetta, Valentina; Toneatti, Laura – International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2017
This study examines how third-graders' conceptions about the origin of species are affected by formal instruction and whether children can learn not only about evolution but also about natural selection. We interviewed the same group of third-grade children (8-9 years old) twice, before and after following a curriculum about these topics.…
Descriptors: Elementary School Students, Grade 3, Student Attitudes, Knowledge Level
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Shtulman, Andrew; Checa, Isabel – International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 2012
The theory of evolution by natural selection has revolutionized the biological sciences yet remains confusing and controversial to the public at large. This study explored how a particular segment of the public--visitors to a natural history museum--reason about evolution in the context of an interactive cladogram, or evolutionary tree. The…
Descriptors: Museums, Evolution, Science Education, Misconceptions
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Kalinowski, Steven T.; Leonard, Mary J.; Andrews, Tessa M. – CBE - Life Sciences Education, 2010
Natural selection is one of the most important concepts for biology students to understand, but students frequently have misconceptions regarding how natural selection operates. Many of these misconceptions, such as a belief in "Lamarckian" evolution, are based on a misunderstanding of inheritance. In this essay, we argue that evolution…
Descriptors: Genetics, Biology, Misconceptions, Evolution
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Nehm, Ross H.; Ha, Minsu – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2011
Despite concerted efforts by science educators to understand patterns of evolutionary reasoning in science students and teachers, the vast majority of evolution education studies have failed to carefully consider or control for item feature effects in knowledge measurement. Our study explores whether robust contextualization patterns emerge within…
Descriptors: Majors (Students), Evolution, Animals, Measures (Individuals)
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Brattstrom, Bayard H. – American Biology Teacher, 1999
Presents results of a pretest/posttest measure for assessing scientific literacy that was given to a general biology class for nonmajors. Test questions are listed and include items covering popular biology-related misconceptions. (WRM)
Descriptors: Animals, Biology, Evolution, Higher Education