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Representing Evolution in Science Education: The Challenge of Teaching About Natural Selection

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Science Education: A Global Perspective

Abstract

This chapter considers the difficulties of effectively teaching about evolution – a topic that cannot be sensibly omitted from any authentic science or biology curriculum. There are a number of features of natural selection that make teaching this topic challenging for teachers. Some of these features are similar to problems in teaching other ‘difficult’ science topics and relate to the intellectual challenge students face in learning about abstract and counterintuitive ideas. Learning about evolution by natural selection is problematic because it only fully makes sense once a range of different ideas can be coordinated into a complex scheme. The notion may seem counterintuitive to many learners because they lack direct experience of the time scales over which natural selection occurs, and their experience of the world generally reflects discrete and quite distinct species. Additionally, there are particular challenges in teaching evolution in contexts where community norms are to actively deny the science and oppose its teaching in schools and colleges. All teachers of evolutionary theory will face the first set of challenges, but for those working in particular countries or areas, there will be the additional problem of being asked to teach something that some students find morally objectionable.

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Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Dr. Mark Winterbottom for advice given during the preparation of this chapter.

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  1. Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Keith S. Taber

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  1. Keith S. Taber
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Correspondence to Keith S. Taber .

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  1. Science Teachers Association of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria

    Ben Akpan

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Taber, K.S. (2017). Representing Evolution in Science Education: The Challenge of Teaching About Natural Selection. In: Akpan, B. (eds) Science Education: A Global Perspective . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32351-0_4

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