Students with religious beliefs often find it difficult to accept the theory of evolution. It is important that educators feel comfortable addressing student questions on the compatibility of evolution and religion. We designed an online professional development course that taught the foundational principles of both evolution and religion in order…

Evolutionary medicine is a growing area of research and practice; however, it is not widely discussed in introductory biology courses. Because of the interest in human biology, using evolutionary medicine is a great way to hold students' interest, placing topics in context, making the subject of evolution relevant. Too often students lose interest…

The historical dimension of biology attests to the various conceptions of living organisms that have governed the construction of scientific knowledge over time, some of which still persist today. The present study aimed to identify and characterise the various conceptions of living organisms held by future teachers and biologists and the…

The purpose of the present study was to reveal the effectiveness of the Nature of Science (NOS) embedded in Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) instructional method on pre-service science teachers' (PSTs) content knowledge and self-efficacy in evolution theory. The study was a mixed-method study in which the qualitative data collection and analysis was…

Teaching the theory of evolution has often faced various challenges, including teachers' internal conflict between the theory of evolution and their personal religious beliefs. This multiple case study examined the perceptions of and approaches to teaching evolution of six Indonesian Muslim biology teachers who were working in three different…

Evolution is a difficult topic to teach; teachers admit not having enough knowledge of evolution and they face student opposition to learning evolution, especially based on religious grounds. Teachers are therefore motivated to gain knowledge in the field of evolution. We conducted a 30-hour evolution teacher training course, which included…

Evolutionary evidence is important scientific background for appreciating the theory of evolution. We describe a STEAM-based lesson plan that uses paleontological drawings and a modern evolutionary database to explore and understand fossil, morphological, and molecular evidence. Together, with a focus on arthropods and the Cambrian explosion,…

Central to evolution is the concept of a common ancestry from which all life has emerged over immense time scales, but learning and teaching temporal aspects of evolution remain challenging. This study investigated students' interpretation of evolutionary time when engaging with a multi-touch tabletop application called DeepTree, a dynamic…

We describe an alternative to the kinds of observation-based lab exercises that are often used to cover animal and plant evolution with respect to transitioning from aquatic to terrestrial habitats. We wrote this activity to address these objectives, but also to model the process of scientific inquiry and to require students to collect and analyze…

This paper presents an activity that engages students in model-based reasoning, requiring them to predict the behavior of the trp and lac operons under different environmental conditions. Students are presented six scenarios for the "trp" operon and five for the "lac" operon. In most of the scenarios, specific mutations have…

The long geological time needed for landform development and evolution poses a challenge for understanding and appreciating the processes involved. The Web-based Interactive Landform Simulation Model--Grand Canyon (WILSIM-GC, http://serc.carleton.edu/landform/) is an educational tool designed to help students better understand such processes,…

The molecular basis of evolution is an important and challenging concept for students to understand. In a previous article, we provided some of the scientific background necessary to teach this topic. This article features a series of laboratory activities demonstrating that molecular events can alter the genomes of organisms. These activities are…

This research compared the outcomes of teaching middle school students two different methods of classification and phylogeny. Two classes were randomly selected and taught using traditional methods of instruction. Three classes were taught using the "Pseudozoid" approach, where students learned to classify, develop and read dichotomous keys, and…

Presented are the results of a survey of biology teachers. Results are compared to surveys of Ohio and Kentucky. Suggestions to improve the coverage of evolution are included. A copy of the survey questionnaire is appended. (CW)

This study ascertained whether or not computer assisted instruction (CAI) enhanced the quality of the educational experience and resulted in increased learning. The study involved the teaching of a 3-week instructional unit on population genetics and evolutionary processes to advanced placement biology students. The control group (N=38) received…